"Airborne in Sicily" Topic

"With victory in North Africa the eyes of the Allied commanders were drawn northward to what Churchill called ‘the soft underbelly of the Axis'. The choices for invasion were Southern France, the Greek peninsula or Italy. It was decided that Italy would be the best option as the defeat of this nation would completely open up the Mediterranean Sea once more to Allied shipping, allowing supplies to reach the Middle and Far East unimpeded. The first step in the invasion would be the capture of Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean and defended by two corps from the Italian 6th Army reinforced by the Hermann Goering Panzer Division and 15th Panzergrenadier Division.

Command for the operation, known as ‘Husky', was given to US General Dwight D. Eisenhower, with British General Alexander as his number two. The Allied plan was to land two armies along the south eastern corner of the island, one British, commanded by General Montgomery, and one American, commanded by General Patton. It was decided that airborne troops were to be utilised for the first time in a major invasion, employed to drop just beyond the beachheads to secure bridges, destroy enemy strongholds and slow down any attempt by the Axis to reinforce the beach defences…"

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Amicalement
Armand

Glad you enjoyed it my good friend! (smile)

Amicalement
Armand