Chapter 157 Volume 5, Chapter 2: The Conquest of Sicily｜July and August 1943

Preparations for the attack on Sicily General Alexander's final plan of operations The order of operations to assemble the scattered troops May 20th Hitler's conference We have taken Banterella an effective cover plan The date of the attack is set for July 10th Unforeseen circumstances, heavy air losses, successful sea landings, British and American forces moving forward steadily. Our next strategic move. On July 16, I called General Smuts on the progress of the campaign. Eisenhower announced the attack on Italy. Turipe, Catania and Messina Alexander's report that Sicily was liberated in thirty-eight days.

In January, the Casablanca Conference decided to attack Sicily after occupying Tunisia.This great project, known by the cryptographic code name Husky, raised new and important questions.In the landings of the North African campaign we did not anticipate fierce resistance, and now the Italian Army, still numerous, is more likely to fight to the death for the defense of their homeland.In any case, a strong German ground force and air force necessarily increased their strength.The Italian fleet still had six elite modern battleships, which were also likely to take part in the battle. General Eisenhower believed that if our purpose was to clear the sea routes in the Mediterranean, we must attack Sicily.If our real object is to invade and defeat Italy, the most appropriate initial targets are Sardinia and Corsica, since these islands flank Italy's boot-shaped They could force the enemy to spread his forces more widely in Italy than Sicily, opposite the Gable Mountains. 【１】

[1] See "European Crusades", p. 176. Undoubtedly, this is a highly authoritative military opinion, although I cannot endorse it.However, various political forces played their part; The occupation of Sicily and the direct attack on Italy would have quicker and more far-reaching results. The occupation of Sicily was an operation of paramount importance.It paled in comparison with the plan to attack Normandy, but its importance and difficulty should not be underestimated.The landings were based on experience gained in the North African campaign, and those who planned the Overlord had learned many lessons from the Husky plan.During the initial assault phase nearly 3,000 ships and landing craft took part, carrying 160,000 troops, 14,000 vehicles, 600 tanks and 1,800 guns.These forces had to be assembled, trained, and equipped at widely spread bases in the Mediterranean, Britain, and the United States, and finally shipped to the front with all the huge baggage for amphibious operations.Detailed plans had to be drawn up by subordinate commanders whose headquarters were thousands of miles apart.And all these plans must be combined by the Supreme Commander in Algiers.

Here, there is a dedicated Allied Staff to review and adjust all preparations.As the program unfolded, many problems arose that could only be resolved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.Finally, the convoy must be assembled, escorted across the ocean by warships, through narrow waters, and then concentrated in the operational area at the appropriate time. General Eisenhower's headquarters began making plans in February.It was now necessary to appoint his principal staff. In all wars in which the Allied armies fought side by side, the strategic command was usually chiefly in the hands of the side with the stronger forces.This may be altered by political considerations, or by other relevant operations in the field, but the principle that the stronger army must be in command remains true.For policy reasons, we previously ceded operational command in Northwest Africa to the United States.They were initially superior in numbers and power.In the months following the start of Operation Torch, as the victorious Eighth Army came out of the desert and the British First Army was established in Tunisia, our ratio there was eleven British divisions to four American divisions .However, I remain strictly committed to the tenet that Operation Torch is an American expedition and, therefore, in every way, supports General Eisenhower as Supreme Commander.In fact, however, there was an understanding that General Alexander, as Eisenhower's second-in-command, had full operational command.It was in these circumstances that we had the victory in Tunisia, and the general impression, to the American public and people around the world, was that it was an American-led military operation.

But now, we have entered a new phase of the attack on Sicily, and further operations thereafter.We have agreed that the action in Italy should be determined by the operational situation in Sicily.As the Americans became more interested in this larger venture than content to remain in Sardinia during the year, and as the prospect of another joint operation had opened up, I felt it necessary to use the The British and our allies are at least equal partners.In July, the ratio of the existing troops was: eight British divisions and six American divisions. For the air force: the United States accounts for 55 percent; the United Kingdom accounts for 45 percent.Eighty percent of the navy is Britain.In addition to all this, the British had a large number of troops in the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean, including Libya, which were directly under the British headquarters in Cairo, under the independent command of General Maitland Wilson.In these cases it does not seem too much to say that we should have at least an equal position in the highest command.Our loyal partner readily agreed to our wish, and let us directly command the battle.Alexander commanded the Fifteenth Army Group, which included the U.S. Seventh Army and the British Eighth Army.

Air Admiral Tedder commanded the Allied air forces, and Admiral Cunningham commanded the Allied navies.All the armed forces of the sea, land and air are under the overall command of General Eisenhower. The British assault mission was assigned to General Montgomery and his Eighth Army, while General Patton was appointed to command the American Seventh Army.On the naval side, the partners of the two sides were Admiral Ramsey and Admiral Hewitt of the US Navy. The former had planned the British landing in the Torch Battle, and the latter had carried out the Casablanca landing mission with General Patton.The principal Air Force commanders under Air Admiral Ted are: General Spaatz, Air Force Commander of the U.S. Army, and Lieutenant General Coningham Air Force; and Air Force Major General Broadhurst, who commanded the Eighth Army Coordinated air combat operations.Major General Broadhurst recently honored the Western Desert Air Force.

As the fighting in Tunisia still held the attention of the commander and staff, plans and deployments of troops were initially considered on a hypothetical basis.It was not until April that we could determine which units were fit for combat.The main requirement is to occupy ports and airfields as early as possible in order to support the troops after landing.Palermo, Catania, and Syracuse are suitable places, and the most ideal port is Messina, but our strength is not yet there.There are three main groups of airfields in the southeastern corner of Sicily, the plain of Catania, and the west of the island.

Admiral Ted advocated narrowing the scope of the attack, first occupying a group of airfields in the southeast corner, and then attacking Catania and Palermo.This meant that for the time being only the small ports of Syracuse, Augusta, and Licata were available, while the army had to be supplied on the beachheads where there was no shelter.The program ultimately succeeded, largely because of new amphibious delivery vehicles, the American Amphibian, and more landing craft.This type of ship was originally designed and improved by the British in 1940.Later, the United States designed a new type based on the experience of the United Kingdom and manufactured it in large quantities. It was used for the first time in Sicily.It becomes the entire basis of, and often the limiting factor in, the amphibious operations we will conduct in the future.

General Alexander's final plan provided for a week's advance bombing in order to neutralize the enemy's navy and air force.The British Eighth Army, commanded by General Montgomery, was to attack the area between Cape Polkomonro and Pozzallo and seize the airfields of Syracuse and Pachino.Having established a strong bridgehead and established contact with the American forces on the left, it would advance north, targeting the airfields of Augusta, Catania, and Derbini. The U.S. Seventh Army, under General Patton, was to land in the area between Cape Scaramia and Licata, with the objective of capturing the port of Licata and a group of airfields to the east and north of Gela.This was done to protect the flank of Eighth Army advancing on Ragusa.Powerful British and American airlift forces crossed the beachheads and landed with parachutes or gliders in order to capture strongholds and support the landings.

The Eighth Army consisted of seven infantry divisions, an infantry brigade from the Fortress of Malta, two armored brigades, and several commando units.The troops commanded by the U.S. Seventh Army consisted of six divisions. [1] The enemy's garrison in Sicily, initially under the command of an Italian general, consisted of two German divisions, of which one was armored, four Italian infantry divisions, and six Italian coastal defense divisions of inferior quality.The German divisions were further divided into combat groups in order to reinforce their allied forces and carry out a counter-offensive.

Misunderstanding our intentions, the enemy defended the west coast of the island with great force.We have a significant advantage in the air force.We have more than 4,000 combat aircraft (121 squadrons in the UK, 146 squadrons in the United States), and the enemy can concentrate as far as Sicily, Sardinia, Italy, and southern France. aircraft, only 1,850. 【1】Battle sequence: Headquarters of the British Eighth, Thirteenth and Thirteenth Armies. Participating in the first raid: 1st Canadian Division, 5th Division, 50th Division, 51st Division; part of 1st Airborne Division, 230th Infantry Brigade, 4th and 23rd Armored brigade and three commandos. Reserves in North Africa: 78th, 46th; remainder of 1st Airborne Division. U.S. Seventh Army, Second Army Headquarters. Participating in the first raid: 1st Division, 3rd Division, 45th Division, 2nd Armored Division; part of the 82nd Airborne Division, 1st Commando Battalion. Reserves in North Africa: 9th Division, remainder of 82nd Airborne Division. Therefore, as long as we can successfully build up troops and land landings, the prospects look good.However, the forces of the navy and the army are too dispersed.The 1st Canadian Division came directly from England, and an American division from America, with a short break through Oran.The troops that had reached the Mediterranean were scattered in North Africa.General Dempsey's Thirteenth Corps, partly training in Egypt and partly in Syria, had its ships and landing craft to be loaded not only in the Canal Zone and Alexandria, but in various small ports between Beirut and Tripoli.General Leith's XXX Corps consisted of the 1st Canadian Division in Great Britain, the 51st Division in Tunisia, and the 231st Independent Brigade on the Island of Malta, all of which would begin to come together on the field .The US military is similarly distributed throughout Tunisia and Algeria, and some are far away on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Subordinate commanders and staff officers must fly to remote locations to observe the development of the plan and supervise the training of their troops.Often they cannot perform such tasks themselves, which places a burden on the planners.Aquatic training takes place in the United Kingdom and throughout the Mediterranean and Red Seas.The number of important aircraft, ships and equipment that have arrived in the Middle East is only symbolic, or not at all.In the preparation stage, for all these materials, it was only assumed that their performance was satisfactory, and they were included in the plan without testing.As a result, the supplying department fulfilled almost all of its promises.The smooth execution of the plan, albeit insecure, is an excellent example of joint staff work. On May 20, Hitler held a meeting attended by several people including Keitel, Rommel, and Foreign Minister Neuwright.The original manuscripts of the secret minutes of this and other German meetings, held in the library of the University of Pennsylvania, have been translated into English by the United States, with annotations by Mr. Felix Gilbert.These translations make a valuable contribution to the history of the Second World War. 【１】 [1] Published in "Hitler Commands His War" edited by Felix Gilbert. Hitler: Have you been to Sicily? Neuwright: Yes, Führer, I was there and I had a meeting with General Roata (commander of the Italian Sixth Army in Sicily).He told me, among many other things, that he didn't have much confidence in defending Sicily.He claimed that his forces were very weak and that his army was not properly equipped.Most importantly, he had only one motorized division; the rest of the force was non-mobile.The British, with all their might, bombarded the locomotives of the Sicilian railways every day, knowing full well that it would be next to impossible, or at all impossible, to bring in materials for repairs.I got the impression, crossing the sea from Giovanni to Messina, that almost all traffic had practically come to a standstill during this short journey.I think there used to be six ferry boats there and now only one is left.This one is regarded as a museum exhibit; it is said that this one is preserved for a better purpose. Hitler: What is a better purpose? Newright: Ah, Führer, sometimes the Italians explain: By the end of the war; others: You never know what's going to happen next. The German troops in Sicily had undoubtedly become unpopular.This is easy to explain, since the Sicilians believe that we have brought war into their country.First we ate everything they had, and now we've got the Englishmen to come here themselves, though I must stress that the Sicilian peasants really don't mind the Englishman coming.They thought it would end their suffering.The common opinion among all southern Italians was that the British came and the war was over, and that the Germans were here to drag it on. Hitler: Did the Italian government take any action against this attitude? Newright: Führer, as far as I know, the magistrates who are still there have not done much about this situation.Whenever I brought this to their attention and complained about German soldiers being cursed in the street, they told me that because it was public opinion, they didn't know how to deal with it.They also said: that is the mood of the people.You are unpopular, it is your own fault; You commandeered everything and ate up the chickens.But I do think that those local officials could have made a greater effort to deal with serious cases as an example to others. Hitler: Don't they want to take action? Newright: Difficult.They just don't act.Sicilians have a different temperament than northern Italians.But, taken as a whole, their attitude of letting things go was very unpleasant.The threat posed by enemy air forces to Sicily was extremely serious. The discussion then turned to the loyalty of General Roata and other Italian leaders, and the increasingly difficult situation for Mussolini.All these situations present an extremely restless picture in front of the German head of state. In the middle of the strait between Tunis and Sicily, there is the small island of Banterella, which the enemy uses as a base for aircraft and fast torpedo boats.In January 1941 we had planned to attack and occupy the island, but we missed our opportunity, and it remained a thorn in our side during the worst period of the siege of Malta.It is now necessary not only for us to conquer it, but to use it as a base for our own fighter jets.After conquering Tunisia, the attack by air and sea began immediately.The bombardment and shelling continued until June 8, at which point we demanded an unconditional surrender.This request was denied.Therefore, with the support of the fierce bombardment of the naval and air forces, the landing was carried out from the sea on June 11.We had given sufficient attention in advance to the enormous scale and dangers of this venture. The landing was a complete success without any casualties, except that, according to sailor legend, one soldier was bitten by a mule.More than eleven thousand prisoners fell into our hands.Over the next two days, the neighboring islands of Lampeduse and Linosha also surrendered.At this point, there were no enemy outposts south of Sicily. On 3 July, a heavy air raid on Sicily began, bombing the local and Sardinian airfields, rendering many of them unusable.Enemy fighters were forced to take a defensive tactic and their long-range bombers were forced to withdraw their bases to the Italian mainland.Four of the five train ferries in the Strait of Messina have been sunk.As our convoy approached the island, air superiority was established, and Axis ships and aircraft made no significant effort to thwart the attack from the sea.Because of our strategy of attacking west and east, the enemy did not know until the last moment exactly where we were going to attack.Our naval movements and military preparations in Egypt seem to imply an expedition to Greece.Since the fall of Tunisia, they had sent more planes to the Mediterranean, but instead of Sicily the added squadrons were sent to the eastern outskirts of the Mediterranean, northwestern Italy and Sardinia.General Eisenhower established his headquarters on the conveniently accessible island of Malta at the critical time when the convoys were approaching their targets.Here he joined General Alexander and Admiral Cunningham. Lieutenant General Ted remained near Carthage, commanding the combined air operations. July 10 was the day of the attack.On the morning of the 9th of July, the large fleets from the east and west assembled south of the island of Malta; and it was time for all the fleets to set sail for the beaches of Sicily at full speed.Admiral Cunningham said in his telegram: This rare concentration of fleets reflects a high degree of accuracy. The only fly in the ointment is that three ships in the fleet were sunk by submarines. [1] The route of the convoy was extremely effectively covered; most of the ships were not detected by enemy aircraft. [1] Another ship in the convoy from Egypt was sunk. I spent an hour in the War Room of the Admiralty on my way to Checkers, my country residence, where I was to await the outcome of the battle.Maps hung all over the walls, showing huge fleets, escorts, and supporting detachments heading for the beaches they attacked.It was the largest amphibious operation in history.However, everything depends on the time of day. On the morning of the 9th the weather was fine, but by noon a strong and unnatural northwesterly wind blew up.In the afternoon the wind was more violent, and in the evening the sea was rough and rough, making landings dangerous, especially on the west coast of the American landing zone.The landing craft convoy, heading north from the island of Malta and the many African ports between Bizerta and Benghazi, had a bumpy voyage. Arrangements had been made in advance to postpone the landing if necessary, but the decision to postpone had to be made before noon.The First Sea Lord waited anxiously at the Admiralty to inquire about the weather by telegram.At 8 o'clock in the evening, Admiral Cunningham replied that the weather was unfavorable, but combat operations continued as usual.He said: It is obviously too late to postpone the landing now.But we are deeply concerned, especially by the small fleets that are sailing through rough seas.They were indeed greatly hampered and disorganized.Many ships were late, but luckily no great damage was done.Cunningham said: "The wind eased off reassuringly in the evening and stopped by the morning of the 10th, only on the west beach with nasty surf. Inclement weather helped us come out on top.Admiral Cunningham continued: A very effective cover plan and the course taken by the convoy to confuse the enemy helped.In addition, due to the poor moonlight, the enemy of course relaxed his vigilance.Finally came this gust of wind, which at that time nearly made some, if not all, of the landings impossible.These apparently unfavorable factors actually had an effect on the tired Italians who had been on the alert for several nights; turning in bed they said gratefully that they would not be able to make it anyway tonight.However, they came. However, the Airborne Forces met an unfortunate fate.More than one-third of the glider carrying our 1st Airborne Brigade was prematurely thrown off by American tow planes, causing many soldiers on board to fall into the sea and drown.The rest were scattered over southeastern Sicily, and only a dozen gliders made it to their destination, an important bridge.Eight officers and sixty-five soldiers captured the bridge.And defended for twelve hours, when reinforcements arrived, there were only nineteen survivors left among them.This is the feat of the Airborne Forces regardless of sacrifice.On the U.S. front, the airborne landings were too spread out, but many detachments caused damage and confusion inland, embarrassing the divisions defending the Italian coast. The landing has been protected by fighter jets, with great success everywhere.Syracuse and Pachino on the British front, and Licata and Gela on the American front, were taken.The Eighth Army captured Augusta on the 12th. The U.S. First Division on the front line of the U.S. Army was attacked extremely violently by some German armored divisions.The situation was critical for a time, but after a fierce battle the enemy was repulsed.Our Allied forces are advancing with the aim of capturing the important airfield east of Jerah. The main forces of the Eighth Army were now directed at the airfields of Catania and Derbini.At this time, more paratroopers had landed by air, and the commando also landed from the sea.They captured important bridges.With their help, the army crossed the Simeto River.But German troops were now coming to reinforce the Italians from farther west, so the army stopped advancing after they had crossed the river.On the 16th, the left flank of the Eighth Army reached Caltagirone and was in close contact with the American forces, who were simultaneously advancing west along the coast and had occupied the port of Ampedocre. With twelve airfields now in our hands, on July 18th there were only twenty-five German aircraft operational on the island.Of the 1,100 enemy planes left on the airfield either destroyed or damaged, more than half were German planes.Our Air Force is doing its utmost to prevent the enemy from advancing from mainland Italy to Messina.They were only partially successful against heavy anti-aircraft fire. On July 16, General Alexander ordered the Eighth Army to attack the west side of Mount Etna, and the Seventh Army to attack the roads around Enna and cut off the east-west passage of Petralia.The progress of the British 50th Division was slow, and the Germans brought in reinforcements from mainland Italy, including the extremely ferocious six battalions of the 1st Parachute Division.We had some ground to the left of it, but it seemed clear that new plans and reinforcements were needed.Before the 78th Division arrived from Tunisia, the British front was temporarily calm. Our next strategic move is still up in the air.Should we cross the Strait of Messina and take the toe of Italy, or should we take Taranto on the heel, or should we go up the west coast of Italy, land in the Gulf of Salerno, and take Naples?Or is it limited to the occupation of Sardinia?In June, General Eisenhower was consulted on this.This is a difficult question.At the Washington Conference (Triple Conference) held in May, we had decided that, around August, most of the attack ships and part of the air force that were sent to fight in Sicily would be transferred to India.At the same time, General Eisenhower was notified in advance that in order to carry out the attack across the English Channel in 1944, after November 1, four divisions of the U.S. Army and three divisions of the British Army must be withdrawn to Britain.On June 30 he proposed that, after the occupation of Sicily be completed, we should attack Sardinia, if not the toe of Italy.If Sardinia were chosen, he could be ready by about October, but he did not expect to attack mainland Italy until November, and by then the weather would probably be extremely unfavorable for an amphibious landing.If the invasion of Italy at this late hour is to be justified, there must be a favorable situation in which the army can advance rapidly. Progress in Sicily clarified the situation.How different it is from the present situation can be seen from the whole situation I described in my July 16th cable to Smuts: July 16, 1943 During our talks in Washington in May, we found that the Americans were full of misgivings lest we be plunged into a war in the Mediterranean; they were eager to end it with the capture of Sardinia.We disagree on this point; our forces in the Mediterranean are far superior to those of the United States, so we can defer the decision to the occupation of Sicily.But I am not satisfied with this. I asked President Roosevelt to send General Marshall to North Africa with me, and persuaded Eisenhower and others on the spot to at least occupy Rome to meet this year's combat requirements.We agreed to wait until the situation in Sicily became clearer to make a decision.If the fighting there is intense and protracted, it may be limited to attacking Sardinia.However, if our military operations go well and Italian resistance does not appear tenacious, we immediately attack the Italian mainland. 2. The time when this choice must be made is now approaching.I shall deal with it as a great problem, and I need not say much about it.I am sure President Roosevelt would have agreed with me; Eisenhower certainly would have agreed in his heart. In any case, I must not allow the mighty British troops in the Mediterranean and those under British command to sit idle.I am transferring the excellent Polish Army from Persia to Syria, where it may also fight. 3. The situation in the Balkans is also very promising.I am sending you a report from the Middle East High Command, which states that the Italian army is on the verge of collapse.Not only must we occupy Rome and push as far north as we can in Italy, but we must extend our right hand to the relief of patriots in the Balkans.All of the above hold great promise if acted on at the right time.I am confident that we will achieve good results, and I will spare no effort to win the agreement of our allies.If consensus cannot be reached, we have enough troops to act alone. 4. When are you going to come here?You know what a welcome you will receive, and how close our thoughts on war are in common.All of the above are classified as operational secrets, please do not disclose them to outsiders. Meanwhile, Allied air forces were harassing enemy communications and airfields in southern Italy and the port of Naples.On July 19, a powerful force of American bombers attacked the car park of the Rome railway station and the Rome airport.The bombing caused great damage and caused great panic.In Sicily, under the leadership of the brave General Patton, the American army advanced steadily.Their 3rd Infantry and 2nd Armored Divisions were tasked with sweeping the western tip of the island, where only the Italians now remained; their 2nd Corps, consisting of the 1st and 45th Divisions, was ordered to capture the coast to the north, and then thrust east along the two main roads leading to Messina.Palermo was captured on July 22, and by the end of the month American troops had reached the line from Nicosia to Cefalu.Their 3rd Division, after completing their missions west of Sicily, was brought up to support the pursuit along the coast, while the 9th Division was brought in from Africa.This army, like our 78th Division, is a reserve force left in North Africa. The battlefield for the final decisive battle has already been deployed at this time.These battles had to be fierce, because in addition to the original Italian defense forces, more than three German divisions, under the command of the experienced commander General Hubie, would participate in the battle.But Italy's rapid collapse has become very likely.We have had a noticeable change in the mood of our personnel in Whitehall.We decided on the more daring plan of attacking directly on the west coast of Italy in order to capture Naples.Washington agreed, but insisted that no more troops be sent beyond the strength agreed upon at the Trident meeting.The Americans advocated that more intense military operations in the Mediterranean should not damage operations in other regions, especially the Overlord operation plan.Such reservations will cause us great uneasiness when we land at Salerno. General Eisenhower and his key commanders now agreed to make Italy the next target of immediate attack.They still wanted to land at the Toe first, because they lacked landing craft and aircraft; but, for the first time, they also began to favor a direct attack on Naples.Naples is so far from our newly captured air base in Sicily that the use of fighters to cover the landing would be greatly reduced.Even so, everyone immediately focused on winning Naples. The timing of the swift defeat of Italy seemed to be a reason for postponing operations against Burma; the Admiralty had ceased diversion of attacking ships from the Mediterranean to India. On July 22, the British Chiefs of Staff urged their American counterparts to formulate plans for a direct attack on Naples, assuming additional ships and aircraft carriers were available.Americans took a different view.They agreed to the attack but stuck to their original decision that the United States could send no more troops to reinforce General Eisenhower for this or any other purpose.He should do the best he can with the troops he has.In addition, they insisted on withdrawing their three heavy bomber groups to Britain.Hence, the conflict occurs.The American chiefs of staff did not believe that the conquest of Italy would threaten Germany, and they feared that the Germans would retreat, leaving us in the air.They did not think much would be gained by bombing southern Germany from airfields in southern Italy.They demanded that all forces attacking Germany be concentrated on the shortest route across the English Channel, although there would be no fighting in the English Channel for ten months. The British Chiefs of Staff noted that the Washington Conference had clearly agreed that the elimination of Italy from the war was one of the first goals of the Allies.The current codename for an attack on Naples is an avalanche is the best way to accomplish this goal, and the collapse of Italy can greatly increase the chances of a cross-Channel attack, making it not only successful but decisive.Air Force Chief of Staff Portel emphasized that the largest attack on German industry, especially on factories producing fighter jets, could only be effective with the help of Italian airfields.The capture of those airfields will therefore be a great contribution to a successful attack on France.But the Americans remained unmoved.However, the vast majority of the various forces to be used in the plan for Operation Avalanche were British, and we resolved to do everything in our power to ensure the success of the plan.To overcome our weakness in long-range fighters, the Admiralty dispatched four escort carriers and a light fleet carrier to assist in the landing, and the Air Department assigned General Eisenhower command of the three bomber squadrons we had planned to withdraw ahead of schedule. While these somewhat poignant discussions were going on, Mussolini's downfall on July 25 completely changed the situation.The argument for attacking Italy seemed to hold overwhelming weight.As we shall see below, the Germans responded swiftly; our advances into Italy, and especially Naples, did not come easily.Operation Avalanche was not successful, thanks to the additional British naval and air power we provided.我們認為在登陸後，為了加快整個部署，還必須有額外的船舶，如果這些船舶能撥來使用，危險還可以更加減少。在這方面，我們未能使美國採納我們的意見，在這個戰役開始以前，許多美國船隻都已撤回去了，而英國的一些用於進攻的艦隻也已調往印度。 現在，我們應當重新回到西西里戰場。亞歷山大八月三日在電報中說： 攻勢順利地展開了。我剛剛拜訪了巴頓將軍回來，他很勇敢豪爽。美國第七集團軍的工作非常出色，打得也確實漂亮。加拿大人初顯身手，很令人滿意，仗也打得不錯。進展可能遲緩，但是，當地的情況若非親眼目睹，是難以相信的。島上只有穿過峽谷和繞過懸崖的幾條山道。它們容易防守，而且也更容易破壞。 我們新開到的第七十八師，非常出色地攻下了琴土里佩，這次戰鬥標誌著最後的階段。卡塔尼亞在五日攻克，此後，整個英軍戰線向前推進到埃特納火山的南面和西面的山坡。美國第一師經過頑強的戰鬥以後，在八月六日佔領了特羅伊納，他們的第九師在一日穿過了第一師，於八日進入了切薩羅。美國第四十五師和接踵而至的第三師，沿著北面的海岸前進，在兩路小規模的、巧妙的兩棲作戰包圍運動的支援下，於八月十日到達了奧爾蘭多角。在朗達佐於十三日被攻克後，敵人在所有的戰線上停止了接觸，並在他們墨西拿海峽的猛烈的防空炮火掩護下，在以後幾天的夜晚，逃往本土。我們的軍隊迅速地向墨西拿推進。敵人破壞了從卡塔尼亞開始的海岸公路，因而使第八集團軍的進展緩慢，僅僅以有限的差距而使戰利品落到美國人的手中。他們在八月十六日進入了墨西拿。 General Alexander to Prime Minister 一九四三年八月十七日 下列事實是很有趣的： 七月十日進攻西西里。八月十六日進駐墨西拿。三十八天內佔領了全島。西西里有六百哩的海岸線和一萬平方哩的面積。全島佈滿了混凝土的碉堡和鐵絲網。軸心國駐軍計有：意軍九個師，德軍四個師，合共十三個師；兵力總數：意軍三十一萬五千名，德軍九萬名，合共四十萬零五千名士兵。我方的兵力：第七集團軍六個師，包括空降師；第八集團軍七個師，包括空降旅和裝甲旅，盟軍合共十三個師。 我們可以這樣推斷，七月十日駐守在島上的全部意大利兵力現已就殲，雖然有極少數潰兵可能已逃往本土。現在還不可能估算出繳獲的戰利品和軍用物資的數字。大炮、坦克、步槍和機關鎗散佈在整個島上，遍地皆是。 在整個作戰過程中，空軍始終保持著制空權，因而它們的戰術空軍部隊能夠集中了前所未有的力量，支援在戰場上的陸軍。在飛機場繳獲了敵機一千多架。皇家海軍保持海路暢通無阻，並支援我們所需要的一切物資。 後來，他又來電報說： General Alexander to Prime Minister 一九四三年八月十七日 一九四三年八月十七日上午十時，最後一名德軍已被逐出西西里島。全島現已在我們手中。 這次成功的和巧妙的持續三十八天的戰役，就此結束。敵人從最初受到的震驚中恢復過來以後，曾經一度頑強地進行戰鬥。地形造成的困難是很嚴重的。道路狹窄，若要穿過田野行軍，只有步行的人才有可能。在第八集團軍的前方，埃特納火山的高峰峻嶺堵塞了前進的道路，但卻能夠使敵人監視我們的行動。第八集團軍的士兵駐紮在卡塔尼亞平原的窪地，因此瘧疾在他們中間蔓延。儘管如此，當我們一旦平安地實行了登陸，我們的空軍利用佔領的機場展開了活動以後，勝負的問題已經沒有值得懷疑的餘地了。據馬歇爾將軍報告，敵人損失了十六萬七千人，其中三萬七千名是德國人。盟軍死、傷、失蹤人數合在一起，共損失了三萬一千一百五十八人。