Microsoft Close Combat manual Foothold in Europe , Landings in Sicily

148 Close Combat

“Major Martin”	By June 6, Allied air superiority makes it impos-
There is an interesting prelude to the launch	sible for the Germans to move reinforcements to
	the front intact. It takes some units four days to
of Operation Husky. In late April, the British
	travel distances that should take only one; other
submarine HMS Seraph releases the body of
	units, especially motorized units, are badly mauled
“Major Martin” of the Royal Marines into the
	before they even reach the front.
sea off the Spanish port of Huelva. Major
Martin carries letters from the Vice Chief of	Allied air superiority also pays dividends to the
the British General Staff and Chief of Com-	soldiers on the ground. After campaigns in North
bined Operations to Eisenhower and his staff	Africa, Italy, and the Pacific, the Allied armies
outlining the Allied invasion of Greece. The	have developed excellent ground support tactics.
Allies hope the Germans will recover the body	Tens of thousands of ground support sorties are
and read the letters, because the body is not	flown during the Normandy Campaign while
that of Royal Marine Major Martin. The letters	German aircraft are seldom seen.
are fakes intended to deceive the Germans
as to the real invasion target, Italy. The	A Foothold in Europe The
deception works; the Germans recover the
	Landings in Sicily
body, read the letters, and remain uncertain
about Allied intentions.

In January 1943, Allied strategy is again put to the test at the Casablanca Conference. Churchill meets with Roosevelt to discuss the next phase of Allied operations. When the meeting is

over, they have agreed to a Second Front, a subsidiary operation in Italy, a major operation against U-boats, and the Combined Bomber Offensive against Germany. At their next meeting, in Washington, Churchill and Roosevelt set the invasion of northwest Europe for May 1, 1944.

General Dwight Eisenhower commands the offensive in Sicily code named Operation Husky, with General Harold Alexander commanding the landing forces. General George Patton commands the U.S. Seventh Army landing west of Cape Passero; General Bernard Montgomery commands the British Eighth Army landing east of Cape Passero. Both Patton and Montgomery are veterans of the war in North Africa; both go on to play major roles in Overlord and the fighting in France.

These armies will face General Guzzoni’s Italian Sixth Army. Guzzoni commands roughly 250,000 men, including about 75,000 Germans. The Italian troops are poorly equipped and demoralized from their mauling in North Africa. Guzzoni compounds his problems by tying up many units defending static coastal positions.

The assault on Sicily begins on the evening of July 9, 1943. General Matthew Ridgeway’s 82nd Airborne Division drops over too large an area and cannot consolidate to take all its objectives. The British paratroopers fare better but one-third of the British gliders are released too early and crash at sea. Still, the disruption caused by the airborne assault helps the seaborne assault the next day.