Invasion of Sicily

Operation Husky began on the night of 9–10 July 1943, when Allied forces launched a large amphibious and airborne invasion of Sicily. The U.S. Seventh Army under George S. Patton landed on the southern and southwestern coast, while Bernard Montgomery’s British Eighth Army came ashore in the southeast. American, British, and Canadian troops took part; the landings at Licata, Gela, Scoglitti, and farther east were supported by naval gunfire and air power. Syracuse fell on the first day, and the Allied beachheads held despite rough weather, confused airborne operations, and Axis counterattacks.

The Axis defence combined Italy’s 6th Army with German formations, including XIV Panzer Corps. Italian coastal units were uneven in strength, but German forces resisted at key inland positions and used Sicily’s difficult terrain to delay the advance. Alexander’s 15th Army Group directed the two Allied armies. The campaign therefore developed along separate western and eastern axes: Patton’s forces drove toward Palermo, while Montgomery’s forces advanced north from the southeastern coast toward Catania and the approaches to Mount Etna.

Palermo fell to U.S. forces on 22 July after a rapid advance across western Sicily. On the eastern side, British forces encountered stronger resistance around Catania and the Etna line. The U.S. advance through the island’s centre led to hard fighting at Troina in early August, where German troops held high ground and resisted attacks by the U.S. 1st Infantry Division. The capture of Troina on 6 August forced the defenders to continue withdrawing northeast.

German and Italian forces began evacuating Sicily across the Strait of Messina on the night of 11 August. The Allies continued toward the northeastern tip of the island, but the evacuation allowed a substantial part of the Axis force to escape to mainland Italy. Patton’s Seventh Army entered Messina on 17 August, hours after the last Axis troops had left; British and Canadian forces also reached the city. The capture completed the Allied conquest of Sicily, though it did not destroy the Axis forces defending it.

The campaign ended in an Allied victory and opened the way for the invasion of mainland Italy. Reported Allied losses varied by source: the U.S. Army, British, and Canadian figures in one account totaled about 24,900 killed, wounded, or missing, while another source gave more than 24,000 casualties. Axis losses were also reported differently: one account listed 4,678 Italian and 4,325 German killed, alongside large wounded and captured-or-missing totals; another gave 29,000 Axis casualties. The high captured-or-missing totals included troops taken prisoner and should not be read as deaths.