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Saint Agatha

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Title
Saint Agatha
Description
While elements of the 15th and 30th Infantry Regiments of the US 9th Division seized a key hill along the San Fratello Line, Lt. Col. Lyle Bernard led a reinforced Battalion in an amphibious landing at Sant' Agata, a few …
Publisher
Date
1943-08-08
Scenario#
21
Scenario Description
While elements of the 15th and 30th Infantry Regiments of the US 9th Division seized a key hill along the San Fratello Line, Lt. Col. Lyle Bernard led a reinforced Battalion in an amphibious landing at Sant' Agata, a few miles behind San Fratello. This assault force quickly blocked the coastal highway, unfortunately the Germans had already selected that night to withdraw from the area. Taking advantage of the constricting terrain and armed with a plethora of mines, General Hube deftly withdrew XIV Panzer Corps toward Messina. As the American forces pursued, however, they came upon innumerable blocking forces, both German and Italian, at every twist and turn of the narrow roads cutting through the rough Sicilian countryside.
Location
Northern Sicily, Sicily
Battle Narrative
The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II, in which the Allies took the island of Sicily from the Axis powers (Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It began with a large amphibious and airborne operation, followed by a six-week land campaign, and initiated the Italian Campaign. To divert some of the Axis forces to other areas, the Allies engaged in several deception operations, the most famous and successful of which was Operation Mincemeat. Husky began on the night of 9–10 July 1943, and ended on 17 August. Strategically, Husky achieved the goals set out for it by Allied planners; the Allies drove Axis air, land and naval forces from the island and the Mediterranean sea lanes were opened for Allied merchant ships for the first time since 1941. The Italian leader, Benito Mussolini, was toppled from power in Italy and the way was opened for the Allied invasion of Italy. The German leader, Adolf Hitler, "canceled a major offensive at Kursk after only a week, in part to divert forces to Italy", resulting in a reduction of German strength on the Eastern Front. The collapse of Italy necessitated German troops replacing the Italians in Italy and to a lesser extent the Balkans, resulting in one fifth of the entire German army being diverted from the east to southern Europe, a proportion that would remain until near the end of the war.
Narrative Source
Combatants
Italians
Americans

Geolocation