The San Fratello Line

After capturing Palermo, Patton and his 7th Army advanced along the north coast of Sicily with the unavowed objective of entering Messina before the British 8th Army of General Montgomery. But Axis forces delay Patton's advance, systematically destroying bridges …

1943-08-04

6555

After capturing Palermo, Patton and his 7th Army advanced along the north coast of Sicily with the unavowed objective of entering Messina before the British 8th Army of General Montgomery. But Axis forces delay Patton's advance, systematically destroying bridges and setting up successive defense lines. Solidly entrenched on the San Fratello line, the 29.PanzerGrenadier Division had dug in behind concrete strongpoints and found the time to lay out mines everywhere. On August 4, 1943, hiding behind smoke screens, the 15th US Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division crosses the Furiano river, to try and storm the enemy's positions. But the attempt fails and the assault is repelled with heavy losses for the Regiment. The San Fratello line is finally abandoned by the enemy following the landing of Task Force Bernard on their rear, at Sant' Agata di Militello. It's during this Sicily campaign that Private Audie Murphy is promoted to Corporal. The stage is set, the battle line are drawn, and you are in command.

Nicetta, Sicily

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.

Wikipedia: Allied invasion of Sicily

German

American

Game Type: Standard

Board Type: Countryside

Website Access: Available