Operation Marston

Operation "Marston", as the attack on the Primosole Bridge over the River Simeto was known, was given to the 1st Parachute Brigade of the 1st British Airborne Division to accomplish. It was planned to the last detail: equipment, weaponry, route, …

1943-07-14

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Operation "Marston", as the attack on the Primosole Bridge over the River Simeto was known, was given to the 1st Parachute Brigade of the 1st British Airborne Division to accomplish. It was planned to the last detail: equipment, weaponry, route, tactics, codes, even the type of food the British paratroopers could eat before the drop ("plenty of sugar, but little fat"). It envisaged two platoons of Colonel Alastair's 1st Battalion with the 1st Field Squadron Royal Engineers, commanded by Major C. Murray, landing right on the bridge or as close as possible and capturing the span by a coup de main. The rest of the 1st Battalion under Alastair would then drop and organize the defense of the bridge while the 2nd Battalion, under Colonel Pearson, would establish itself in a loop of the river roughly 1000 yards from the bridge. Colonel Frost's 3rd Battalion would seize and hold the high ground to the south of the river.

Primosole Bridge, 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

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