A High Price to Pay

Under the codename Operation Ladbroke, the British 1st Airlanding Brigade was to capture the Ponte Grande bridge spanning the Anapo River in eastern Sicily to allow for a quick march on Syracuse by the 5th Infantry Division. 144 gliders set off from Kairouan but only 54 actually landed in …

1943-07-10

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Under the codename Operation Ladbroke, the British 1st Airlanding Brigade was to capture the Ponte Grande bridge spanning the Anapo River in eastern Sicily to allow for a quick march on Syracuse by the 5th Infantry Division. 144 gliders set off from Kairouan but only 54 actually landed in Sicily; the rest got lost or were shot down. A reduced force attacked the bridge before midnight and captured it. They removed the demolitions and prepared for the inevitable counterattack. The Italians advanced with armored cars and infantry.

Syracuse, Sicily

Operation Fustian was an airborne forces operation undertaken during the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943 in the Second World War. The operation was carried out by Brigadier Gerald Lathbury's 1st Parachute Brigade, part of the British 1st Airborne Division. Their objective was the Primosole Bridge across the Simeto River. The intention was for the brigade, with glider-borne forces in support, to land on both sides of the river. They would then capture the bridge and secure the surrounding area until relieved by the advance of British XIII Corps, which had landed on the south eastern coast three days previously. Because the bridge was the only crossing on the river and would give the British Eighth Army access to the Catania plain, its capture was expected to speed the advance and lead to the defeat of the Axis forces in Sicily.

Italian

British

Scenario Type = Standard