A Long Way To Go

During the pre-dawn hours the U.S. 7th Army successfully landed at both Licata and Gela. Unaware of each others plans, the Italians and Germans began a series of uncoordinated attacks against the Americans with the intention of breaking through to the beachhead. In the Gela area, the Italians …

1943-07-10

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During the pre-dawn hours the U.S. 7th Army successfully landed at both Licata and Gela. Unaware of each others plans, the Italians and Germans began a series of uncoordinated attacks against the Americans with the intention of breaking through to the beachhead. In the Gela area, the Italians were attacking with a mobile armored force while on the eastern edge of the invasion came two columns of the Hermann Goring FallschirmPanzer Division. One of these columns was busy engaging the Americans at Piano Lugo, the other attacked the inexperienced 45th “Thunderbird” Division at Biscari Station. With their Tiger tanks unable to keep pace in the dense olive groves of the region, the German infantry would have to overwhelm the Americans without armor support.

Biscari, 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. 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.

German

American

Scenario Type = Starter Kit