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Recon in Force

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Title
Recon in Force
Description
As the Allied beachhead in Sicily expanded, the impatient General George Patton demanded better facilities for supplying his troops. Under orders not to launch an offensive, Patton hit upon the subterfuge of calling his advance a “reconnaissance in force”. Pushing up from Gela, the job of seizing the docks …
Publisher
Date
1943-07-16
Scenario#
G08
Scenario Description
As the Allied beachhead in Sicily expanded, the impatient General George Patton demanded better facilities for supplying his troops. Under orders not to launch an offensive, Patton hit upon the subterfuge of calling his advance a “reconnaissance in force”. Pushing up from Gela, the job of seizing the docks at Porto Empedocle fell to the 3rd Ranger Battalion.
Location
Porto Empedolce, 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. 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
American
Italian / German
Additional Information
Scenario Type = Standard
Collection:

Geolocation