Swatting at Tigers

In the early morning hours of July 10th, Colonel James Gavin and the 505th Parachute Regiment were scattered over much of southern Sicily. Gavin landed 20 miles east of the selected drop zone, while most of his regiment came down as far as 60 miles from the planned landing site. …

1943-07-11

U30

In the early morning hours of July 10th, Colonel James Gavin and the 505th Parachute Regiment were scattered over much of southern Sicily. Gavin landed 20 miles east of the selected drop zone, while most of his regiment came down as far as 60 miles from the planned landing site. Of the 3,405 troops that had left Africa under his command, Gavin was initially able to muster only 20. Throughout the night and the next morning, Gavin marched his small command towards the sounds of battle to the west, collecting troops as he went. After clearing Biazzo Ridge of Italians, Gavin’s force – now numbering some 250 paratroopers and infantrymen of the 45th Infantry Division – pushed on. Advancing down the road along which the Italians had just withdrawn, they heard the sound of distant tank engines around the bend just ahead. Gavin was about to walk into the eastern pincer of the Hermann Goering Division’s two-pronged attack against the invasion beaches.

Biazzo Ridge, 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.

American

German

Scenario Type = Standard