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MEDITERRANEAN

NO.4
v IV'

HEADOUARTERS ROYAL
MIDDLRhlT
 Con tents
The Conquest of Sicily - 10th July to 17th August, 1943.
I. Preparatory Measures............... ... Page 5
II. The Assault... ...... .. :........ ..... 10
III. The Enem~y's Stand at Catania... ........... ,, 26
IV.
Reduction of the Island ... ..... ....... , 34
Diary of the Sicilian Campaign.. .... , 43
Tables Showing Scale of Effort.. . ... ... 45
Tables of Operations in the Mediterranean ........... . 48
Tables Showing Effort from Malta... ................ ,, 54
Air Operations in the Aegean......... ...... . ,, 59
Air Operations Against Sardinia and Corsica...... ...... , 73
Royal Air Force Regiment... .... ....... ...... , 77
Attack on Ploesti ........ ... ..... , 82
In the Wilderness.................................,, 89
First Air Attack on Wiener Neustadt ....... ............. , 99
Development-of Enemy Bombs and Offensive Weapons........ 103
Medical Receiving Stations in the Western Desert............. 108
Rescue by Night.................................. 122
Flying Control: Part II............ ... ... ... ,, 123
Air Transport............... . .......... , 129
A Difficult Rescue................ ... ... ......... 136
From the 540s ................. ..................... 143
Acknowledgment............. ................ . 147
Maps: The Sicilian Campaign - 10th July to 17th August , 4
Italian Targets Attacked - Ist July to 17th August ,, 20
The Aegean and Ionian Seas Area... ... ....... ,, 58-
The Dodecanese Area.......................... 60
Air Operations Against Sardinia-July to September ,, 72
The "Wilderness" , .,, ...... ..... ,, ' 88
137
The s gm... .......... ,, . 142

The R.A.F. Mediterranean' Review is Secret (= American Secret). It

is intended for the information of all officers and flying crews, under conditions
of security approved by the Commanding Officer, who is to ensure that within
those limits it has as wide a circulation as possible.
No quotation may be made from it without the authority of S.A.S.O., H.Q.,
R.A.F., M.E.; neither are any of its contents to be communicated to anyone out-
side the Services.
All persons are hereby warned that the unauthorised retention or destruc-
tion of this document is an offence against the Official Secrets Act, 1911-1920.
Any unauthorised person obtainin ssession of a copy should immediately
forward it in a clo ed J ope to H.Q., R.A.F., M.E.
 Foreword
A s announced in the Foreword-of the
last number of the Review, its name changes with this issue from the
R.A.F. Middle East Review to the R.A.F. Mediterranean Review. The
transition from a predominant Middle East viewpoint to the wider horizon
demanded by a Mediterranean production must of necessity be gradual,
and this number inevitably contains, apart from the historical narrative,
articles more of Middle East than Mediterranean interest. No apology
need be offered for that, however, for whereas Middle East may be
regarded more-or-less as a pensioned warrior mainly employed on guard
duty, it is true to say that the Mediterranean giant is"equipped in great
part with the former's weapons and experience.
The Mediterranean aspect, therefore, will be more fully developed
in the next number, and for that reason the commencement of the Invasion
of Italy, which really falls within the quarter under review, has been left
over until Number 5. Additional to that reason is the fact that the Sicilian
campaign, which may be regarded as a model combination of effort between
the three Services, land, sea and air, has been considered here in its
entirety.

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 The Conquest Of Sicily
ioth JULY TO 17th AUGUST, 1943

As the Tunisian campaign drew to its end

in the first half of May, 1943, plans were formulated for the invasion of Sicily, a
main bulwark of the southern defences, of Hitler's European "Fortress".
Essential prerequisites of the invasion included the reduction of Pantelleria and
the less important islands of Lampedusa, Lampione and Linosa; these were all in
Allied hands by 13th June, as the result of a sustained aerial offensive, supplemented
by naval bombardment. Details of the Allied air attacks were given in the previous
number of the "Review", but it may be re-iterated here that against Pantelleria over
5,650 effective sorties were flown by Allied bombers and fighter-bombers, in the course
of which approximately 6,500 tons of bombs were dropped, Against Lampedusa only
30 air attacks were needed in which about 5 °0o of the bomb tonnage expended on
Pantelleria was dropped.
Meanwhile, a strategic bombing programme had been carried out with the object
of interfering with the enemy's "build-up" in the Central Mediterranean area in general
and Sicily in particular. From the middle of May to the end of June constant attacks
were delivered against the enemy's airfields in Sicily, Sardinia and Southern Italy, the
enemy's ports and submarine bases in the same areas, the communications across the
Messina Straits and industrial targets, particularlyat Naples and Bari. In addition, the
bombing attacks from the United Kingdom against targets in Northern Italy were
supplemented by a few large-scale raids on Leghorn and Spezia from North-west Africa.
In the six weeks period mentioned Allied bombers and fighter-bombers of the
North-west African Air Forces and Middle East Command (including Malta) flew 2,292
effective sorties against the enemy's Central Mediterranean airfields and 2,638 against
his ports, bases and lines of communication. These totals are exclusive of the effort
against Pantelleria and Lampedusa.
The following account of the Allied air operations,1st July to 17th August, carried
out in connection with the Sicilian invasion, is divided into four sections:-
I. PreparatoryMeasures.
II. The Assault.
III The Enemy's Stand at Catania
IV. The Reduction of the Island.

I. PREPARATORY MEASURES
Preliminary Bombing Programme from mid-May to the end of June against the
The successful invasion of Sicily implied major enemy's airfields, bases and lines of communi-
commitments for the Allied air forces before, cation; for the week immediately prior to the
during and after the actual landings. Sicilian landings the Air Plan provided for an
Mention has already been made in the preface even greater effort against enemy airfields. By
.above of the scale of bomber effort developed "zero hour" it was hoped that the sustained

I
P ",S
attacks on the airfields, coupled with the ca- North-west African Air Forces remained in com-
sualties inflicted on the enemy's intercepting mand of the North-west African Allied air forces.
fighters, would have greatly reduced the enemy's The operational formations, the North-west Afri-
first line strength in the Sicilian theatre of war, can Strategic, Tactical and Coastal Air Forces
especially in fighter aircraft. In addition, the were to remain unchanged in their basic organi-
enemy's ports and lines of communication were sation and functions, although it was envisaged
to be attacked when necessary, in accordance that some redistribution of units might be ne-
with the intelligence provided by air reconnais- cessary from time to time.
sance. The provision of two subordinate Air Com-
Meanwhile, Home-based bombers were to con- manders by the A.O.C. Tactical Air Force for
tinue their offensive against Northern Italian in- air task forces operating in Sicily is considered
dustrial targets, which, apart from the material later.
damage caused, was certain to have an effect The Middle East air forces not already under
on the morale of the Italian people, which was the operational control of the North-west Afri-
already at low ebb. can Air Forces (excluding, that is, No. 205
Group controlled by the Strategic Air Force and
Malta Prepares the Desert Air Force which was an integral part
For Malta the wheel had turned full circle: of the Tactical Air Force) were to remain under
from being a besieged fortress in 1942 it was the existing system of command. The forces
now destined to become a major base for offen- operating from the North African mainland com-
sive operations. prised the Ninth U.S. Air Force (including the
As early as January, 1943, work had begun on two R.A.F. heavy bomber squadrons under its
the task of improving the island's airfields. operational control) and the A.H.Q. Air Defences
Existing airfields were extended and.extra land- Eastern Mediterranean and No. 201 (Naval Co-
ing strips were prepared. Thus, by the end of operation) squadrons. Malta, as already men-
June Malta could maintain and operate nearly tioned, accommodated a large fighter force de-
30 fighter squadrons. In addition, during that rived from the North-west African Tactical Air
month U.S. Army Engineers constructed a land- Force in additipn to the "garrison squadrons."
ing strip at Gozo from which a further three The A.O.C.-in-Chief, Middle East, was respon-
squadrons could operate. The airfield on Pan- sible for the administration of the air forces
telleria was also put into order and was soon operating from the Middle East and Malta and
able to accommodate several American long-range the Commanding General, North-west African Air
fighter squadrons. Forces had a similar responsibility in respect of
Meanwhile, the provisioning of Malta went on all other air forces operating in the Mediterra-
apace and adequate stores, supplies and spares nean theatre concerned with the Sicilian in-
necessary for the operation and maintenance of vasion. In the initial stage of the campaign,
the powerful air striking force were speedily also, H.Q., R.A.F., Middle East was to hold it-
accumulated. self in readiness to assist in the maintenance of
air forces based in Sicily.
Improvements were also made in the existing
After due consideration it was decided that
R.D.F. and fighter control facilities. In parti-
the assault on Sicily should be launched against
cular, a new Fighter Control Room was hewn
the south-eastern corner of the island and eight
out of the rock, an enlarged Filter Room was
simultaneous pre-dawn landings were planned to
established, and additional R.D.F. stations were
take place on the beaches from Licata to east
set up. For the battle period, also, a combined
of Avola. The British assaults were to be made
War Room was prepared with the object of pro-
on the eastern seaboard and the American land-
viding an hour by hour picture of ground, naval
ings on the south-east shore. The immediate aim
and air operations. Close at hand, also, were
of the assault troops was the capture of the air-
the Army Support Centre and the Naval Co-
fields and ports in south-eastern Sicily and the
bperation Operations Room. Thus, full care was
development of an assault on the key position of
taken that during the period of the coming battle
Catania. Subsequently, advances were to be
control would be immediate and as faultless as
made on Palermo and Messina.
humanly possible.
By restricting the landing to the south-eastern
On the eve of the Sicilian invasion nearly 40
corner of the island and ignoring the western
squadrons were concentrated on Malta and the
shore tactical surprise was more likely and the
satellites Gozo and Pantelleria. The Island was
dispersion of the air effort in covering assaults
ready to pay off old scores.
in the Palermo area was avoided.
Main Features of the Air Plan In spite of the concentration of fighter squd-
drons on Malta and the satellite aerodromes, for-
No radical change was necessary in the exist- ward airfields from which our short-range
ing organisation and system of command in the fighters could effectively operate over the battle
Mediterranean theatre. area in the initial stages were still not over-plen-
Under the direction of the Air Commander-in- tiful; in particular, fighters based in northern
Chief, Mediterranean, the Commandin Tunisia could operate effectively over the most

D ECAS
 1 i ; i^ r l {

westerly of the assaults only and could not assist hours of darkness, moreover, arrangements were
landings east of Licata. made for night-fighters based in Malta and Tu-
As airfields were occupied in Sicily, however, it nisia to give the maximum protection to ships
was planned for fighter squadrons from Malta unloading at the beaches and to captured ports.
to move in and their places on the island were to As soon as C.G.I. could be installed on selected
be taken by fighter-bomber squadrons, with- occupied airfields in Sicily, also, certain night-
drawn, in the first instance, from Pantelleria. fighter squadrons were to be established there.
When room was available for the fighter-bombers Reconnaissance
in Sicily the landing grounds vacated by them in
Malta were to be allotted to light bombers. The Air Plan made provision for a constant
These, in turn were to be established in Sicily watch to be kept on the enemy's strength and
when airfields became available. movements. For the initial period, arrangements
were made for a detachment of the North-west
A scheme was drawn up for an eastern air task
African Photographic Reconnaissance Wing to
force to support the Eighth Army and attached
operate from Malta in order to assist the work
units and a western air task force to assist the
of No. 248 Wing. Other photographic reconnais-
U.S. Seventh Army. Until the eastern air task
sance units were to continue to function from
force was established in Sicily the greater part
North Africa.
as already indicated was to be based in Malta;
these squadrons were to be under the command Tactical reconnaissance requirements in the
of the A.O.C. Malta until they were transferred to eastern area of the Sicilian battlefield were to
Sicily, when the A.O.C. of the eastern air task be met by No. 40 Squadron S.A.A.F., operating
force was to assume command. The American from Malta; a similar commitment in respect of
squadrons allotted to support the U.S. Seventh the western area was the responsibility of an
Army were to be derived mainly from Tunisia American observation squadron based in Tunisia.
and accordingly came under the command of the
The RBle of Air Transport
A.O.C. of the western air task force forthwith.
Both air task forces were to be under the control On the conclusion of the Tunisian campaign
of A.O.C. North-west African Tactical Air Force. units of the Troop Carrier Command commenced
The speedy establishment of the two air task training for the carrying out of a large-scale
forces in Sicily was of vital importance in order paratroop mission which was to precede the
to provide continuous close support to our ad- landing of our sea-borne troops.
vancing land forces. During the pre-invasion period, also, American,
- The Allied medium and heavy bomber squa- British and French air transport units were
drons of the North-west African Air Forces (in- available for the urgent transportation of person-
cluding No. 205 Group's Wellingtons) were to nel and freight. In addition, when the battle
continue to operate from the North-west African was joined the U.S. Transport Command was to
mainland and the U.S. and R.A.F. heavy bombers undertake the evacuation of wounded as well as
under the control of the Ninth U.S. Air Force normal transport commitments.
were to function from Cyrenaica, as formerly.
Relative Air Strengths
The sailing of east and west-bound convoys to
The Allied air forces in the Mediterranean
Sicily implied increased shipping protection com-
area were infinitely stronger than those of the
mitments. Fighter protection and anti-submarine
Axis. For all operations connected with the Si-
patrols were to be provided under the existing
cilian invasion it was estimated that a front-line
organisations. That is to say, convoys passing
strength of approximately 4,000 aircraft was
westwards through the Eastern Mediterranean
available. This figure excludes the large Ame-
were to receive protection from squadrons operat-
rican glider force.
ing under A.H.Q. Air Defences Eastern Mediter-
ranean and No. 201 (Naval Co-operation) Group, R.A.F. squadrons provided the majority of the
and east-bound convoys in the Central Mediter- single and twin-engined offensive and defensive
ranean were to be protected by the North-west fighters and coastal aircraft while the bomber
African Coastal Air Force. Wherever possible, and air transport forces were composed princi-
the Sicily convoys were to be routed close to the pally of American units. With regard to the
North African coast and fighter squadrons engag- night bomber force, however, it should be noted
ed on shipping protection were to move up with that this consisted mainly of R.A.F. Welling-
their respective convoys, as far as practicable, in tons, Liberators and Halifaxes.
order to economise the fighter effort. On the On the eve of the Sicilian invasion the German
day prior to the landings the invasion craft con- and Italian air forces had a total of 1,800 to
verging on Malta were to be protected by fighters 1,900 aircraft, excluding transport types, based
from the island to an extent of a circle of 50 nau- in Italy, Sicily, Sardinia and southern France.
tical miles 'radius from Valetta. The enemy's fighters were based mainly in
During and immediately after the Sicilian land- Sicily, Southern Italy and Sardinia. In Sicily
ings, before anti-aircraft defences could be and Italy (south of 41o north) it was estimated
established ashore, the fullest fighter protection that the G.A.F. had approximately 260 sinle-
was to be provided over the beaches. During the engined fighters and" fi te
Italians 200 single-engined fighters; in Sardinia, sectors, were estimated to comprise about 60,000
there were about 130 German single-engined men.
fighters and fighter-bombers and 100 Italian The Allied invasion forces were made up of a
fighters. The balance of the Italian single-engin- re-organised Eighth Army, which now included
ed force-approximately 230 aircraft-was locat- Canadian units, and the Seventh U.S. Army.
ed in central and northern Italy. The German Most of the Allied troops were veterans of the
twin-engined fighter force, which comprised North African campaign, and backed by sea and
some 75 aircraft, was based half in Sicily (in- air superiority they were confident from the start
cluding Italy south of 41° north) and half in of making the first breach in the defences of
Italy (north of 41° north). Night-fighter JU.88s Occupied Europe.
appeared to be based entirely in central Italy.
Pre-Invasion Blitz on Sicilian Airfields
Apart from 50 JU.88 bombers in Sicily, the
German long-range bomber force was based During the first nine days of July, in ac-
principally in Italy (north of 40° north), with an cordance with the preliminary bombing plan
additional strong force in southern France; mentioned on page 5, the Allied air forces
bomber reconnaissance JU.88s were also based carried out intensive attacks on the enemy's air-
mainly in the two last mentioned areas. Italian fields in Sicily. During this pre-invasion period
bomber reconnaissance and torpedo bomber air- the North-west African Air Forces carried out
craft were located in central Italy, with detach- 394 heavy, 1,255 medium and 377 light bomber
ments in Sardinia and Sicily. effective sorties against Sicilian landing grounds.
In addition, Cyrenaican-based Liberators of the
In addition, in Greece, Crete and the Dodeca-
Ninth U.S. Air Force flew 126 effective sorties
nese there were approximately 265 German and
against these objectives and Malta-based Spit-
180 Italian aircraft; °in particular, the German
fire-bombers also made a few attacks.
total included about 130 bombers, dive-bombers
and reconnaissance aircraft. The majority of the enemy's fighters in Sicily
was now based in the east, with Gerbini airfield
The serviceability of enemy aircraft in the
and its many satellites as the principal base.
Mediterranean area in general was estimated to
Accordingly, the greater part of the bomber ef-
average 50%; in the battle area, however, the
fort was directed against landing grounds in the
average serviceability was undoubtedly less.
Gerbini area. From 4th to 9th July, inclusive,
The Opposing Land Forces aircraft under the operational control of* H.Q.
North-west African Air Forces flew 294 heavy
It was naturally impossible to gauge with ac- and 560 medium bomber sorties against the Ger-
curacy the strength of the enemy's land forces bini landing grounds and U.S. Liberators of the
prior to the invasion, but by the end of the first Ninth U.S. Air Force flew 79 sorties.
week's fighting it transpired that the forces Some indication of the havoc wrought at Ger-
ready to repel our attack were approximately as bini is shown by the North-west African Photo-
follows:-there were five Italian field divisions, graphic Reconnaissance Wing's report on the
two German field divisions, and five Italian damage inflicted by 100 U.S. Fortresses on 5th
coastal divisions. The coastal divisions were made July. Of the 54 aircraft present on the main
up mainly of older men or men of low physical airfield during the raid all but four were destroy-
category and included a high proportion of Si- ed and at two satellite landing grounds a total
cilians; in addition, their almost total immobi- of fourteen aircraft, mainly single-engined fighters,
lity and the simple nature of the defence works were destroyed. Widespread damage was caus-
rendered them unfitted to the task of opposing ed, also, on several other Gerbini satellites. On
our assault troops. The Italian field divisions the 5th, moreover, enemy fighters were induced
were men of better calibre and more adequately to join battle. Approximately 100 enemy air-
equipped. The German divisions were the re- craft attacked a formation of 27 U.S. Fortresses
formed Herman Goering Division and an armour- and as a result of a long running fight 35 of
ed formation which had been given the name of the enemy were claimed as destroyed for the
the 15th Panzer Division, "liquidated" in Tunisia. loss of two American bombers. Two further
These two divisions were well equipped and in- formations of heavy bombers, which attacked the
cluded about 200 tanks; it became obvious that same objectives about 20 minutes later, met no
they would provide the hard core of resistance. enemy opposition, and an escorted formation of
After considering all available evidence at the U.S. Mitchells, which renewed the attack an
end of the campaign it was estimated that at hour afterwards, was also left unmolested. It
the beginning of hostilities the Italian field for- was evident that the enemy's fighter force was
ces, coastal defence and anti-aircraft artillery in no condition to challenge every Allied raid, but
units comprised in round figures 216,000 men. attacked spasmodically only, in an endeavour to
In addition, there were probably about 28,000 conserve strength for the critical days ahead.
Italian second-line troops composed of depot In addition to the blitz on the Gerbini group
units, carabinieri, and local militia, and a further of landing grounds, the following bomb loads
50,000 in labour corps. German forces at the were dropped on the other principal eastern air-
beginning of the Sicilian campaign, includin Biscari 335'6 tons: Comiso 300 tons (in-
anti-aircraft and t s ci i 1 tons dropped by U.S. Liberators): Ca-

tU f
 tania 139"4 tons. The majority of these attacks ber escort, offensive sweeps, shipping protection,
were carried out by N.A.A.F. medium bombers - and reconnaissance tasks.
U.S. Mitchells and Marauders operating by day
The bomber attacks included 75 Wellington
,and Wellingtons by night. sorties against Palermo and 26 more against the
The western Sicilian landing grounds also re- important position at Catania and an attack by
ceived attention, but the Allied attacks in this 21 U.S. Mitchells on targets in the Caltagirone
quarter were not so intense as these landing area on the day before the invasion.
grounds were now of secondary importance. The fighter-bomber effort was directed chiefly
Sciacca was attacked nine times by N.A.A.F. air-
against the harbours of Porto Empedocle and
craft, in the course of which 130.7 tons of bombs
Marsala, but there were also successful U S.
were dropped. Many of the raids took place at
Warhawk attacks on radar stations at Cape Pas-
night, and, in particular, R.A.F. and S.A.A.F.
sero, Palazzo, Catania and Syracuse.
Bostons and Baltimores played a full part in this
activity. Other western airfields attacked in-
Shipping Protection
cluded those at Trapani/Milo and Bo Rizzo,
against which 96 light and 45 medium and twelve The protection of the convoys en route to Sicily
light bomber effective sorties were flown, respec- involved increased commitments for the North-
tively. west African Coastal Air Force (which was con-
The Allied air forces' attacks on the Sicilian siderably enlarged particularly by the addition of
airfields during the first nine days of July ren- more Beaufighter squadrons) in the Central Me-
dered many of them unserviceable and about a diterranean, and the Middle East squadrons con-
half of the enemy's aircraft formerly based there trolled by Air Headquarters, Air Defences Eastern
were either forced to withdraw to South Italy or Mediterranean and No. 201 Group (reinforced by
moved to newly constructed landing grounds. In two long-range fighter squadrons loaned from
particular, on the eve of the Allied landings the North-west Africa and one from Malta) in the
main Gerbini airfield, seven of its satellites, and Eastern Mediterranean.
Comiso airfield were rendered unserviceable ; in In the fighter protection of our east-bound
the west, also, as the result of the heavy attacks convoys during the first nine days of July squa-
in June Bocca di Falco airfield appeared to be drons of the Coastal Air Force flew a total of
unserviceable and Castelvetrano was all but 1,426 sorties, including the record number of 574
abandoned. sorties on the 8th and 9th. In addition, 541 fighter
In addition to the great number of enemy air- sorties were flown on local defence. Naval co-
craft destroyed on the ground in the course of operation aircraft, meanwhile, carried out 258
the pre-invasion blitz on the Sicilian airfields, sorties on anti-submarine protection and sub-
bombers operating under the control of the North- marine hunts.
west African Air Forces claimed the destruction Over our west-bound convoys the fighter squa-
of 56 enemy fighters in combat for the loss of drons controlled by Air Headquarters, Air De-
seven aircraft shot down by anti-aircraft fire and fences Eastern Mediterranean flew 1,421 sorties
enemy. air action and eight missing; escorting and carried out 257 sorties on local defence. Coas-
fighters accounted for another 45 enemy aircraft tal aircraft of No. 201 (Naval Co-operation)
destroyed at the cost of seven shot down and five Group, meanwhile, flew 314 sorties on anti-sub-
missing, and Malta-based Spitfires acting as top marine close cover, area patrols and submarine
cover to the N.A.A.F. bombers also accounted for hunts.
an appreciable number of enemy fighters. U.S. As the great armada converged on Malta dur-
Liberators of the Ninth U.S. Air Force encount- ing the morning of 9th July fighter protection
ered little enemy air opposition in the course of was provided from the island. About two-thirds
their attacks on Gerbini and Comiso airfields and of the available fighter force was employed con-
destroyed only one enemy fighter in combat tinuously on shipping protection, carrying out 413
without loss. sorties.

Attacks on Bases and Communications The only opposition of note to the massing of
our invasion fleet was the attack on Bizerta on
As indicated in the preceding paragraphs the the night 6/7th July. Sixty-five enemy bombers
main activity of the Allied air forces prior to the dropped light explosive and incendiary bombs in
Sicilian invasion was directed against the enemy's an attempt to damage shipping in the harbour,
airfields. Attacks on his bases and lines of com- but the harm done was negligible. One JU.88 was
munication were consequently on a reduced scale. destroyed by night fighters and three more were
In all, from 2nd to 9th July, inclusive, aircraft shot down by our anti-aircraft fire.
controlled by the North-west African Air Forces It was clear that the Allied air forces' intensive
flew 194 bomber and fighter-bomber sorties attacks on the enemy's airfields had prevented
against enemy ports bases and shipping and 698 the concentration of an effective air striking force
against his positions and lines of communication; and the combined naval and air force control of
fighters meanwhile carried out 88 sorties on the Mediterranean sea-ways dissuaded the enemy
ground attacks and 68 on anti-shipping missions,
in addition to their normal commitments of bom- scale.
. ....
from employing submarines on any appreciable
.
 ASSAULT
The Assault from the Air while, 24 U.S. Mitchells made attacks over a
wide area, concentrating mainly on the Piazza
The invasion of Sicily began shortly before mid-
Armerina-Caltagirone-Biscariarea in attacks on
night 9/10th July, when British and American
enemy reserves but extended their range to
airborne units landed on the peninsulas north
Sciacca in the west and Floridia in the east.
and south of Syracuse and on the coastal plain
between Gela and Licata. The principal tasks of Later that night a large force of No. 205
these troops were to harass the coastal defence Group Wellingtons (including North-west Afri-
forces, destroy the enemy's lines of communica- can Strategic Air Force Wellingtons now under
tion to the coast and preserve those which would its operational control) attacked targets in the
be of use to the Allied armies scheduled to land Syracuse area, in order to create a diversion
on the morrow. while British airborne troops formed up to assault
the town, made a diversionary attack on Cata-
Glider troops, drawn from the British 1st Air-
nia, and bombed enemy reserve formations. The
borne Division, operated in the Syracuse area and
scale of effort of these important attacks was as
paratroops of the American 82nd Airborne Divi-
follows:- 55 aircraft attacked targets in the Sy-
sion were dropped in the Gela - Licata locality.
racuse isthmus, dropping all bombs in the spe-
Aircraft of the North-west African Troop Car-
cified areas, and nine successfully attacked the
rier Command carried out 109 C.47 (Dakota), 21
Syracuse' seaplane base; nineteen Wellingtons
Albemarle and seven Halifax sorties in towing
bombed Catania, scoring hits on the town and
the gliders and 226 C.47 sorties conveying the
the docks, while dummy paratroops were dropped
parachute troops.
to create confusion; nineteen bombers attacked
The strong headwinds encountered forced a the enemy's reserves at Canicatti, Caltanissetta,
number of gliders into the sea short of the target Caltagirone and Palazzolo Acreide; and six more
area but, on the whole, considering the difficulty aircraft carried out other specific attacks.
of carrying out such a hazardous undertaking
The General Officer Commanding 1st Airborne
at night, the missions were satisfactorily com-
Division later informed the A.O.C. No. 205 Group
pleted. Many of the set tasks were performed by
that although his troops "were not in a position
the airborne troops and the way was paved for
to take immediate advantage of the bombing,
the landings from the sea.
Syracuse was easily captured during the follow-
Protection for the aerial armada was provided ing evening largely as a result of it".
by R.A.F. night fighters and, in addition, cannon
Hurricanes of No. 73 Squadron preceded the In addition to the above-mentioned attacks,
transport fleet across the Sicilian coast in order immediately prior to the landings mentioned in
to eliminate searchlights. the following paragraphs, eleven R.A.F. Cyrenai-
can-based Liberators and Halifaxes bombed Avo-
It was evident that the enemy had been taken la, Noto and San Paolo, in order to weaken re-
by surprise and only slight anti-aircraft fire was sistance to the Eighth Army's initial attacks.
encountered.
The operations of the Troop Carrier Command The Landings
in connection with, the subsequent attacks of
At 04.00 hours 10th July, British, Canadian and
Allied airborne troops are dealt with chrono-
American forces carried out landings all round
logically.
the south-east coast of Sicily north of Syracuse
to west of Licata, supported by Allied naval and
Bombing on the Night 9/10th July
air forces. Nearly 2,800 vessels of different sizes
On the night of the airborne assaults bombing took part in this extensive amphibious operation,
attacks were delivered in order to soften re- ranging from the largest battleship to the small-
sistence generally to our shock troops; as cover est landing craft, and the sea forces participat-
to the glider operations; to create a diversion ing included units of the Royal Indian, Nether-
while our airborne troops formed up for the lands, Polish and Greek Navies in addition to
attack, and to prevent enemy reserves being the Anglo-American forces. The adverse winds
rushed up to the threatened areas. which had already interfered with our airborne
The attacks in the western area were carried assaults, together with a slight swell, caused
out by R.A.F. and S.A.A.F. light bombers and delays in the arrivals of some of the smaller
U.S. medium bombers under the operational con- vessels, but,' in the main, the landings were
trol of the North-west African Air Forces. A executed according to plan.
total of 22 S.A.A.F. and R.A.F. Bostons and Bal- British and Canadian' troops of the Eighth
timores attacked targets at Niscemi, Butera, Army landed on three specified beaches between
Ponte Olivo airfield, and eastwards as far as Pozzalo and Cape Murro di Porco, and the Ame-
Canicatti, causing many fires, and 25 R.A.F. and rican Seventh Army landed at two beaches along
S.A.A.F. Bostons effectively bombed the air-
fields at Sci~~acEs d~ilp inthewest. Mean-
so"
the Gulf of Gela. The Eighth Army had as its
immediate objective the capture of Pachino land-
 Paratroops emplaning in full operational kit.

ing ground and Syracuse, to be followed by an was occupied and repairs to the ploughed-up
advance up the east coast to Catania and Messi- landing ground were under way. By the early
na; the Seventh Army's tasks were first to se- evening forward troops of the Eighth Army had
cure Licata and Gela and then to press on to crossed the bay of Syracuse and by 21.00 hours
Caltanissetta, in order to cut the roads leading the town had fallen intact. The Italians had
to the invasion areas. had no time-or inclination-to carry out demo-
At this initial stage contact was made only litions and the majority of the civil population,
with the ill-trained demoralised Italian coastal moreover, proved friendly and willing to co-
troops, who offered little resistance. Bridge- operate.
heads were quickly established on all beaches To the west, the U.S. Seventh Army also made
and supplies and reinforcements poured in. good progress. Licata was speedily captured and
By 13.30 hours the entire Pachino peninsula an adIvanc was made On Vtt ra.

DAASSIFIED
E
Fl (3) A reserve Spitfire Wing was held in
readiness to reinforce patrols which requir-
an appreciable number of sorties in protecting ed assistance. In the event, these fighters
landings and unloading at the most westerly were not called upon for the task and
point, but, in general, the patrolling of the bea- some were employed in escorting U.S. me-
ches was the responsibility of the R.A.F. Spit- dium bombers in the attacks mentioned in
fire squadrons based on Malta and U.S. fighters the following sub-section.
operating from the satellites Gozo and Pantel- During the first day of the landings fighters
leria. based on Malta and the satellite islands flew a
As the fighters based on Malta and its satellite total of 1,092 sorties on beach patrol. The cover
airfields were not numerous enough to provide provided proved extremely successful. The Allied
constant patrols for each of the five landings Navies were prepared for a loss of 300 ships
throughout the sixteen hours of daylight the during the day prior to and the actual day of
following programme was adhered to:- the landings; in the event, up to nightfall of 10th
(1) Throughout the hours of daylight fighter July twelve ships only were successfully attack-
cover was given to at least two of the ed from the air. Most of the enemy attacks
beaches concerned. were delivered against shipping lying off Licata
(2) All landing areas were provided with con- and Gela, where the American troops were being
tinuous fighter patrols for the first two protected by U.S. fighter squadrons. Many of
hours of daylight; from 10.30 to 12.30 the American ships in the area lay as far as
hours; from 16.00 to 17.30 hours, and for six miles off the beaches and the fighters patrol-
the last one and a half hours of daylight. ling over the shipping were thus unable to afford
These periods were correctly anticipated full protection to the beaches and small craft
as the most likely times for enemy attacks. plying between the ships and the shore. Another

-'"'*./:*
 Amphibious craft coming ashore.

fact which militated against 100% fighter pro- against satellites numbers four and five and 28
tection in all areas was the fact that Naval against number nine. In each case the targets
anti-aircraft guns so frequently engaged our were reported to be well covered with bomb
fighter patrols that squadrons were eventually bursts. The enemy's western airfields at Sciac-
obliged to fly as high as 10,000 to 14,000 feet ca and Milo (Trapani), meanwhile, were effecti-
instead of 5,000 to 8,000, as ordered. vely bombed by 71 U.iS. Mitchells.
During the day of the initial landings Allied The attacks on enemy targets at Palazzola
fighters based on Malta and the satellite air- Acreide were continued by 36 U.S. Mitchells,
fields destroyed two JU.88s, one HE.111, and which encountered no opposition either in the air
nine enemy fighters, and probably destroyed or or from the ground. Further north 24 U.S. Fort-
damaged fourteen more aircraft; Allied losses resses and 28 Ninth U.S. Air Force Liberators
through enemy action were eleven Spitfires shot bombed the marshalling yards at Catania, in
down and missing. No. 324 Group's U.S. War- order to hinder the reinforcement of. the enemy's
hawks, operating from North-west Africa, in main strong points. Explosions followed by
their patrols over the most westerly point of the huge fires were caused and smoke from the lat-
landings accounted for another JU.88. ter was visible for 80 miles on the heavy bombers'
return journey.
Air Attacks During the day, also, North-west African U.S.
While the landings on 10th July were in pro- A.36s carried out intensive attacks on the
gress the Allied bombers and fighter-bombers enemy's communications and positions. The A.
continued their attacks on the enemy's Sicilian 36, a dive-bomber derived from the P.51 (Mus-
airfields, positions and lines of communication. tang) by the addition of bomb racks and dive
The Gerbini satellites, the enemy's main Sici- brakes, had made its appearance in the African
lian landing grounds, received the heaviest at- theatre of war in June. Although particularly
tack, a total of 51 U.S. Fortresses operating adapted for dive-bombing it was also employed

130
 View of the landing from the air.

as a glider-bomber for attacks in broken country; The enemy's air opposition to the Allied at-
it remained, however, fundamentally a fighter, tacking aircraft. on the 10th was slight, and of
and the usual formation was the fighter defen- the enemy fighters which attempted interception
sive formation of twelve aircraft line abreast. seventeen were shot down. Allied losses were
When the assigned targets were well described three U.S. Mitchells and two A.36s shot down
great success was achieved by the A.36s. It is or missing and a number of other aircraft dam-
worth noting that at this stage it carried a aged, including eighteen U.S. Mitchells; these
greater bomb-load than any other fighter-bom- casualties were believed to be caused entirely by
ber in use, excluding the P.38 (Lightning). On the intense flak encountered.
the 10th the A.36s carried out a total of 169
sorties in bombing and straffing attacks in the Air Activity Night 10/11th July
Agrigento, Barrafranca, CaJtanissetta, Grwmmi- That night, 10/11th July, U.S. Mitchells, Bos-
chele, and Vallelunga areas. The targets attacked
tons and Baltimores from North-west Africa
included road junctions, bridges, railways, trains,
operated over the western and central areas of
gun positions and transport vehicles. These at-
the island: the main target was Milo airfield,
tacks greatly assisted the Seventh Army's ad- but Sciacca, Trapani and the enemy's central
vance and hindered the movement of Axis troops lines of communications, particularly at Calta-
from the north-west of the island to the invasion
nisseta, also received attention. In, all, 79 U.S.
area.
Mitchell and 58 light bomber effective sorties
In addition to the above-mentioned attacks were flown on these attacks. In addition, four-
U.S. Lightnings successfully straffed an R.D.F. teen Wellingtons attacked the Gerbini landing
station in south-west Sicily. ground over a period of three to four hours,
Meanwhile, 21 U.S. Liberators of the Ninth encountering negligible opposition. No. 205
U.S. Air Force effectively attacked the Italian Group's effort on this night was limited owing
airfield at Vibo Valentia, causing numerous fires to the fact that heavy attacks on Augusta and
and scoring direct hits on hangars. Catania planned to support further airborne

Vdift
 0 MaIFIED
landings were cancelled due to the postponement
of these missions, and the scale of the attack on
M
captured and an advance was begun towards
Modica and Ragusa. To the west of this area
Gerbini was limited by an accident on a runway. American troops advanced to within two miles
By the evening of 10th July a G.C.I. station of Vittoria, effected some penetration in the Gela
had been disembarked and was put into opera- area, and accupied the high ground east, north
tion during the night. This and G.C.I. stations and west of Licata. The resistance offered to all
operating in L.S.Ts (Landing Ships Tanks) prov- these advances was still feeble.
ed invaluable in extending the range of the Malta Throughout the day the maxifhum air support
control now that enemy night bombers were be- was afforded from the North African mainland
ginning to operate against our shipping lying off and Malta.
the south-east coast of Sicily. The North-west African heavy bomber effort,
During the night Malta-based Beaufighters des- carried out by 83 U.S. Fortresses, was again di-
troyed two JU.88s and one Cant. Z.1007 and pro- rected against the marshalling yards at Catania.
bably destroyed a JU.88 in the Augusta and Sy- Explosions and huge fires were caused, the smoke
racuse areas; intruder Mosquitoes also probably from which could be seen for 140 miles on the
destroyed a JU.88 south-east of Castelvetrano. return journey, and many hits were registered on
the warehouses, repair buldings and oil storage
Bridgeheads Firmly Established installations. The attacks on the Gerbini landing
On the 11th, with bridgeheads firmly establish- ground were continued by 47 U.S. Marauders and
ed, our land forces made further advances in the the western airfields at Milo and Sciacca were
coastal area. Progress was made northwards and bombed by 27 U.S. Marauders and 36 U.S. Mit-
westwards from Syracuse along the roads lead- chells, respectively. Nearly 100 U.S. Lightnings
ing to Catania and Caltagirone, respectively, were despatched on offensive sweeps and to bomb
while to the south Avola and Noto fell and the targets of opportunity in Central Sicily, and an
escarpment to the west was occupied. Further even greater number of A.36s attacked transport
south Rosolini, Spaccaforno and Pozzallo were columns, trains and airfields, destroying or dam-

Note the open doors in the bows from which vehicles are driven out.

15 ~. .
aging 248 vehicles, two locomotives and several our forward units in the Gela area. The mis-
grounded aircraft, particularly in the region of sion was less successful than its predecessor and
San Caterina,Caltanissetta and Porto Empedocle. out of 144 C.47s despatched 23 failed to return.
Fighter escort for the bomber and fighter-bomber Difficulty was experienced in following the
formations was provided by a total of 117 air- course through lanes of safe transit which had
craft from North-west Africa, and 22 Spitfire to be determined in accordance with the opera-
sorties from Malta acted as escort to bombers tions of the Allied sea and land forces. The
attacking Gerbini. unarmed transport aircraft encountered intense
The Ninth U.S. Air Force Liberator attacks flak and were attacked by enemy aircraft; one
were again concentrated against the enemy's air squadron, in particular, ran foul of anti-aircraft
bases in the toe of Italy. Sixty-eight effective fire from our Naval vessels which were being
sorties were flown against the airfields at Vibo bombed by enemy aircraft from a high altitude.
Valentia and Reggio di Calabria and widespread
damage to airfield facilities and grounded aircraft Capture of Augusta
was reported. Considerable air opposition was On 12th July Ponte Olivo landing ground
encountered and two enemy fighters were des- to the north-west of Gela was captured; ele-
troyed without loss to the Liberators. ments of the' Seventh and Eighth Armies made
Meanwhile, Malta-based Spitfires and U.S. contact in the Ragusa area; the advance west-
Warhawks continued their beach patrols, flying wards from Syracuse went beyond Palazzolo
872 sorties. A mixed bag of 28 enemy aircraft Acreide; and Naval units entered Augusta har-
were shot down, five probably destroyed and bour, which had previously been subjected to
sixteen damaged for the loss of one Spitfire and bombardment from the sea. The town itself was
one Warhawk. During the day, also, 58 Kitty- occupied in the early hours of the 13th, after a
hawk-bombers, escorted by Spitfires, went into Commando raid on the 4 inch coastal defence
action, bombing and straffing enemy transport battery, and port installations were found to be
vehicles on the road between Augusta and Cata- almost intact.
nia. T.,ack onf vehiclpe nreventPd the convevance of
Our main air attacks on Sicily during the night the infantry during this period and our troops had
11/12th July were delivered against air and to march and fight in extremely hot weather.
supply bases in the west of the island. Forty-
Heavy air attacks were made during the day
eight U.S. Mitchells effectively bombed Bo Rizzo
on the Messina communications in order to hinder
airfield ard 30 Wellingtons attacked targets at
the enemy's reinforcement programme. The
Trapani, Marsala, and Mazzara de Vallo, causing
North-west African heavy bombers carried out
fires and explosions. The Wellington attacks
79 U.S. Fortress sorties against the Messina rail-
preceded a naval bombardment scheduled to com-
way bridges and 72 Cyrenaican-based U.S. Libe-
mence at 01.00 hours and great care had to be
rators attacked the ferry slips and railway yards
taken to be off the target before this began and
at San Giovanni and Reggio di Calabria. In the
to keep clear of the Navy's formidable anti-air-
following days these attacks on the enemy's main
craft fire. A further Wellington force of 26 air-
supply line were intensified.
craft bombed and machine-gunned hangars and
grounded aircraft at Porto Corvino Ravello air- Gerbini airfield and its satellites received their
field, near Salerno, at which enemy bombers were daily attack, delivered by 36 U.S. Mitchells, and
based. Agrigento and Canicatti were bombed by 27 and
From Cyrenaica pressure was maintained dur- 31 U.S. Marauders, respectively. In addition,
ing the night against the enemy's air bases across nearly 1,000 sorties were flown by North-west
the Messina Straits, twelve Liberators and Hali- African-based fighters and fighter-bombers on
faxes successfully attacking Reggio di Calabria sweeps and straffing missions against the enemy's
airfield. rear lines of communications in southern and
Malta-based Mosquitoes continued their intru- central Sicily, particularly in the vicinity of Cal-
der patrols over the enemy's air bases in north- tanissetta, Enna and Casteltermini.
eastern Sicily and southern Italy, shooting down The main air effort from Malta was still direct-
an unidentified aircraft over Crotone. Nignt ed to the provision of fighter cover for the land-
fighters were also active, shooting down two ing beaches and shipping in the occupied harbours.
JU.88s and an HE.111 which were operating Spitfires and U.S. Warhawks carried out 897
against our shipping off the landing beaches. sorties on these duties and succeeded in shooting
Our land forces were also on the move during down 24 enemy aircraft, probably destroying nine.
the night; in particular, Seventh Army troops oc- and damaging a further 21 for the loss of eight
cupied the important airfield at Comiso, where Spitfires and one Warhawk. Escorted Kittyhawk-
repairs were begun immediately by moonlight. bombers, meanwhile, continued their attacks on
gun positions and other targets on the Syracuse-
The Second Paratrbop Assault Augusta road.
On the night of the 11/12th, also, the Troop
Carrier Command carried out a further para- Good Nights Hunting
troop mission, which aimed at dropping troops During the night 12/13th July the Allied air
of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division in front of forces kept up their 24 hour bombing programme.

>AVE B
 ion,1j

Results of bombing at Augusta.

Forty-six U.S. Mitchells attacked Termini docks, Further Airborne Missions

with light bombers acting as "path-finders", in The same night, 12/13th July, two Albemarles
order to hinder the enemy's reinforcement and 45 dropped a small detachment of the British 1st
Wellingtons dropped 75 tons of bombs on enemy Airborne Division detailed to attack and harass
concentrations at Caltanissettaand Enna; a lesser certain enemy lines of communication and rear
Wellington effort was directed against the Ger- areas in north-east Sicily; one Albemarle was
bini landing grounds and light bombers carried lost in the course of this mission.
'A similar mission was attempted on the follow-
out limited attacks on Sciacca landing ground
ing night but the pre-arranged ground aids were
and communications south-east of Palermo. In not visible and the aircraft were obliged to return
addition, Cyrenaican-based R.A.F. heavy bombers to base with their task unaccomplished.
attacked the enemy's air bases at Reggio di Cala-
bria and Vibo Valentia in the toe of Italy. Establishment of the Air Task Forces in Sicily
The high-light of the night's air activity, how- The success achieved by our land forces in oc-
ever, was the success achieved by Malta-based cupying enemy landing grounds and the assistan-
Beaufighters and Mosquitoes. Operating in clear ce afforded by the R.A.F. Servicing Commandoes
moonlight the night-fighters had an excellent allowed the transference of squadrons to Sicily
night's hunting, shooting down five JU.88s, three to commence on 13th July. On that day No. 244
HE.ills, two Cant. Z.1007s and one DO.217 with- Wing Spitfires (less No. 417 Squadr6n which
out loss to themselves. fol ft h' urin the

~~ _ i.l$
next three days six mo"ir efi A.F. Spitfire squa- Paratroop Mission in the Plain of Catania
drons were installed at Comiso and six U.S. figh-
During the night 13/14th troops of the First
ter squadrons moved in to Licata and Ponte
British Paratroop Brigade were dropped over the
Olivo.
plain of Cataniain order to secure the key bridge
Thereafter, the transference of Tactical Air at Primosole over the Gornalunga river. One
Force squadrons to Sicily in accordance with the hundred and five C.47s, seven Halifaxes; and 23
Air Plan occurred at regular intervals, and full Albacores were employed with nineteen gliders
air support to our advancing land forces was in tow, some of which transported Jeeps and six-
continued without a break. pounder guns. The parachutists seized the bridge,
removed the demolition charges placed there by
Reduced Enemy Air Resistance the enemy, and held their positions till 09.00
The 13th July proved to be the last day on hours on the following day when they had to
which the enemy put up any effective air resis- withdraw owing to lack of ammunition.
tance in Sicily. His vital coastal radar posts had The venture proved a costly one as ten C.47s,
been lost on invasion day and other key installa- one Halifax and three Albacores were lost, but
tions were constantly attacked by fighter-bom- the paratroop mission performed an extremely
bers from North-west Africa; he now had recourse valuable piece of work.
to spotty coverage only. Fighter control was Meanwhile, our air attacks were continued
complicated further by the elimination of estab- against enemy positions and concentrations, par-
lished airfields and the occupation of new landing ticularly at Enna, by U.S. Mitchells and light
grounds. bombers and the Wellington force flew over 70
Malta-based Spitfires and U.S. Warhawks con- effective sorties in attacks on the marshalling
tinued their patrols of the beaches and harbours, yards at Messina and Palermo.
carrying out 732 sorties. As the result of nu- Malta-based Beaufighters and Mosquitoes took
merous combats 24 enemy aircraft were shot their nightly toll of enemy bombers, shooting
down, three probably destroyed and 25 damaged down five aircraft.
for the loss of one Spitfire. JU.87 dive-bombers
again showed their vulnerability to fighter at- The Advance Continued
tack ; No. 234 Squadron intercepted twelve un- On 14th July patrols of the Eighth Army were
escorted dive-bombers and shot down five of in contact with enemy rearguards in the area
them and damaged the remainder. Chiaramonte-Monterosso. A German counter-at-
Malta-based Kittyhawks were also active dur- tack had a flash-in-the-pan success in the early
ing the day, carrying out 54 sorties against the morning when enemy troops reached the seaplane
enemy's communications between San Michele base at Augusta, but by noon the position had
and Grammichele and at Curlentini and Lentini. been restored. The German troops which had
Targets attacked from North-west Africa on originally been in western Sicily had now moved
the 13th included a total of 76 U.S. Fortress sor- eastwards and were concentrated in the north-
ties against Catania and Milo/Trapani airfields, eastern part of the island. On the Seventh Army's
23 U.S. Marauder sorties against Carcitelia front, our troops captured Biscari airfield, Maz-
landing ground, and 108 escorted U.S. Mitchell zarino and Canicatti.
sorties against enemy positions and communica- During the day Malta-basedSpitfires made their
tions at Enna. Fighter-bombers, meanwhile, last considerable effort on beach patrols. The
bombed and straffed targets in the Castelvetra- enemy's air resistance by day was now practi-
no, Termini, Corleone, Caltanissetta and San cally negligible; only 40 enemy aircraft were re-
Caterina areas, where a total of 118 transport ported airborne and of these the Spitfires shot
vehicles were claimed as destroyed, and six loco- down four and probably destroyed two more with-
motives and 45 railway carriages and trucks out incurring any loss.
were destroyed at Leonforte. Close support was also provided by 34 escorted
As a result of bombing the Gerbini and Catania Kittyhawk-bombers which operated against tar-
landing grounds (the latter also having been sub- gets in the Caltagirone ard Lentini areas, where
jected to bombardment from the sea) were now considerable resistance was being offered to our
untenable and the enemy's dwindling air activity land forces; and 24 U.S. Warhawk-bombers made
was further limited by successful attacks on his their first appearance in the Sicilian campaign
air bases at Vibo Valentia and Crotone, in the in bombing enemy transport vehicles near Lentini.
toe and heel of Italy, by a total of 73 Ninth Attacks delivered from the North African main-
U.S. Air Force Liberators. land were chiefly concentrated on Messina, U.S.
In addition, the trickle of supplies reaching the Fortresses, Mitchells and Marauders of the North-
enemy's Sicilian forces was reduced by a success- west African Air Forces flying a total of 179
ful shipping strike carried out by Coastal Air sorties and Ninth U.S. Air Force Liberators 73
Force Beaufighters north-north-east of Palermo, sorties. Large fires and explosions were caused
which resulted in the sinking of a merchant ves- in the vicinity, of the marshalling yards and harb-
sel and the setting on fire of two escorting des- our and a big oil storage tank was blown up.
troyers. These attacks were followed up that night by

yyy i F ,;

ED,
 i..
'; '''

i:
di

ten Cyrenaican-based R.A.F. heavy bomber sortie 'ttacks on Enemy Shipping

As a result of the combined attacks the ferry During the first week of the Sicilian campaign
service now appeared to be in disuse. the Coastal Air Force scored successes against
The key base of Enna, in the centre of the enemy shipping in Central Mediterranean waters
island, was again heavily attacked by 60 U.S. on almost every day.
medium bombers, and U.S. fighter-bombers, oper- The week's "bag" comprised two merchant ships
ating at full intensity, attacked targets of opport- (of unspecified tonnage) and one 4,000 ton tanker
unity all over the battlefield, and hindered the sunk, two merchant ships totalling 12,000 tons
intake of supplies into North-east Sicily by probably sunk, and seven vessels damaged (in-
attacks on Milazzo docks and barges at Scaletta, cluding two transport ships of 9,000 and 12,000
south of Messina. tons, respectively, and a destroyer).
The continuous bombing of enemy transport The above-mentioned results include successes
and positions was continued during the night by scored off Sardinia and Corsica in addition to
Bostons and Baltimores; in particular, enemy ve- attacks against the main stream of sea traffic
hicles on the road south of Villarosa to Enna off Sicily and the Italian western seaboard.
were successfully attacked from 4,000 to 1,000
Air Offensive Against Southern Italy
feet; Lercara town was bombed, and traffic on
the main road to the west was .also attacked. In While the air attacks were continued at inten-
addition 48 U.S. Mitchells bombed the enemy's sity against Sicilian targets the decision was taken
important base at Palermo and targets in that to strike increasingly heavy blows against the
area generally. enemy's rail communications and supply and air
Malta-based Mosquitoes and Beaufighters again bases in Southern Italy in order to prevent the
had an extremely successful night, shooting down reinforcement of the island and the building up
twelve enemy aircraft, including nine JU.88s. of air resistance.
The Wellington attacks in the Naples area dur- The renewal of the air offensive against the
ing the night, which heralded the renewal of the Italian mainland was initiated on the night
offensive against Italian targets, are considered 14/15th July by No. 205 Group's Wellingtons. The
in the next column. two Neapolitan airfields at Capodichino and Po-
migliano were attacked by fifteen and sixteen
Ground Situation on 15th July aircraft, respectively, and many fires caused
among buildings and grounded aircraft. A great-
On 15th July our land forces re-captured the er effort was directed against Naples docks, where
important Primosole bridge and by the evening 44 Wellingtons caused considerable destruction in
we held the general line Primosole-Scordia-Gram- the area west of the harbour, in spite of the
michele-Mazzarino-Riesi-Canicatti-Favara-Palma. enemy's attempt to obscure the target with a
The whole of the Hyblean plateau, where de- smoke screen. A feature of the attack on Capo-
termined troops might well have fought a de- dichino was the dropping of 330,000 leaflets.
laying action, was now in our hands, and the On the next day, 15th July, the Naples marshal-
Eighth Army was beginning to debouch on to the ling yards received a shattering blow from 79
plain of Catania. The German forces had now U.S. Fortresses, which dropped 212 tons of 1,000
been reinforced to some extent by parachutists and 500 lb. bombs on their target. Photographs
acting in a ground r61e and it was clear that taken after the raid revealed that severe damage
strong opposition could be expected. was inflicted and much rolling stock was des-
troyed. In the central part of the yards sixteen
Enemy Air Resistance Broken in Sicily trains were hit and practically all the tracks in
The enemy's air resistance in Sicily had now this area were damaged and blocked. Other
been broken. Spitfires, which flew 171 sorties on damage included the setting on fire of two oil
offensive patrols over the Catania and Gerbini tanks and damage to buildings in the vicinity of
areas on the 15th, did not encounter a single the oil refinery.
enemy aircraft, and few were seen by fighters During the same day, Ninth U.S. Air Force
escorting our bombers and fighter-bombers. 'Liberators carried out 68 effective sorties against
-the enemy's important air base at Foggia.
Throughout the day U.S. fighter-bombers con-
tinued their attacks on enemy transport and posi- The following night, 15/16th July, the Welling-
tions, concentrating particularly on hindering the ton force flew a total of 62 effective sorties
movement of troops across Central Sicily to the against the docks and marshalling yards at
threatened areas in the east and south, attacking Reggio di Calabria and San Giovanni, across the
positions and transport vehicles in the area around Straits of Messina, and the airfields at Reggio,
Mt. Etna, and enemy vehicles west of Catania. Vibo Valentia and Crotone. In addition 2,308,000
Weight was also given to the attacks in the Ca- leaflets were dropped in the areas attacked.
tania sector by U.S. Mitchell attacks on the town The attack on Crotone airfield was supplement-
of Paterno. Meanwhile, the reinforcing of North- ed, also, by attacks delivered by seven Cyrenaican-
west Sicily was hindered by the bombing of Ter- based R.A.F. heavy bombers.
mini railway station by U.S. A.36s and the straf- On the 16th the attacks across the Messina
fing of truck convoys in the same area. on ue. v t-

19 U
0 ~ SIRE
ITALIAN
TARGETS
ATTACKED
BY
Al kG RAFT
I1 JULY TO
17TH AUGUST
X943

AUSTICA ISLAND

O A .. v~s

0j CTANZMRO

SCALE IN MILES
(APPROXIMATE)
0 25 50 5~ 1OO
PRINCIPAL ROADS --

ALASNAME
OF PLACE UNDERLINED
INDICATES EXISTENCE OF AIR-
FIELD OR LANDING GROUND.
resses which caused widespread devastation at To the west, the ana n pt macca
San Giovanni, particularly in the railway yards and Piazza Armerina.
and barracks area. One hundred and seventeen All of the enemy's effective forces-that is the
U.S. Mitchells and Marauders, meanwhile, con- German units-were now north of the line Primo-
centrated on the airfield at Vibo Valentia. Photo- sole bridge-PiazzaArmerina-San Caterina. The
graphs taken after the attack showed that of 78 Italians were fighting more half-heartedly than
aircraft present on the airfield, 50 were destroyed ever and the whole weight of the main defence
and two damaged. fell upon the stronger of the Axis brethren.
During the night the Wellington force was On the Seventh Army's front Pietraperzia,Serra
entrusted with the dropping of the joint Chur- di Falco, Agrigento and Porto Empedocle fell into
chill-Roosevelt warning to the Italian people, in- our hands and a firm line was established north
forming them of the uselessness of continued re- of these points.
sistance; 1,720,000 of these leaflets were distrib- During the two days under immediate review-
uted over Rome and Naples and other towns in 16th-and 17th July-Spitfires flew 235 sorties on
Southern Italy. In addition, a total of 59 Wel- offensive sweeps over the Gerbini and Catania
lingtons continued the attacks on the Naples areas in support of the Eighth Army's advance;
marshalling yards and Capodichino airfield. six enemy aircraft were shot down and two prob-
The following day, 17th July, was a fateful one ably destroyed for the loss of one Spitfire.
for Naples. In the morning 71 Ninth U.S. Air Beaufighters and Mosquitoes during the nights
Force Liberators attacked the marshalling yards, 16/17th and 17/18th on interception patrols in
and succeeded in placing a heavy concentration eastern Sicily shot down a total of sixteen enemy
of bombs in the target area, causing huge fires aircraft without loss to themselves.
and explosions. Two Liberators were destroyed
Fighter-bombers, meanwhile, flew a total of
by anti-aircraft fire and considerable air opposi-
148 sorties on attacks on Sicilian targets. In
tion was encountered.
particular, the Leonforte marshalling yards, north
The morning attack was followed up in the of Enna, and road convoys at Randazzo, the
afternoon by 111 U.S. Fortresses, 108 U.S. Mar- important supply base and road junction north
auders and 72 U.S. Mitchells from North-west of Mt. Etna, were bombed by U.S. Lightnings;
Africa. Five hundred and forty-eight tons of Kittyhawk-bombers attacked vehicles on the road
bombs were rained on the marshalling yards, near Paterno; U.S. Warhawk-bombers attacked
shell and torpedo factory, repair and textile plants, the radar station on Ustica island, which provid-
and on the Royal Arsenal, where tremendous ex- ed early warning of raids in the north; and
plosions were caused. Huge fires were started numerous U.S. A.36s attacked targets of opport-
and after the third attack a pall of heavy smoke unity in all sectors, bombing and straffing tanks,
spreading across the town obscured many parts trucks, trains, railway stations, and shipping in
of the target area. Although intense and heavy Termini harbour.
flak was encountered only six U.S. Marauders
Already the air plan for reducing Catania by
were lost. Enemy fighter opposition during these
the systematic bombing of the lines of approach
later attacks was on an extremely limited scale.
in addition to attacks on the position itself was
The intensive effort against Naples on 17th being implemented. Thus the bomber effort
July had a great effect in dislocating the enemy's against battlefield targets from the night 15/16th
supply system; an even more far-reaching result to the night 17/18th July, inclusive, included an
was the shattering blow delivered to the sinking attack on the night 15/16th by 46 U.S. Mitchells,
Italian morale. aided by Boston flare-droppers, on Randazzo;
Further air attacks on Italian targets are con- the bombing of Vulguarnera, north of Piazza Ar-
sidered on page 22. merina, on the Canadians' front, by 24 U.S. Mit-
chells on the 16th; an attack on the enemy's
Fall of Caltagirone and Porto Empedocle
Catania positions on the night 16/17th by four
While the bombing of the Italian supply and Bostons and 30 U.S. Mitchells; an attack on Pa-
air bases was in progress, our land forces, back- terno, west of Catania, by 24 U.S. Mitchells on
ed by full air support, were securing fresh objec. the 17th; and the bombing of enemy positions
tives in every sector, of the Sicilian battlefield. west of Catania by 42 U.S. Mitchells and four
On 16th July, elements of the Eighth Army Bostons, which also acted as illuminators, on
began to infiltrate across the river Gornalunga the night 17/18th.
and threatened the Gerbini landing grounds. The
Germans attempted a counter-attack against our The Advance in Central Sicily
positions at the Primosole bridge, but this proved On the Eighth Army's front heavy fighting was
unsuccessful. Further west, Canadian troops took continued north of Primosole bridge on the 18th.
Caltagirone and pushed along the road in the Our troops continued to operate north of the
direction of Piazza Armerina. Gornalunga, however, and by the evening two
The following day the Eighth Army extended brigades had crossed the river Simeto. Further
its Primosole bridgehead north of the river against west, Raddusa had fallen into our hands. On the
desperate German resistance, and continued to following day, 19th July, some.-progress was
infiltrate armoured units across the Gornalunga. made .in the area six miles south-west of Catania,

21 tf. r

'^-^*'
7si
and ac e a, supported by tanks, aimed During the night, also, nine R.A.F. Cyrenaican-
at Primosole blidge was beaten off. In addition, based heavy bombers continued the bombing of
the 51st Infantry Division in the face of deter- Sdn Giovanni across the Messina Straits.
mined, opposition established two bridgeheads In the early hours of the 19th four Wellingtons
across the Dittaino river three miles south-west dropped 864,000 special leaflets entitled "Citizens
and four miles north-west of Gerbini. To the3 of Rome," which pointed out in no uncertain
west, in spite of considerable resistance an adv- fashion the uselessness of Italian resistance and
ance was made to within fourteen miles of Enna. the disaster awaiting the Italian people as a re-
On the Seventh Army's front Caltanissetta,Ca- sult of their collaboration with the Germans.
terina and Aragona were captured on the 18th.
The following day an advance was made in the The Attack on Rome
area north-north-west of Caterina,and Mussomeli After full consideration of all likely repercus-
was reached further west; in the coastal sector sions-military, political and religious-consequent
the American 82nd Airborne Division reached the on an air bombardment of Italy's capital, it was
area north-west of Montallegro. decided that the time was now opportune for
In the course of the two days, 18th and 19th this long-awaited attack to be made.
July, Allied fighters flew a total of 428 sorties Crews were carefully briefed for definite mili-
on offensive patrols; two ME.109s and two ME. tary targets only in order that the minimum
110s were destroyed and one ME.110 was prob- damage should be done to a city unique for its
ably destroyed for the loss of one Spitfire; all religious and historical associations, and the popu-
the interceptions took place in the Catania,Etna, .lation had been previously warned that an attack
and Riposto areas. In addition, on the morning was imminent.
of the 19th, Spitfires escorting a convoy of three The blow was delivered on the morning of
troopships and three destroyers into Augusta 19th July by a force of 158 U.S. Fortresses of
prevented four R.E.2001 bombers, escorted by the North-west African Strategic Air Force and
six other RE.2001s, from damaging the vessels 112 Ninth U.S. Air Force Liberators.
and shot six of the enemy aircraft down. In the afternoon, also, 216 U.S. Mitchells and
Ground straffing and fighter-bomber attacks 105 U.S. Marauders, escorted by U.S. Lightnings,
were carried out by a total of 224 Allied air- all of the North-west African Air Force, attacked
craft. The biggest effort was made by U.S. the Ciampino airfield, south of the city.
A.36s. On the 18th attacks were concentrated Although our aircraft were traced to the Rome
on Adrano, across the Simeto river, on the road area by radar and the attack was expected hour-
leading south-east to Catania; in the Caterina ly the enemy air opposition was negligible. Not
area, in order to aid the attacking troops of the a single American aircraft failed to return from
Seventh Army; and on the supply base at Ter- the morning mission and two bombers only were
mini, south-east of Palermo. The following day lost in the afternoon attack on Ciampino.
successful attacks were made on trains being Excellent photographic coverage by the North-
loaded at Fondaco. U.S. Warhawks also did west African Photographic Reconnaissance Wing
good work in bombing railway yards at Alcamo revealed that all targets were attacked success-
and Castelvetrano, western Sicily, and in attack- fully. The Lorenzo railway yards, engine houses
ing warehouses, petrol storage, and trains in and locomotive shops were devastated and large
the same areas; sheds in the main freight dep6t and much track
The main medium bomber effort in Sicily, and rolling stock were severely damaged. The
meanwhile, was directed against the enemy's posi- Tobonelli steel plant, a large chemical plant, the
tions at Catania on the night 18/19th, when tram garage and the passenger car depot were
attacks were made by 25 U.S. Mitchells, aided all hard hit and damage was inflicted on indus-
by Boston flare-droppers, and on Randazzo, on trial buildings to the south-west of the target.
the 18th and 19th, when 17 American medium At the Littorio railway yards about 80 hits were
bombers bombed the railway and road bridges scored along the entire length of the marshalling
in order to hinder the enemy's reinforcement of yards and sidings, including" 50 direct hits on
the' Catania sector generally. rolling stock and tracks. In addition, the loco-
motive dep6t and workshops were badly damag-
Air Offensive on Italy Continued ed. The Ciampino north airfield was rendered
Meanwhile, the air offensive against the Axis temporarily unserviceable and apart from 24
supply and air bases in Southern Italy was con- grounded aircraft destroyed or damaged hits were
tinued at high intensity, scored on ammunition dumps, administrative
On the night 17/18th a total of 62 Wellingtons buildings, hangars and barracks. At the south
were detailed to attack the enemy's air bases at airfield similar damage was done to airfield
Monte Corvino and Pomigliano, in the Salerno facilities and at least fourteen aircraft were
and Naples areas respectively,: Cloud and ground observed damaged or burnt out.
haze made identification, of the" targets difficult In the city of Rome itself no damage was
but bursts in each case were observed across the caused except to a few buildings in the immediate
landing grounds and large fires were started. In vicinity of the Lorenzo railway yards.
addition, 1,401,000 leaflets were dropped in the Apart from the tremendous blow inflicted on
target areas. . ' communications and air strength the
Lorenzo marshalling yards, Rome, under attack on 19th July, 1943.

23
 Assessment of damage at Ciampino North airfield, Rome.
1. Ammunition dump : two out of three storage 9. Barracks severely damaged by two possible direct
sheds damaged, hits and huts partially destroyed.
2. Three buildings damaged and one big shed partly 10. Three sheds destroyed by fire.
destroyed.
3. Two shed type buildings, one gutted and one 11. One shed destroyed by fire.
4. d amaged the upper storeys o 12. Crater blocking road; direct hit on light rail-
4. A direct hit has damaged the upper storeys of way; four trucks still burning.
the Administrative block. way our trucs still
5. Blast damage to West Hangar. 13. Twenty aircraft damaged or burnt out.
6. Blast damage to roof of Central Hangar. 14. Small dumps of stores burnt out.
7. Roofing stripped and structure damaged of East There are nearly 600 large, medium or small
Hangar. ters on landing and dispersal areas, not
8. Three direct hits on two-day spre A 2 I I i luding those made by fragmentation bombs.
1. Repair sheds damaged by fire and 4-5 direct hits. 7. Six-day hangar damaged by one or two direct hits.
2. Six-day hangar damaged. 8. Twelve damaged or destroyed aircraft on landing
3. Sheds and buildings damaged by two near misses. field or dispersal area.
4. Two shed type hangars damaged by eight bombs
on and between them ; one large aircraft blown Nearly 200 craters on landing ground or dispersal
in two by direct hit. areas, not including those made by fragmentation
5. Small shed damaged.
6. Presumed Recreation Hall damaged by direct hit.
Presumed kitchen and Mess Hall damaged by 2-3
near misses. Five other small buildings damaged

a~~9~aoED
effect on Italian morale was incalculable. The hands on 19th July all but two-Trapani/Milo
war had been brought to the very heart of Italy and Bocca di Falco, in the north-west of the
and from this time the desire of the people to island-were unserviceable. The only active air-
be unfettered from the cracking German war craft were eleven single-engined fighters at Bocca
machine became more and more manifest., di Falco. Two days later the enemy's air activity
from Sicilian bases, which during the campaign
Liquidation of Enemy's Sicilian Air Bases had never been particularly active, was definitely
Of the few Sicilian airfields still in the enemy's dead.

IrI. THE ENEMY'S STAND AT CATANIA

The Occupation of Western Sicily and A.36s on the Partinico railway yards and
During the fourth week in July the Seventh the roads to the north: Meanwhile, U.S. A.36s
Army made spectacular progress which resulted bombed and straffed troops, vehicles and artillery
in the occupation of the entire western part of positions in the Petraliaarea.
Sicily. During the 25th and 26th the American troops
re-grouped for a further thrust eastwards. They
An advance westwards from Agrigento reach- repulsed an enemy attack eight miles north-west
ed Castelvetrano on 21st July and the western of Nicosia and on the northern coast reached a
ports of Marsala and Trapani fell like ripe fruit point eight mileswest of an Stefano
on the 23rd and 24th, respectively. An advance In order to soften resistance to this coastal
to the north, meanwhile, from positions in Cent- push from the night 19/20th to 26th July light
ral Sicily resulted in the occupation of Enna on bombers made two night attacks and U.S. A.36s,
20th July and Palermo was reached by nightfall operating each day, bombed and straffed com-
on the 22nd. The important base of Enna, in munications and supply dumps in the San Stefano
particular, had been attacked by a total of 212 area and to the east and south-east.
medium, 30 light and 107 fighter-bombers from By the end of July the Seventh Army had
10th to 16th July, inclusive, advanced southwards to. Nicosia and eastwards
Actually, the Air Plan had envisaged the fall beyond San Stefano.
of Catania before Palermo, but the delay in cut-
ting the Central Sicilian roads enabled the enemy Fierce Fighting on Eighth Army's Front
to reinforce the Catania sector from the north- S atania fie f g c d
west. South of Catania fierce fighting continued but
in spite of the strongly defended positions held
The troops opposing the Seventh Army were by the enemy in this sector heavy casualties
entirely Italians. These, now convinced beyond were inflicted on his forces. The Herman Goering
all doubt of certain defeat on the battlefield division was now holding on while the 15th Arm-
and the further devastation of their homeland, oured Division came eastwards to form up on its
and realising at long last that they were mere right flank.
pawns
pawns in
in the
the Nazi
Nazi game,
game, were
were only
only too
too eager
eager- Even heavier fighting, however, took place on
to pass into captivity for the rest of the war, Ev en avier fighting, however took place on
t h e c e n t r a l r o n t t o t h e w e s t o f C a t a
to their Sicilian homes and f na, where
or slip quietly back
ormslp qieti act tei iii esthe Canadians made steady headway in the face
normal peacetime activities of determined opposition. On the 21st and 22nd
Apart from the hopelessness of the military our troops engaged strong elements of the 15th
position Italian morale received another jolt, by Armoured Division south-west of Agira and in
the overthrow of Mussolini on, the 25th and the the region of Leonforte. The Germans here were
resultant uncertainty which followed the collapse fighting back grimly in order to keep .open the
of the Fascist regime, road running eastwards and in the hope of re-
Owing to the nature of the Seventh Army's inforcing the north-eastern stronghold with
advance and the absence of enemy air opposition Italians. Assoro, south-east of Leonforte, fell to
air support on a large scale was not necessary. the Canadians' assault on 22nd and on the fo'-
Some of the most successful attacks in western lowing day Leonforte was captured.
Sicily during the four days of spectacular advance The enemy's 15th Armoured Division was now
were made on targets of opportunity by 44 U.S. forced to withdraw eastwards along the roads
Warhawks, including 28 carrying bombs, on 20th through Petralia,Nicosia, Troina and north and
July. The railway yards at Partinico were at- east of Leonforte and Nicosia, under cover of
tacked and the track was bombed from Alcamo heavy artillery fire and flak, to join up with
almost to Trapani; in addition, attacks were the Herman Goering Division. The German'units
made on gun positions south of Gastellamare, suffered heavy casualties on this and the suc-
on ammunition dumps west of Vitta and a radar ceeding days at the hands of our land and air
station on the southern tip of Stagnone island, forces.
On this and the following day, successful attacks Nicosia, ten miles north-east of Leonforte, was
were also made by a total of 32 U.S. Warhawks captured on the 24th, and in the face of strong
enemy opposition the Canadians, aided by Kitty-
hawk bomber attacks, pushed on towards Agira those made on Regalbuto, aof
which was still in Axis hands. The following Agira, on the 26th and 27th while the Canadians
day our troops fought their way astride the were making their thrust in the Agira sector.
Agira road but during the evening were forced On the 26th R.A.F. and U.S. light bombers flew
to withdraw. a total of 212 sorties in attacks on Regalbuto and
During the 26th and 27th, however, the,Cana- these were supplemented by 22 Kittyhawk-bomber
dians continued to maintain pressure in the Agira sorties; considerable damage was done to the
sector, supported by the air attacks on the Regal- town and roads in the vicinity. On the following
buto area mentioned in the following sub-section, day the attacks were renewed by 82 more light
and reached positions overlooking Agira on three bombers, These attacks, followed by 82 light
sides. On the 29th the town was captured. bombers and eleven fighter-bomber sorties on
Centuripe, further east, on 28th and 31st July
Further south a British force improved its
materially helped our thrust eastwards from
positions on the Dittaino river before Catena-
Agira.
nuova, aided by Kittyhawk bomber attacks, and
occupied the town on the same day as Agira fell. Catania itself, during the twelve days under
consideration, was attacked by a total of 150
Air Attacks in the Battle Area U.S. A.36s, U.S. Warhawks, and Kittyhawks;
these attacks do not include the bombing of
Full air support was afforded by our air forces the harbour. Particular attention was paid to
during the period of the stranglehold on the the marshalling yards and railway bridges in
Catania area mentioned in the preceding para- order to hinder the transportation of supplies
graphs. and troop movements.
The air plan aimed at the isolation of the Among the other strategic strong points guard-
main Catania position by the systematic bomb- ing the approaches to the enemy's north-eastern
ing and straffing of every line of reinforcement area of resistance, Misterbianco, Adrano, Paterno
and approach. The ring formed by Misterbianco, and Cesaro received the main weight of the air
Paterno, Adrano, Regalbuto, Troina, Cesaro, attacks.
Bronte, Randazzo, Fiumefreddo, Riposto and
The attacks on Riposto, on the coast to the
Acireale were kept under constant attack and
north of Catania, are more properly regarded
the connecting roads were also constantly straf-
as part of the plan to limit the reinforcing and
fed. Meanwhile, attacks were continued on Ca-
supplying of the Catania position and are con-
tania itself.
sidered later.
From the night 19/20th July to the end of the
month aircraft under the control of the North- Allied Forces Re-group for Final Attack
west African Tactical Air Force flew a total of 84 The Allied forces, now re-grouping for the
medium, 705 light and 1,170 fighter-bomber final assault, had a formidable task in front of
sorties against the targets mentioned in the pre- them. In the southern Catania sector the enemy
ceding paragraph. The fighter-bomber attacks held strongly defended positions which had been
on the harbours at Catania, Riposto and Aci- improved by wiring and digging and the whole
reale are not included in the above total but of the Germans' right flank was in difficult
are considered in the later sub-section, "Attacks mountainous country, easily defended and giv-
on Sicilian Harbours". ing no scope for mobile tank warfare. There
The Allied fighters, meanwhile, flew nearly were three main roads only in North-eastern
1,000 sorties on offensive patrols on all sectors Sicily along which large-scale Allied attacks
of the battlefield but no conclusive engagements could be developed:- that circling Mt. Etna, the
with enemy aircraft were reported. Catania-Messina coast road; and the northern
The most consistent effort was directed against coastal road.
Randazzo, the important road junction which The beginning of the end was in sight, but the
connected the Axis positions in the north with way was still hard and .hazardous.
those on the east coast. During the twelve days
Attacks on Sicilian Harbours
under review attacks were made by, 43 medium,
46 light and 178 fighter-bombers on the town, While the air attacks on battlefield targets
bridges and roads in the vicinity. Perhaps the were in progress constant air attacks were de-
most successful raid of the series was that car- livered on the few remaining harbours in north-
ried out by 36 U.IS. Warhawks on 22nd July, east Sicily still in Axis hands. Such craft as
when 40 enemy vehicles were claimed as des- escaped our sea forces, which were operating
troyed and 25 damaged. at times even in the Messina Straits, were often
Of almost equal consistency were the attacks caught in the enemy's Sicilian reinforcing ports,
delivered on the Troina area by twelve medium, and the damage inflicted on harbour facilities
97 light and 135 fighter-bombers; the bombers further limited the scanty supplies reaching the
concentrated on the town and main road junction, enemy's hard-pressed army.
and the fighter-bombers (including 76 U.S. A.36s) The previous heavy air attacks on the Messina
attacked targets on the Troina-Randazzo road. ferry terminal and those across the Straits

BE
. 27

t-
U S. Mflchells of the N A TA F. on low level bombtng of Sicilian roads.

DEBOlD
had ended the train ferry service, and the fires of No. 322 Wing, operating "f the air-
enemy had recourse mainly to the employment field at Lentini, south of Catania, shot down 21
of small craft such as "F"-boats, Siebel ferries JU.52s and four escorting ME.109s off Milazzo.
and barges in his attempt to pass supplies across
to Messina. During the last twelve days in Attacks on Italian Communications Continued
July 59 U.S. Warhawks and A.36s attacked Mes- Simultaneously with the air attacks on the
sina harbour: the A.36 attacks resulted in dam- enemy's shipping at sea, air transport and Sicil-
age to a cruiser and two destroyers, and the ian harbours, the offensive against Italian bases
Warhawks scored near misses on a 400 foot and communications was maintained at high
transport and two patrol boats, in addition to intensity.
the bombing of two barges, two ferries and a
Photographic coverage revealed that as a re-
steamer with unobserved results.
sult of the shattering blow to Naples on 17th
Riposto harbour, to the north of the Catania July, mentioned on page 21, rail traffic through
position, was attacked by a total of 111 U.S. the Naples marshalling yards was still complete-
Warhawks and Kittyhawks. Considerable dam- ly stopped. Traffic could by-pass the city, how-
age was inflicted on the docks and jetties and ever, through the junctions at Cancello and
direct hits were scored on barges and small Caserta. Accordingly heavy attacks were now
freighters. made on the railway junctions at Salerno, Batti-
Acireale, further south, was also attacked on paglia, and Foggia to prevent supplies reaching
one occasion by eleven U.S. Warhawks which Southern Italy and Sicily.
caused damaged to the harbour facilities.
Concerted attacks were made on all three junc-
The heaviest attacks, however, were made tions on 22nd July, when 71 U.S. Fortresses at-
against Milazzo, at this stage the enemy's busiest tacked Foggia, 52 U.S. Mitchells attacked Salerno
harbour. From 24th to 31st July, inclusive, 38 and 48 more U.S. Mitchells bombed Battipaglia.
medium, 160 light, and 211 fighter-bombers made In addition, 39 Wellingtons had previously attack-
attacks on the harbour and 48 fighter-bombers ed Salerno on the night 21st/22nd July and 66
attacked the marshalling yards, the main bridges more Wellington sorties were flown against this
and roads in the vicinity. Apart from the medium target on the nights 22nd/23rd and 23rd/24th.
bomber attacks, carried out by U.S. Mitchells, At Salerno all rail traffic through the junction
aided by flare-dropping Bostons, the effort was was stopped and great damage was done to rol-
made by day. The bomber attacks resulted in ling stock. All main lines were destroyed at
widespread damage to the harbour installations Battipaglia, and rail traffic through Foggia was
and near misses on a tanker and several small also definitely stopped owing to the cutting of
vessels. The fighter-bomber attacks, delivered the main lines. Rail traffic to Southern Italy
almost entirely by U.S. A.36s and U.S. War- was consequently bottle-necked pending repairs.
hawks, resulted in direct hits being scored on to the three junctions attacked.
two 1,000 ton vessels, a 500 ton vessel, a "large
Additional attacks on southern Italian com-
ship" of unreported size and two freighters, in
munications were made by 35 Wellingtons on
addition to numerous near misses on other ship-
the night 23rd/24th, when the San Giovanni
ping in the harbour and damage to the quays
and docks. docks were bombed; by a total of 48 U.S. Mit-
chells on 24th and 26th July when the marshal-
Attacks on Enemy Shipping at Sea ling yards at Paola were attacked; and by eleven
R.A.F. Cyrenaican-based heavy bombers on the
During the last week in July, also, aircraft night 20th/21st July when the Reggio di Oalabria
of the North-west African Air Forces flew 106 railway yards were bombed.
effective bomber and fighter sorties against enemy
In the north, also, a heavy blow was struck
shipping at sea.
at the Bologna marshalling yards by 51 U.S.
Of the twelve attacks delivered the most suc- Fortresses on 24th July. At least seventeen
cessful were those made by Coastal Air Force tracks were put out of commission and much
Beaufighters. A 2,000 ton merchant vessel was devastation was caused to rolling stock by the
sunk and a schooner probably sunk west of blowing up of an ammunition train in the north
Naples on 24th July, and a barge was left ablaze; forwarding sidings. Locomotive depots and stores
a 1,500 ton merchant vessel was sunk off the were hit, the through lines east to west were
Sardinian coast on the 26th; and on the 29th a cut in several places, the main line northwards
merchant vessel of 8,000 tons was probably sunk was blocked, and the northern loop line was
and a destroyer and an M.T.B. were set on fire damaged.
north of Licosa Point, the southern extremity of
the Gulf of Salerno. The subsequent attacks on Italian bases and
communications during the last fortnight of the
Destruction of Air Transport Sicilian campaign are considered on page 34.
In addition to the attacks on the enemy's sea- Intensive Bombing of Italian Airfields
borne supplies and Sicilian harbours successful
blows were also struck at the enemy's air trans- The air attacks, meanwhile, on the series of
port force. In particular, on 25th July 33 Spit- airfields in Italy were continued unabated.

29
 aircraft were damaged or destroyed, including
four main classes according to their locality:- thirteen ME.llOs and six large aircraft.
airfields in the foot of Italy, in the Naples area, In the Rome area, Pratica di Mare airfield,
in the Rome area, and those to the north of Rome. to the south of the city, was attacked on two
In the toe of Italy Vibo Valentia airfield was occasions by a total of 69 Wellingtons and U.S.
attacked by eight Cyrenaican-based R.A.F. heavy Mitchells and the airfield at Viterbo, north of
bombers on the night 19/20th July and on the Rome, was bombed by 54 U.S. Fortresses on
following day 71 escorted U.S. Mitchells and 29th July. In particular, the American medium
Marauders renewed the attack with loads of 20 bombers destroyed or damaged 25 grounded air-
lb. fragmentation bombs. Crotone, to the north- craft at Pratica di Mare and the heavy bomb-
east, was attacked by 26 Wellingtons on the night bers caused heavy damage to all three hangars
20th/21st and by 72 U.S. Mitchells on the 23rd. at Viterbo and 36 medium and large aircraft were
Meanwhile, our reconnaissance aircraft reported burnt out and six others seriously damaged.
increasingly large concentrations of single-en-
To the north of Rome, half way to Pisa, the
gined aircraft at Leverano airfield in the heel of
important air base at Grosetto was attacked by
Italy. This airfield was accordingly bombed by
70 U.S. Fortresses on 21st July: cloud cover pre-
69 U.S. Fortresses on 23rd July, when 828 x 500
vented an accurate estimate of the damage in-
lb. bombs were dropped plumb on the target. The
flicted but it was evident that at least one ME.
bombers were attacked by a force of enemy
323 and four medium bombers were destroyed on
fighters, twelve of which were destroyed with-
the ground and barracks, repair shops, adminis-
out loss incurred by the Fortresses. The airfield
trative buildings and a hangar received many
was rendered unserviceable and our reconnais-
direct hits.
sance aircraft on the following day reported that
of 38 ME.109s around the perimeter at least The intensive air attacks oi the Italian airfields
eighteen were damaged or burnt out and the mentioned above, and the subsequent bombing
remainder must have been damaged owing to indicated on page 40, further reduced the ene-
their proximity to bomb craters. Grottaglie air- my's declining air resistance and paved the way
field, also in the heel of Italy, was attacked by for the subsequent invasion of the Italian main-
46 U.S. Fortresses on 30th July; apart from the land.
destruction of grounded aircraft the two main
hangars were completely gutted. Negligible Enemy Air Effort
Further north, in the instep of Italy, the land- The enemy's air effort during the last week in
ing ground at Scalea had come into use as a July continued to be on a small scale and, apart
single-engined fighter base. This airfield was from a daylight raid on Palermo and some dive-
effectively bombed by 36 escorted U.S. Mitchells bombing at Enna, Agrigento and Sciacca, was
on the 27th. made mainly at night.
The vulnerability of the enemy's landing On the night 24/25th July JU.88s attacked
grounds in the foot of Italy induced him to Augusta and Syracuse; Beaufighters succeeded in
transfer more and more aircraft further north shooting two of the raiders down. On the same
and during the last week of July there was a night 25 JU. 88s and HE.111s made the first
noticeable reluctance to replace destroyed and attack on Malta since the beginning of the cam-
damaged fighters, particularly in the Italian paign. Six JU.88s were destroyed-three by
"heel." Beaufighters and Mosquitoes and three by anti-
Attacks on the enemy's airfields in the Naples aircraft fire.
area included that on Aquino, north-north-west The enemy's fighter opposition to our intensive
of Naples, on which JU.52s, JU.88s, ME.llOs and air attacks on Italian targets remained negligible.
single-engined fighters had been seen by recon-
naissance aircraft; the important Neapolitan air Early Attacks on Evacuation Shipping
base at Capodichino, which was used particular-
During the last week in July there were signs
ly by JU.52s and ME.110/210s; Capua airfield,
of a limited evacuation by sea, particularly from
a JU.52 base; and Monte Corvino airfield, on
the Catania,Messina, Milazzo and Orlando areas.
which single-engined fighters and ME.llOs were
The merchant vessels, barges, freighters, Siebel
based. In all, attacks were delivered by seven-
ferries, and other small craft employed by the ene-
teen heavy bombers and 395 medium bombers
my were attacked with considerable success by
(including 216 Wellingtons). Some indication of
a total of 226 U.S. A.36s, U.S. Warhawks and
the destruction caused during these raids is given
Kittyhawks.
by the evidence of photographic reconnaissance.
At Aquino airfield, for example, attacked by 65 When the evacuation was in full swing in Au-
Wellingtons on the night 19/20th July consider- gust the fighter-bomber effort against evacuation
able damage was done to hangars and adminis- shipping was intensified. These later attacks
trative buildings, about 100 craters were apparent are considered on page 39.
on the landing area and 36 aircraft were damaged
or burnt out on the ground. Fall of Catania
At Monte Corvino airfield, attacked by 72 U.S. During the first few days of the fourth week
Mitchells on the following afternoon 6 rfuil of the campaign, Catania, the enemy's main

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A' typical bombing attack on a'Sicilia-n airfield right up the runway.

31
centre of resistance, showed -signs of becoming tinued in the early days of August and had vir-
untenable. The fall of Catenanuova on 29th tually isolated the position. During the first
July and the capture of Regalbuto four days four days in August, in fact, attacks on targets
later threw the enemy back on the road Paterno- in the Troina-Randazzo-Paternotriangle exceed-
Adrano-Cesaro-San Fratello while providing our ed the 250 mark for medium bomber sorties and
troops with excellent lateral communications. nearly 400 for light and fighter-bombers, res-
The thrust from Centuripe and Regalbuto towards pectively. In particular, heavy attacks were de-
Adrano now threatened the entire Catania posi- livered on Adrano in support of the thrust from
tion. On 3rd August preparations for the with- Regalbuto. Our advance in this area is consi-
drawal of the Herman Goering Division were dered in the following section, IV-"Reduction
reported and two days later, together with Mis- of the Island".
terbianco to the west of the town, the position From the beginning of the Sicilian campaign
was in our hands.
to the fall of Catania the Seventh U.S. Army
Our land forces entered Catania at dawn on
captured 91,600 prisoners; during the same period
5th August without any enemy opposition, the
Commanding Officer of the IEighth Army ad- the Eighth Army, which had come up against
vanced troops having received a notice typed in the main resistance, took 28,000 prisoners.
English to the effect that "the authorities and Eighth Army casualties (including Canadians)
functionaries of the city... were awaiting or- killed, wounded and missing were 9,353 and the
ders". Our troops were met by a seething mob Seventh Army's casualties totalled 7,700.
of citizens who expressed delight at the depar-
ture of the Germans and begged for food. With the fall of Catania the enemy's forces
The intensive air attacks on all approaches to were obliged to withdraw to their final bridge-
Catania mentioned on page 27 had been con- head. The end was now in sight.

Bologna marshalling yards under attack, 24th July, 1943.

'M SbMSTIEO
 iEo

British troops entering Catania.

Attack by U.S. Fortresses on Foggia railway communications in progress, 22nd July, 1943.

33.
 IV. REDUCTION OF THE ISLAND
Capture of Troina tacks in the Troina area, already mentioned, and
While the enemy was evacuating the Catania some in the Messina area which are considered
position the Seventh Army advanced steadily in the following sub-section. One hundred and
eastwards along several parallel roads and captur- forty tons of bombs were dropped on targets
ed Troina on 6th August. of opportunity in north-east Sicily including
such targets as enemy transport vehicles and
During the first six days in August our air
encampments. Specific gun positions received
attacks on Troina comprised twelve medium and
a load of nearly 30 tons and the enemy's posi-
130 fighter-bomber sorties in addition to straf-
tions at Bronte, Paterno, Centuripe (on 3rd Au-
fing attacks. This air support greatly assisted
gust only) Randazzo, St. Maria, Francavilla,
the Seventh Army's advance.
Cesaro and others points of resistance were sub-
Troina and roads in the vicinity had been pre- jected to attacks involving the expenditure of a
dominantly a fighter-bomber target, 265 sorties total bomb load of 343 tons.
being made by fighter-bombers from 18th July
to the time of its fall as compared with twelve Attacks on Messina, Cape Peloro and Milazzo
by medium and 97 by light bombers. While the air attacks against battlefield tar-
Fall of Adrano gets were being carried out at full intensity dur-
ing the first week in August, attacks were re-
Meanwhile, in the central sector of the Eighth newed on a large scale against the harbour,
Army's front our troops had captured Paterno marshalling yards, bridges, roads and troops
and threatened Belpasso. On the 6th further at Messina and towards the end of the week
pressure in the central sector resulted in the against the beaches extending westwards to Cape
capture of Biancavilla and by the afternoon our Peloro. The attacks had a dual aim:-to prevent
land forces had reached the outskirts of Adrano. last-minute supplies reaching the enemy's hard-
The town finally fell in the evening after a de- pressed forces and to strike at his main evacuation
termined resistance. point.
As our thrust against Adrano drew ever nearer From 1st to 7/8th August,; inclusive, attacks
the air offensive against this most important were delivered by a total of 121 U.S. Fortresses,
strong-point was intensified. From 1st to 6th 269 Wellingtons and 225 R.A.F. and U.S. fighter-
August 129 medium, 223 light and 24 fighter- bombers. The heavy bombers concentrated on
bomber sorties were flown in attacks on the the town of Messina itself (hitting amongst other
town, troop and gun concentrations, ammunition objectives the gas works and commercial build-
dumps and. roads in the vicinity as compared ings) and on the cross-roads and highway brid-
with 58 medium, 142 light and 82 fighter-bomber ges. The Wellingtons struck first at the mar-
sorties during the last fortnight in July. shalling yards and later at targets on the eva-
With the fall of Adrano the German scheme cuation beach between Messina and Cape Peloro.
to establish a firm line south of Mount Etna was The main fighter-bomber effort was directed
impossible to fulfil, and a withdrawal in the against shipping in the harbour; supplies piled
coastal sector north of Catania became neces- on the docks were destroyed and an appreciable
sary to conform with the right flank which was number of small craft were sunk or damaged.
being pushed back towards Bronte. The enemy's Meanwhile, over 200 U.S. Warhawks and Kit-
line now ran south-east from the foothills of tyhawks supplemented our Naval operations in
Mount Etna through Nicolosi to a point on the the Messina Straits by attacks on small craft
coast between Catania and Acireale, while to the already described as "evacuation shipping"; in
north-west the line ran through Bronte and Ce- particular, several Siebel ferries and barges were
saro to San FratelTo. sunk or set on fire and near misses were scored
On both the Seventh and Eighth Army fronts, on numerous other small vessels. Air attacks
however, the enemy was making full use of were also continued on Milazzo. Against the
mining and demolitions which rendered our ad- harbour itself attacks were delivered by a total
vance in the difficult country of north-east Sici- of 24 medium, 23 light and 91 fighter-bombers
ly slow and hazardous. Above all, it must be and additional attacks on the town, marshalling
freely admitted that the German units were fight- yards and nearby camps were carried out by 34
ing with the grimmest determination. fighter-bombers.

Air Attacks on Tactical Targets Attacks on Italian Bases and Communications

In addition to the air attacks on Adrano and As part- of the plan -to force the enemy to
Troina intensive attacks were made during the abandon his Sicilian bridgehead attacks were
first six days in August on other tactical targets continued on Naples and vital rail communications
ii the battlefield and rear areas. Seven attacks in Southern Italy.
were made on north-east Sicilian roads in the During the first week in August Naples was
course of which nearly 153 tons of bombs were attacked twice by U.S. Fortresses and on three
dropped: this total, however, included some at- nights by Wellingtons.

DECU S ED
 The American heavy bomber attacks were tion, rations and petrol suppli er destroyed,
made on the 1st and 4th of, the month. On the an ammunition train- was blpwn aund a diesel
1st 23 aircraft operated against the docks and vessel was sunk. The second raid, however,
47 concentrated their attacks on the nearby air Carried out on the 4th, achieved little success.
base at Capodichino. In all, 181 tons of bombs In the first raid seven enemy aircraft, and in
were dropped and both targets were reported to the second four, were destroyed.
be well covered by bomb bursts. In particular,
photographs revealed that at least 29 grounded The Advance Continues
aircraft were destroyed or damaged at Capo-
dichino. On the second occasion 77 U.S. Fort- On the Eighth Army front our troops followed
resses attacked the docks and submarine base, up the enemy's retreating troops in the coastal
again reporting a good covering of the target. sector: Aci Castello fell into our hands on the
A feature of the Fortress attacks on Naples 7th August and Acireale on the following day.
was the increased enemy fighter opposition. On Meanwhile, to the west our seizure of Adrano
1st August the bombers were attacked by ap- was exploited for operations northwards, and a
proximately 25 German fighters and their escort, decisive threat to the enemy was developed along
consisting of 50 U.S. Lightnings, was engaged the Adrano-Bronte-Randazzo road on the heels of
by about 35 Italian fighters; seven enemy fight- the air blitz mentioned below. Bronte was cap-
ers were destroyed for the loss of one Fortress. tured on the 8th and on the next day our troops
During the attack on the 4th the Fortresses were already several miles on the road to Ran-
claimed the destruction of one ME.109, one MC. dazzo, the last road junction connecting the Axis
202 and one FW.190 and the probable destruction positions in the north with those on the east coast.
of eleven other aircraft; two Fortresses were
As our troops approached Randazzo the posi-
shot down and 49 others were damaged by heavy
tion was attacked from the air with ever-increas-
accurate flak.
ing intensity. On the 7th Randazzo town and
The Wellington attacks on Naples were aimed its approaches were attacked by 104 U.S. Mit-
at the marshalling yards against which a total chells, 142 U.;S. Bostons and R.A.F. and S.A.A.F.
of 170 effective sorties were flown; two air- Bostons and Baltimores; intense heavy flak was en-
craft only failed to return from these missions. countered; two U.S. Mitchells failed to return and
On several occasions some of the aircraft operat- many aircraft were damaged. At the same time
ing acted as "path-finders" and in every raid a small R.A.F. Boston force straddled Maletto,
fires were started which were often accompanied seven miles to the south-west, with bombs. Mean-
by explosions. These attacks greatly hindered the while, U.S. A.36s and Warhawks continued to
enemy's attempts to put the marshalling yards carry out straffing attacks in close support of
in commission again after the heavy July at- our land forces and other R.A.F. and U.S. fighter-
tacks. A feature of the attacks was the drop- bombers helped them in this activity when re-
ping of 180,000 "Mothers of Italy" and 1,200,000 turning from bombing Messina.
"Italiana Soldati" leaflets on the night 6/7th
August. Sea and Air Landings behind Enemy Lines
Further south railway targets at Battipaglia,
The Seventh Army was also advancing. Before
Marina Catanzaro and Paola were heavily at-
tacked. By night a total of 147 Wellingtons dawn on 8th August units made sea and air land-
ings behind the enemy's lines south-west of Cape
bombed all three targets and day attacks were
Orlando on the north coast and, by establishing
made by 135 U.S. medium bombers on Marina
themselves on high ground overlooking the coast,
Catanzaro and Paola. Particularly heavy dam-
now harassed the enemy lines retreating before
age was inflicted on the railway yards and
the advance of the main Seventh Army. The
bridges at Marina iatanzaro, against which 137
latter had captured San Fratello and Sant' Agata
effective sorties were flown.
in the coastal sector on the 8th and forces ad-
From Cyrenaica R.A.F. heavy bombers flew vancing from Troina occupied Cesaro by the even-
27 effective sorties against the marshalling yards ing of the same day. The next morning the
and railway bridges at Reggio di Calabria and latter troops advanced along the Cesaro-Randazzo
San Giovanni in the toe of Italy. The Liberator road and made contact with elements of the
effort of the Ninth U.S. Force, meanwhile, was Eighth Army moving along the parallel road
directed against the Ploesti oil refineries in Ru- Bronte - Randazzo.
mania: this attack is described elsewhere in the
Review. The Seventh Army's advance was materially
helped on the 7th by U.S. A.36s and Warhawk-
Enemy Air Attacks on Palermo bomber sorties on the Agata railway tunnel, gun
positions, and road junction to the north-west of
During the first week of August the enemy the town. On the same day, also, heavy damage
attempted to hinder our recommissioning of was done to artillery emplacements and casualties
Palermo harbour as a supply-base. were inflicted on troops by an U.S. A.36 attack
In the early hours of the 1st, 25 JU.88s and east of Fratello. Further south other A.36s sof-
DO.217s made a successful attack, rendering the tened resistance to the advance on Cesaro by at-
best dock temporarily unserviceable;. in addi- tacks on roads and enemy transport vehicles.

35
Second Le vance along the East Coast
During Simultaneously with the attack on Randazzo,
troops made another surprise landing east of Cape Eighth Army troops in the east coast sector,
Orlando. By the following evening contact was although hindered by mines and demolitions, suc-
established with the land forces at Naso. Air at- ceeded in reaching Gioeni and Riposto by the 12th
tacks in support of the Seventh Army's advance and were advancing beyond Fiumefreddo on the
along the northern coast road were particularly following day.
heavy against Patti, to the east of Naso. From The main bombing support at this stage for
8th to 12th August a total of ten medium, twelve the advance along the east coast road was provid-
light, and 126 fighter-bomber sorties were flown ed on 11th August by 36 U.S. Mitcell sorties in
in attacks on gun positions, the cross roads, a attacks on the railway and road near Fiume-
bridge, railway junction, a suspected headquar- freddo nd 36 R.A.F. Baltimore and U.S. Boston
ters and the town itself. The medium and light sorties on troop and vehicle concentrations in the
bomber sorties mentioned above were all flown same area. Further south on the 12th 23 U.S.
on 11th and 12th August and during those two Bostons attacked the town of Nunziata. In ad-
days, also, U.S. A.36 attacks were particularly dition, the rear areas at Scaletta and Gesso were
devastating. Further east, from 8th to 12th successfully attacked by Allied light and medium
August, a total of twelve medium, twelve light
bombers.
and 41 fighter-bombers attacked the town of
Barcellona and roads and railway in the vicinity. Second Attack on Rome
The Allied line now-ran from Naso to within On 13th August, following the dropping of
two miles of Randazzo, round Mount Etna and warning leaflets on the city during the previous
north-eastwards to Riposto, on the east coast. It night by Wellingtons, heavy and medium bombers
was clear that the reduction of the island would of the Strategic Air Force revisited the Italian
now be accomplished in a few days. capital. Once again marshalling yards were the
Enemy Resistance Broken main objectives attacked in order to ensure the
paralysis of rail communications in Southern and
A two-pronged attack, meanwhile, had been Central Italy.
developed against the key position of Randazzo, In all, effective sorties were flown by 91 U.S.
units of the Eighth Army approaching the town Fortresses, 66 U.S. Mitchells and 202.U.S. Ma-
from Bronte and units of the Seventh Army from rauders, which dropped a bomb-load of approxi-
Cesaro. The enemy resisted both of the assaults mately 500 tons. Escort was provided by 145
with the utmost obstinacy, but the strain of U.S. Lightnings.
battle and our intensive air attacks coupled with Photographs revealed that the following dam-
the absence of reinforcements and air support age was inflicted in the course of this large-scale
forced him to give ground and Randazzo was oc- raid. At the Lorenzo marshalling yards a large
cupied on 13th August. crater was made in the centre of the tracks on
The peak air effort against Randazzo on 7th the Naples line and much rolling stock was dam-
August, mentioned on page 35, was never ap- aged and burnt out. On the eastern perimeter
proached again, but the attacks were continued many repair shops and industrial buildings were
at high intensity. From 8th August to the time hit and the sidings were put temporarily out of
of its fall U.S. Mitchells flew a total of 190 ef- use. Heavy damage, also, was again inflicted on
fective sorties against the positions, and the Al- the Tabonelli manufacturing plant. Damage at
lied light bombers and fighter-bombers flew 86 the Littorio yards included the blocking of the
and 44 sorties respectively. Except for a few through lines, the destruction of rolling stock in
S.A.A.F. Boston sorties on the night 9/10th Au- the reception sidings, and hits on railway build-
gust all the attacks were delivered by day and ings and repair shops. At the Rome Littorio air-
proved most successful, field, the buildings hit included the airframe and
In all, from the beginning of the Sicilian cam- engine repair shops, five hangars and the admi-
paign to the final reduction of Randazzo 561 me- nistrative buildings; fresh craters were made in
dium, 324 light and 321 fighter-bomber effective the eastern part of the landing area and grounded
sorties were flown against this position. During aircraft were destroyed and damaged.
July the town and roads in. the vicinity were Damage to non-industrial and historic build-
treated primarily as a fighter-bomber target, but ings was again negligible.
in the first fortnight of August, when resistance Four formations of our bombers were engaged
stiffened in this area, more weight was given to by approximately 75 enemy fighters, but few
the air attacks by medium and light bombers, were aggressive in their attacks, concentrating
which flew nearly 700 effective sorties. on the medium bombers and leaving the heavies
Amongst other attacks in the vicinity of Ran- alone. The American bombers claimed the des-
dazzo may be mentioned the attacks by 36 U.S. truction of two enemy fighters and three "pro-
'Warhawks on Francavilla, to the north-west, on bables" and the escorting U.S. Lightnings report-
the 12th which resulted in hits on the road junc- ed the shooting down of three more and two "pro-
tion and a bridge, thus helping to cut the enemy's babies". Two U.S. Marauders failed to return
retreat northwards, from this mission.
 ;lj
~ TT:
Ir;

I r
J "~
ir: - i'

~<5i.
"jx;,:

The other attacks on Italian communications complete observation of the results achieved.
during the last stage of the campaign in Sicily Apart from 35 U.S. Mitchell sorties flown on the
are mentioned below. 16th August against harbour installations at
Messina and troop concentrations at Cape Pelora,
The Last Phase all the medium bomber attacks were carried out
As a result of the fall of Randazzo on 13th at night by Wellingtons. Night after night the
August the enemy was left with only one lateral R.A.F. medium bombers continued to pound the
communication road, that running from Taormi- evacuation beaches from south of Messina to west
na through Francavillaand Novara to the north of Cape Pelora and these nightly trips inevitably
coast west of Barcellona. Some attempt was became known as the "milk run". Innumerable
now made to hold the road while the tempo of fires among transport vehicles on the roads and
the enemy's evacuation was quickened. beaches and in the villages and camps were start-
On the 15th, however, the enemy withdrew ed and the widespread havoc and confusion caused
after a token resistance and our troops entered greatly hampered the enemy's night evacuation
Taormina, Castiglione, Novara and Mazzarra. In moves. In addition, the Wellingtons dropped con-
the coastal sector the enemy's retreat was acceler- siderable numbers of leaflets in the target area.
ated by the threat of an amphibious landing in During the last few days of the evacuation the
the vicinity of Scaletta. On the same day ele- Wellington attacks were switched to the beaches
ments of the Seventh Army, profiting by the across the Messina Straits. These attacks are
speedy retreat in the north and helped by their considered in the following sub-section.
third leapfrog landing on the previous night, The fighter-bomber attacks in the Messina area,
reached Spadaforo, twelve miles west of Mes- apart from the attacks on evacuation shipping
sina. considered later, were carried out mainly by
On the evening of 16th August advanced ele- U.S. Warhawks and Kittyhawks and included the
ments of the Seventh Army entered Messina and bombing and straffing of the railway, bridges,
in the early morning of the following day forward supply dumps, storage buildings and harbour faci-
units of the Eighth Army, moving up from Sca- lities. In particular, from 15th to 17th August,
letta, also reached the town. inclusive, the fighter-bombers flew a total of 222
sorties against these targets.
An extraordinary feature of the last days of the
enemy's withdrawal was the screening of the Attacks on Italian Communications and Beaches
crack German units by second-class Italian coastal
regiments so that the Germans could make good Meanwhile, heavy air attacks were continued
their escape. against Italian rail and road communication and
Organised resistance ceased on 17th August the reception beaches across the Messina Straits.
and Sicily was in Allied hands. It was estimated During the last ten days of the campaign,
that enemy casualties, killed and wounded, apart from the devasting attack' on the Rome
amounted to approximately 32,000 men, of whom marshalling yards on 13th August, already con-
25,000 were Germans. At least 132,000 prisoners sidered, the main attacks specifically aimed at
were taken (including 125,000 Italians) and many railway yards were delivered against those at
Sicilian troops had donned civilian clothes and Terni, north of Rome, Lamezia, in the foot of Italy,
returned to their homes. Viterbo, north-north-west of Rome, Battipaglia,
During the last four days of the 'Sicilian cam- south-east of Salerno, Sapri in the foot of Italy,
paign practically the entire air effort, as indicat- and San Giovanni on the Italian side of the Mes-
ed below, was directed against the enemy's eva- sina Straits.
cuation beaches on either side of the Messina Terni railways yards and industrial area were
Straits and communication targets in Southern attacked by 72 U.S. Fortresses on llth August
Italy. Milazzo was attacked by fighter-bombers, and considerable destruction of rail traffic and
however, until its occupation on the 15th and a damage to jute and wool mills, steel works and
total bomb load of 90 tons was dropped on the few barracks was caused.
remaining roads in Sicily in enemy hands and on The marshalling yards at Lamezia were most
targets of opportunity generally. successfully attacked on the nights 13/14th and
14/15th by a total of 42 Wellingtons, which left
The "Milk Run" to Messina
the whole target area ablaze. On the following
Mention was made on page 34 of the bombing two nights the Wellingtons struck further north
of Messina and attacks on evacuation shipping in at the Viterbo marshalling yards, carrying out 76
the first week of August. During the last ten effective sorties; on each occasion mist rendered
days of the campaign the attacks on the enemy's the target difficult to locate but the area was
Sicilian evacuation beaches and shipping were well covered with bombs. The attack on Batti-
continued at high intensity. In all, attacks were paglia marshalling yards was delivered by 36 U.S.
delivered by 21 heavy, 404 medium, 20 light and Marauders on 17th August and the target area
278 fighter-bombers. was reported to be "completely blanketted". The
The heavy bomber sorties were all flown on marshalling yards at Sapri were effectively
the 9th when the cross-roads at Messina were bombed on the 15th by 24 U.S. Marauders; many
bombed; poor visibility, however, prevented the of the 245 coaches present were believed to be

3(T::1
 D~s~srtu

Photograph taken a few hours after the attack on Istres Le Tube airfield, 17th August, 1943.
(1) Roofs of four large hangars slightly damaged.
(2) Roofs of two :large workshops slightly damaged.
(3) Roofs of barracks damaged.
(4) Roof of large hangar damaged.
(5) Shed to north-east of workshops damaged by fire.
(6) Extensive area covered by fragmentation bomb craters.
destroyed and two oil fires were started with e Straits on the night 13/14th
smoke rising to 5,000 feet. Meanwhile, Cyrenai-
can-based R.A.F. heavy bombers carried out three On that night 23 aircraft found the beaches
night attacks on the railway siding at San Gio- from San Giovanni to Palmi clearly identifiable in
vanni, flying 39 effective sorties. the moonlight and accurate bombing was report-
The most striking attacks on bridges were ed. Twenty-three more Wellingtons concentrat-
those delivered against the important railway ed on the beaches in the Pizzo area, further
and road bridges across the Angitola river, which north, dropping bombs around Marina di Valen-
flows into the Gulf of Eufemia. From 7th to 17th tia harbour and village and on vehicles three
August day attacks on these bridges and targets miles north-east of Pizzo. The following night
in the area generally were made by a total of the same beaches were attacked; sixteen Wel-
319 U.S. medium bombers. When temporary lingtons attacked the San Giovanni to Palmi
bridges were constructed to take the place of beaches, 34 bombed the beaches, roads and towns
those destroyed attacks were continued against of Palmi, Bagnara and Scilla and nineteen bomb-
these also by U.S. and R.A.F. medium bombers ed barges at Pizzo and villages to the south. On
operating by day and night, respectively. Traffic the night 15/16th 40 Wellingtons successfully
across the Angitola river was seriously impeded attacked the landing points, barges and marshal-
by these determined attacks and at times was ling yards at Paola, Scalea, Sapri and Cetraro.
brought to a standstill. The following night 40 Wellingtons attacked the
An intense air effort, meanwhile, was directed beaches from Palmi to Maratea, with railway
against the many landing points on the western communications as secondary targets. The
seaboard to which the enemy's small evacution weather and visibility were excellent and speci-
craft made their perilous trip. By day the beaches fic objectives could be selected for attack; eigh-
and harbours were attacked continuously by Al- teen fires were caused over the whole area, in-
lied fighter-bombers and where necessary weight cluding four in the Pizzo marshalling yards. On
was given to the attacks by U.S. medium and the night 17/18th attacks on barges, railway
R.A.F., S.A.A.F. and U.S. light bomber sorties. communications and bridges were made in the
During the last few nights of the campaign, Cape Suvero-Briatico area by 47 Wellingtons and
also, the Wellingtons switched their attacks from good visibility again greatly aided the selection
the Messina-Cape Pelora beaches to landing of targets.
points across the Straits. Meanwhile, intruder Mosquitoes from Malta
Some idea of the day effort may be given by carried out night bombing attacks on enemy
considering the attacks on Palmi. From 9th to ports, bases and lines of communications in South
14th a total of 71 effective U.S. Warhawk-bomber and Central Italy, flying 27 effective sorties from
sorties were flown against this landing point and 8th to 17th August, inclusive.
barges and warehouses were bombed and straff-
The Wellington Effort
ed. On the 14th 47 U.S. Mitchells and twelve
R.A.F. Baltimores dontinued the attacks somewhat During the closing phase of the :Sicilian cam-
inland, concentrating particularly on the road paign No. 205 Group's effort had been stepped-
junction to the north-west of the town in order up to the maximum intensity so that the beaten
to harass and hinder troop movements. enemy was subjected to unslackening round-the-
Similar attacks, meanwhile, were going on clock air attacks. In addition to the magnifi-
against landing craft, supply dumps, warehouses cent bombing record an interesting feature of the
and roads at Pizzo, Reggio di Calabria,Scilla, Ni- Wellingtons' activity was the dropping of great
castro, and numerous other points in the foot of quantities of "nickels" (leaflets) over a tremen-
Italy. dous stretch of enemy territory from Messina in
Sicily to Modena, Northern Italy.
Amongst the attacks delivered specifically
Owing to the hazardous nature of the medium
against roads, vehicles, bridges and railway com-
bombers' attacks, and, in particular, the danger
munications, as distinct from beaches, may be
from concentrated flak casualties were inevita-
mentioned 88 U.S. A.36 sorties against "targets
ble, but considering the scale of the attacks and
of opportunity" in the Gioia Tauro area on the
the damage inflicted these were comparatively
13th, 14th and 15th; the bombing of roads and
slight.
vehicles at Piedimonte, north of Naples, by 21
U.S. medium and twelve U.S. Bostons on the Attacks on Evacuation Shipping
13th; and attacks by 42 Kittyhawks and U.S.
Warhawks aimed at supply dumps and railway In addition to the fighter-bomber effort against
communications on the Italian south-east and the enemy's principal evacuation points inten-
south-west coasts on the 14th. sive, attacks were delivered against the enemy's
evacuation shipping in transit and off the bea-
The fighter-bomber effort directed solely
ches. From 8th to 17th August, inclusive, a
against "evacuation shipping" is considered later.
total of 1,170 effective sorties were flown in this
The night effort against the Italian beaches activity, almost entirely by Kittyhawks and U,S.
was carried out by the Wellington force which Warhawks. In particula, ovehhal f the' hbve
switched its effort against the Messina beaches total wv ni
sy a
fo"rn e I5th, 6th and 17th.
ta ^l*
^i ^L,. H-''!.^, ^n~^^'^^.'i~ is*
>
.*
Sa^*"'
*..~~~~~~~ ^^T* * '*" ^*
 The majority of the attacks was made on ves- proach of our armies to the final Sicilian bridge-
sels in the Messina Straits, but an appreciable head was rendered difficult by the obstacles of
number were carried out on craft along the the terrain and expert mining and demolitions.
south-west Italian seaboard. Not an inconsiderable factor, also, was the good
morale and discipline of the German units con-
It is impossible to give an accurate estimate
cerned.
of the damage and casualties inflicted on the
enemy's evacuation craft in the course of these On the other hand, the Germans' ruthless dis-
attacks: in many cases results were not fully regard for the safety of those Italian formations
observed and the harm caused by near misses which had continued to help them in the strug-
varied according. to circumstance. gle fanned into flame the fires of resentment
long smouldering against an overbearing and
The peak effort was reached on 16th August,
now hated "ally".
when twelve light and 191 fighter-bomber ef-
fective sorties were flown against shipping cros-
Offensive Against Enemy Air Bases
sing the Messina Straits and nineteen fighter-
bomber sorties against craft off the Italian During the last eleven days of the campaign
south-west coast. The following typical reports a heavy offensive was again launched on some
indicate the nature of the attacks and results of the enemy's key airfields.
achieved. The light bomber sorties mentioned On the 7th, 8th and 12th August U.S. Mitchells
were flown by twelve Baltimores against two flew a total of 116 effective sorties in attacks on
7,000 ton vessels off Messina; the brief report Crotone airfield, at this stage the enemy's most
on the bombing stated, "No direct hits but one important air base in the toe of Italy. Barracks
near miss". The reports of Kittyhawk-bombers and the runways were hit and at least twelve
included the following:- "All bombs fell within grounded fighters were reported as destroyed or
30 yards of Siebel ferry; vessel stopped". "Two damaged.
large 200 foot barges attacked on Palmi beach; Further north the single-engined fighter base at
direct hit on each". "Direct hits scored on two Grazzanise (near Naples) was attacked on 12th
100 foot barges, both were destroyed." The fol- August by 48 U.S. Marauders. An analysis of
lowing are typical of the U.S. Warhawks' re- photographs showed that twelve aircraft were
ports:- "Nine near misses scored on two mer- put out of action on the ground and of the land-
chant vessels in Messina Straits". "One hit and ing area only a strip in the centre and to the
one near miss scored on large Siebel ferry with south-east remained free of bomb craters. A
troops aboard. Another Siebel ferry boxed by feature of the attack was the opposition put up
four misses. Four bombs dropped astern barge, by 24 to 30 enemy fighters which took off from
which seemed to. stop". "Three near misses on Capua airfield and made their attacks prior to
"F"-boat, believed damaged". "Two hits seen the bomb run. Some "air to air" bombing was
among barges; large clouds of smoke only re- unsuccessfully attempted and seven of the at-
sults observed". tacking aircraft were destroyed,
Headquarters North-west African Air Forces' On the 16th came Foggia's turn for another
conservative estimate of casualties inflicted on full-scale attack; this time the blow was deliver-
enemy shipping in the Straits of Messina and off ed from Cyrenaica by 85 Ninth U.S. Air Force
the western Italian seaboard from 8th to 17th Liberators. The whole surface of the landing
August, inclusive, was as follows:- four landing ground at San Nicola was well covered with
craft, three barges, one Siebel ferry and one bursts and at Tortorellaoil fires were started and
"E"-boat sunk; five landing craft, two barges bursts were observed in the dispersal areas.
and one "E"-boat probably sunk; and eight bar- Enemy fighters, estimated at 75 to 100 strong,
ges, seven Siebel ferries, five landing craft, three attacked the Liberators which claimed to have
merchant vessels, two. "E"-boats, two "F"-boats destroyed 45 aircraft (including 29 M.E.109s)
and one tug damaged. and probably destroyed seven others. Eight of
the heavy bombers failed to return.
Partial Success of Enemy's Evacuation
In spite of the rigorous Naval and air action First Attacks on Airfields in Southern France
against the enemy's evacuation points and ship- The following day, 17th August, U.S. Fortres-
ping, and the bombing of the enemy's southern ses of the Strategic Air Force made their first
Italian rail and road communications, the Ger- attack on the enemy's main South of France air-
mans had considerable success in withdrawing fields, where long-range bombers and torpedo-
personnel and equipment to the Italian mainland. bombers were based. In addition, the airfields
This was due to many factors. The evacua- were packed with transport aircraft and gliders
tion was not a last-minute rush job but had been as this area was a base for paratroop forma-
methodically carried out during the last days of tions. One hundred and forty-four sorties were
July and on a larger scale from 8th August on- flown against the Istres airfields (comprising 92
ward. The narrowness of the Messina Straits sorties against Le Tube airfield and 52 against
and the heavy concentration of enemy anti-air- the Les Patis and Group I airfields) and 38
craft and coastal guns made our Naval and air sorties against the nearby Salon airfield. Strike
operations hazarsjclad .aings and the ap- photographs showed that a total of at least 94 air-
craft were destroyed on the ground and about Middle East Naval co-operartioi squadrons (in-
28 others damaged. Reconnaissance photographs cluding Malta) flew a total of 1,421 sorties on
taken after the attacks revealed that all the han- close cover anti-submarine protection and area
gars in the north group of landing grounds at patrols and those of the Coastal Air Force car-
Istres were damaged and two hangars and four- ried out 1,238 sorties on these activities. Malta-
teen large workshops in the south group were based Wellingtons damaged two submarines at
severely damaged and administrative buildings night east of Catania in the middle of July and
were hit at Salon. At both the Istres and Salon by day two Hurricanes of No. 336 (Hellenic)
airfields the landing areas were well covered Squadron scored strikes on a surfaced submarine
with craters caused by fragmentation bombs. off Sidi Barrani. In Central Mediterranean
waters aircraft of the Coastal Air Force during
Enemy Air Attacks the first half of August sank one submarine and
probably sank another.
During the last week of the campaign enemy
air attacks on our Central Mediterranean ship- A number of other submarines were attacked
ping were on an increased scale and four of our during the period under review but as is most
merchant ships were damaged. often the case in submarine attacks definite re-
sults were not observed. The lack of success
Bizerta was raided on four nights, including a
attending the enemy's U-boat warfare during this
large-scale attack on the night 17/18th when 75
period is shown by the fact that only seven mer-
long-range bombers operated over the port.
chant ships of an appreciable size were sunk in
Beaufighters of the Coastal Air Force intercepted
the whole of the Mediterranean during the months
the bombers and destroyed two JU.88s and one
of July and August by submarine action.
H.E.111. On the following night the attack was
renewed by over 60 bombers; on this occasion the The air/sea rescue effort is indicated in the
Beaufighters shot down two HE.1ls and damag- table on page 53. In previous issues of the Re-
ed another. view accounts have been given of the Middle
East's activity in this interesting and most va-
The long-range bombers which made the at-
luable work and the Coastal Air Force's air/sea
tack on Bizerta were apparently based at air-
rescue effort will be considered in a subsequent
fields in the South of France. Accordingly, as
number.
mentioned in the preceding sub-section, attacks'
were delivered on the landing grounds concern- Air Reconnaissance
ed at Istres and Salon.
The success of our air attacks in the Central
Protection of Shipping and Harbours Mediterranean theatre of war could not have
been achieved without the necessary "spade
Reference has already been made on page 9 work" of the reconnaissance squadrons based in
to the intensive air effort directed to the pro- North-west Africa and Malta. Tactical recon-
tection of Allied convoys and harbours in the naissance Spitfires and strategic reconnaissance
nine days immediately before the invasion of U.S. Mustangs, photographic reconnaissance air-
Sicily. During the campaign itself the effort craft and sea reconnaissance Wellingtons, Balti-
required for carrying out these tasks was still mores and Marauders all played a vital part in
on a necessarily high scale. spot-lighting every aspect of enemy activity.
From 10th July to 17th August, inclusive, Tables indicating the scale of the reconnais-
fighter aircraft of the North-west African Air sance effort are given on page 45.
Forces flew a total of 6,572 sorties on the pro-
tection of shipping in the Central Mediterranean Comparative Aircraft Casualties
and Middle East fighters during the same period In the course of the operations 1st July to 17th
flew 2,613 sorties over convoys in the Eastern August, inclusive, the Allied air forces destroyed
Mediterranean. This air cover ensured practi- over 740 enemy aircraft in combat. The total
cally complete immunity from enemy air attacks Allied losses through enemy action, in spite of an
on our shipping in transit. immeasurably greater effort, were roughly 50%
Full fighter defence was also provided for our of the enemy total.
harbours and land lines of communication. The In addition, the havoc caused by our air attacks
enemy's effort against the Middle East harbours on the enemy's Sicilian airfields is indicated by
continued to be negligible, but, as already men- -the fact that enemy aircraft of operational types
tioned, attacks were periodically made on the left abandoned in varying degrees of unservice-
Central Mediterranean harbours in Allied hands. ability .exceeded the 1,100 mark. A breakdown
Some of the high lights of the North-west Afri- by types showed that German casualties amount-
can and Malta-based night-fighters' activity in ed to 57% of this total. The most prevalent types
countering the threat of the enemy's long-range found abandoned were ME.109s (280 aircraft),
bombers have already beep indicated. MC.202s (100), ]C.200s (85), JU.88s (80), FW.
The submarine menace was most effectively 190s (70), and S.79s (44). The types abandoned
kept in check, the Allied Naval co-operation air- also pointed to the increased use of the ME.210
craft helping and supplementing the work of our and a lesser employment of the ME.110; 29 of the
sea forces. From 10th July to 17th August the Sun and only fourteen of the lat-

41 i 4 i
S\ter. The limited use of the HE.129 "tank buster", (3) The protection of our shipping before,
pointing to its ineffectiveness, was illustrated by during and after the assault.
the fact that only one specimen was found in the (4) The transportation of airborne assault
whole of the island, and the decline of the JU.87 troops.
dive-bomber, the scourge of the skies in the early (5) A concentrated effort against the enemy's
German campaigns, was shown by the paltry lines of comunication to prevent the spee-
figure of eight only left abandoned. dy transfer of reinforcements to threaten-
The Air Factor ed areas.
The Sicilian campaign was in many respects (6) The isolation of centres of enemy resis-
a model one-a strongly held island was com- tance by tactical bombing and straffing
pletely occupied in the space of five and a half before the advance of our land forces.
weeks, due to the successful combined opera- (7) The effort against the enemy's evacuation
tions of sea, land and air forces. movements.
The pattern of the Allied air activity in con- (8) The switching of the strategic bombing ef-
nection with the Sicilian campaign may be sum- fort to the enemy's next series of air-
marised as follows:- fields, bases, and supply lines in prepa-
(1) The reduction of enemy air resistance ration for the subsequent advance into
prior to the assault by the methodical Italy.
bombardment of his airfields.
(2) The limiting of supplies reaching the A well-thought-out plan had been ably execut-
enemy's land and air forces by constant ed: the battle could now be carried still further
attacks on his supply lines and shipping. into Hitler's Europe.

e sina wharves at conclusion of the campaign.

Minw I~*Lo
 DIARY OF THE SICILIAN CAMPAIGN
Page Page
I.Preparatory Measures, etc. 18 Air attacks continued against Enna, Cata-
5 Reduction of Pantelleria and smaller nia and Palermo night 13/14th July.
islands. ,Eighth Army patrols in contact with enemy
SStrategic bombing programme against rear guards in Chiaramonte-Monterosoarea
the enemy's Central Mediterranean "build 14th July.
up" mid May to end of June, 1943. ,German counter-attack in Augusta area
6 Preparation of Malta as offensive base. repulsed 14th July.
SMain features of Air Plan. ,German forces complete move from western
7 Air reconnaissance arrangements. Sicily to south-east of the island 14th July.
, Role of air transport. 19 Air attacks on Enna continued 14th and
SRelative air strengths. night 14/15th July.
8 The opposing land forces. ,Air attacks on Palermo 14/15th July.
, Pre-invasion blitz on Sicilian airfields. ,Success of Malta-based Mosquitoes and
9 Reduced effort against enemy bases and Beaufighters night 14/15th July.
communications. ,Eighth Army recapture Primosole bridge
Pre-invasion shipping protection. 15th July.
Allied armies' line on evening of 15th July
II. The Assault ran:- Primosole - Scordia - Grammichele
- Mazzarino - Riese - Canicatti .-- Fa-
10 The airborne assaults night 9/10th July.
vora - Palma.
,Bombing on the night 9/10th July.
,Enemy air resistance in Sicily broken 15th
The landings 10th July.
July.
12 Beach fighter patrols 10th July.
Fighter-bomber attacks continued on ene-
13 Air attacks on enemy's Sicilian airfields,
my's central Sicilian communications and
positions and lines of communications, 10th
Catania position 15th July.
and night 10/llth July.
, .A.A.F. successes against enemy shipping
15 The Eighth and Seventh Armys' initial ad-
during first week of Sicilian campaign.
vance.
,Air offensive against Southern Italian rail
Allied air activity on 11th and night
communications and supply and air bases
11/12th July.
night 14/15th July to 17th July, inclusive.
Seventh Army capture Comiso airfield night
21 Elements of Eighth Army infiltrate across
11/12th July.
the river Gornalunga 16th July.
Second paratroop assault night 11/12th
July. German counter-attack against Eighth
Naval units enter Augusta 12th July. Army's positions at Primosole bridge fails
Air attacks on Messina communications, 16th July.
12th July. ,Canadians capture Caltagirone 16th July.
Air attacks on enemy communications and Canadians occupy Rammacca and Piazza
positions in southern and central Sicily Armerina 17th July.
12th July. ,Seventh Army capture Pietraperzia, Serra
Malta-based . aircraft successes against di Falco, Agrigento and Porto Empedocle
enemy air forces over the beaches 12th 17th July.
July. ,Spitfire sweeps over Gerbini and Catania
17 Air effort against Termini docks and con- area 16th and 17th July.
centrations at Enna and Caltanissettanight ,Beaufighters and Mosquitoes shoot down
12/13th July. sixteen enemy aircraft over eastern Sicily
Success of Malta-based Mosquitoes and on the nights 16/17th and 17/18th July.
Beaufighters night 12/13th July. .Air attacks on Randazzo, Paterno, Val-
Third airborne mission night 12/13th July. guarneraand Catania16th to night 17/18th
,Early establishment of Task Air Forces in July, inclusive.
Sicily.
SAir attacks on air bases in Naples and Sa-
18 Reduced enemy air resistance in Sicily
lerno areas 17/18th July.
13th July.
Success of Malta-based fighters on beach Capture of Raddusa 18th July.
patrols 13th July. 22 Air attacks on Adrano 18th July.
Air attacks on Catania and Milo/Trapani ,Seventh Army capture Caltanissetta,Cate-
airfields and enemy positions, etc. at Enna rina and Aragona 18th July.
13th July. ,German counter-attack against Primosole
Beaufighters' success against enemy ship- bridge position beaten off 19th July.
ping off Palermo 13th July. ,Eighth Army establish bridgeheads across
SFourth paratroop mission night 13th July. the Dittaino river 19th July- - - :
Page
I~ Page
22 American airborne troops reach area north- 34 Heavy air attacks on Italian bases and
west of Montallegro. communications during" first week in
Spitfire patrols 18th and 19th July over August.
battle area. 35 Eighth Army in east coast sector capture
,, Intensive U.S. A.36 attacks on battlefield Aci Castello on 7th and Acireale on 8th
targets 18th and 19th July. August.
Air attacks on Randazzo 18th and 19th Eighth Army advance along Adrano-Bron-
July. te-Randazzo road.
26 First air attack on Rome 19th July. Heavy air attack on Randazzo 7th August.
SEnemy's Sicilian airfields virtually liqui- Eighth Army capture Bronte 8th August.
dated by 19th July. . Units of Seventh Army's leapfrog landing
behind enemy's lines south-west of Cape
II. The Enemy's Stand at Catania Orlando before dawn on 8th August.
,Main forces of Seventh Army capture San
26 Northern advance of Seventh Army resulted Fratello, Sant' Agata on north coast and
in capture of Enna on 20th July. advancing from Troina occupy Cesaro on
. Summary of air effort against Enna. 8th August.
SWestern advance of Seventh Army reached 36 Units of Seventh Army make another sur-
Castelvetrano on 21st July.
prise landing east of Cape Orlando on night
,Seventh Army reach Palermo 22nd July. 11/12th August.
Canadians capture Assoro 22nd July. ., Air attacks on Patti and Barcellona 8th
29 Heavy/air attacks on railway junctions at to 12th August.
Foggia, Salerno and Battipaglia22nd July. Allied line on 12th August ran from Naso
26 Seventh Army's westward drive resulted to within two miles of Randazzo, round
in capture of Marsala on 23rd and Trapani Mount Etna and north-eastwards to Ri-
on 24th July. posto on the east coast. Eighth Army
Canadians capture Leonforte 23rd July. troops in east coast sector capture Gioine
29 Heavy air attack on Bologna marshalling and Gesso on 12th August.
yards. STwo-pronged attack on Randazzo by units
,, Spitfires destroy 21 JU.52s south of Cata- of Eighth Army approaching from Bronte
nia 25th July. and units of Seventh Army from Cesaro
27 Canadians capture Agira 29th July. led to fall of the position on 13th August.
Eighth Army capture Catenanuova 29th Air effort against Randazzo.
July. Second air attack on Rome.
Fullest air support which aimed at isola- 37 Third leapfrog landing by Seventh Army
tion of the Catania position night 19/20th troops on north coast night 14/15th August.
to 31st July. Fall of Taormina, Castiglione, Novara and
29 Heavy air attacks on Italian airfields night Mazzara 15th August.
19/20th July to 30th July. Commando landing in the Scaletta area on
27 Air attacks on enemy's Sicilian harbours night 15/16th August.
19th to 31st July. .On the evening of 16th August advanced
29- Successful air attacks on enemy ship- elements of Seventh Army reached Messina.
ping during last week in July. , On 17th August forward units of Eighth
30 Air attacks on limited evacuation shipping Army entered Messina.
during last week in July. Air effort against the Sicilian evacuation
Enemy evacuates Catania 5th August. beaches during the last ten days of the
32 Air attacks on Troina-Randazzo-Paterno campaign.
triangle 1st to 4th August. , Air effort against the Italian reception
beaches and lines of communication during
IV. Reduction of the Island the last ten days of the campaign.
34 Seventh Army capture Troina 6th August. 39 Air attacks on enemy's evacuation craft
,Air effort against Troina. during last ten days of the campaign.
, Eighth Army occupy Adrano 6th August. 40 Air offensive against enemy's air bases in
,Air effort against Adrano. Italy during last eleven days of campaign.
Enemy's line on 6th August ran south-east ,, Attacks on airfields in south of France
from foothills of Mount Etna through Ni- 17th August.
colosi to the coast between Catania and 41 Air protection of shipping and harbours
Acireae; to the north-west from Mount during the campaign.
Etna the line ran through Bronte and Ce- ,, Importance of air reconnaissance during
saro to San Fratello. the campaign.
Air attacks on Messina, eCapelo rop , Pattern of Allied air activity during the
Milaozq during firstWeek in August j campaign.

4,-k
 RECONNAISSANCE BY R.A.F. AND ALLIED AIRCRAFT OF THE NORTH-WEST
AFRICAN AIR FORCES, THE MIDDLE EAST COMMAND AND MALTA

(3/4 July - 28 August, 1943)

Tactical and Strategical Ke

I ey N.A.A.F. and MALTA
MIDDLE EAST

FORTNIGHTLY PERIODS Tac/R. Strat/R. TOTALS

3/4 -17 July....................167 264 431

-47 47

1/8-3Juy370 1281 1651

171-3 Jl....................... ...
-67 67

31 July/i Aug - 14 Aug. ........ ........... 262 1488 1750

75 75

180 352 582

14/15 - 28 Aug................... ....
-85 85

GRAND TOTALS.................979 838,6 4364

274 .274

Mediterranean

Submarine
FORNIGHTLY PERIODS Anti-shipping (area and ,close TOTALS
cover searches)

3/4 -17 July...................191 509 700

37 514 551

17/18 - 31 July.....................329 509 838

10 487 497

31 July/i Aug. - 14 Aug...................199 383 582

11 372 383

14/15 - 28 Aug......................175 393 568

17 426 443

GRAND TOTALS..................894 1794 2688

75 1799 - 1874

45

F.R
 ATTACKS ON LAND TARGETS BY R.A.F. AND ALLIED BOMBER AND MINELAYING AIRCRAFT OF THE NORTH=WEST AFRICAN
AIR FORCES, THE MIDDLE EAST COMMAND AND MALTA

:K N.A.A.A.F. MALTA
(3/4 July - 28 August, 1943) Key MIDDLE EAST

-- I

PORTS, BASES and LINES I,

AIRFIELDS and ENEMY CAMPS
OF COMMUNICATION
(including minelaying) LANDING GROUNDS and POSITIONS

- - -II- L
FORT-
FORTNIGHTLY
NIGHTLY
PERIODS p
.0 TOTALS
0
S
0
0
H
0 0
H H

514 748 541 1813 521 1817 1 390 3 2731 292 1348 2403 6947

459 3 462 454 3 457 3 922

277 456 174 394 1301 256 983 17 1256 2007 3178 5735
/18 - 31 July ...
145 25 173 28 4 32 1 1 206

436 I 876 23 1543 2878 47 - 259 1989 1117 2040 5146 8283
31 July/1 Aug. - 14 Aug......
250 7 39 296 296

340 1542 88 1009 2979 396 550 47 985 1642 5171

14/15 - 28 Aug ............
294 5 20 319 101 102 1 422

1567 3622 295 3487 8971 1220 3166 390 4796 3373 2616 6380 1112369 86136
GRAND TOTALS ..
1148 12 3 87 1250 583 591 1 1846

~ _ Ir i, I I I Il -- II
-
 OPERATIONS OVER LAND AND SEA BY R.A.F. AND ALLIED FIGHTER AND FIGHTER-BOMBER AIRCRAFT OF THE NORTH-WEST

AFRICAN AIR FORCES, THE MIDDLE EAST COMMAND AND MALTA

S.A.A.F. and MALTA

(3/4th July - 28th August, 1943) Key: MIDDLE EAST

FORTNIGHTLY
PERIODS

3/4 - 17 July ...

- 31 July

Aug. - 14 Aug.

28 Aug . ........

i .-
RECONNAISSANCE OF THE MEDITERRANEAN BY R.A.F. AND ALLIED AIRCRAFT OF THE

NORTH-WEST AFRICAN AIR FORCES, THE MIDDLE EAST COMMAND AND MALTA

(3/4 July - 28 August, 1943)

: N.A.A.F. andMALTA
KeyKy:)MIDDLE EAST

Submarine
FORTNIGHTLY PERIODS Anti-shipping (area and TOTALS
close cover)

191 509. 700

3/4 - 17 July ................
37 514 551

329 509 838

17/18 - 31 July.....
10 487 11 497,

199 383 582

31 July/1 Aug. - 14 August ............
11 3732 ( 383

175 393 568

14/15 - 28 Aug............
17 1 426 11 443

894 1794 2688

GRAND TOTALS ......
75 1799 1874

SORTIES FLOWN BY AIRCRAFT ON PROTECTION OF FRIENDLY SHIPPING

IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

(3/4 July - 28 August, 1943)

By aircraft of the N.A.A.F. and MALTA ...... :................... 10,767

By aircraft of the MIDDLE EAST COMMAND 4,382

4,382

_ ti N 4I
 EFFECTIVE SORTIES-;AGAINST ,SHIPPING AND SUBMARINES AT SEA IN THE MEDITERRANEAN BY R.A.F. AND ALLIED
AIRCRAFT OF THE NORTH-WEST AFRICAN AIR FORCES, THE MIDDLE EAST COMMAND AND MALTA

( l Attacks on Shipping

,,,i
-
(3/4
Aittacks on Submarines
July - 28 A ugust, 1943) K ey : At a k onS b ri e

{J NUMBERS OF EFFECTIVE SORTIES

FORTNIGHTLY HEAVY MEDIUM LIGHT F/BOMBER TOTALS

PERIODS

N.A.A.F. N.A..F. N.A.A.F. N.A.A.F N.A.A.F

Middle Middle Middle Middle Middle a
and ad East ad
and East and
and an
and East ad
and East
Malta Malta Malta East Malta Malta

91 2 - - 117 - 208 2 210

3/4 - 17 July ...................
- 1 - 9 1 - - 10 1 11

= - 3 6 - 1 154 1.3 157 20 177

17/18 - 31 July .....................
3 - 3 1 - . 6 1 7

2 - 4 - 1 102 5 104 10 114

31 July/i August - 14 August......
8 1 3 2 i 11 2 13

19 8 - - 67 6 86 14 100
14/15 - 28 August .. ......

- - 115 20 - 2 440 24 555 46 601

GRAND TOTALS ...............
4y -;; 2 2 3 2 1 27 4 1) 31

~4* P. t
-. 4'
 RESULTS OF ATTACKS (BY EFFECTIVE SO] iR S AT SEA IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

BY R.A.F. AND ALLIED AIRCRAFT OF THE THE MIDDLE EAST COMMAND AND MALTA

(3/4 July - 38 August, 1943) Key: Shipping

Submarines

RESULTS OF ATTACKS FROM N.AFRICA/LEVANT/MALTA

FORTNIGHTLY
PERIODS

n 3/4 - 17 July ...

o

17/18 - 31 July

31 July/1 Aug. - 14 Aug.

14/15 - 28 Aug.
RESULTS OF ATTACKS ON SHIPPING (BY TYPES OF VESSEL) AND SUBMARINES AT SEA

BY R.A.F. AND ALLIED AIRCRAFT OF THE NORTH-WEST AFRICAN AIR FORCES, THE MIDDLE
EAST COMMAND AND MALTA

(3/4 July - 28 August, 1943)

ey N.A.A.F. and MALTA

y MIDDLE EAST
 RESULTS OF ATTACKS ON L) bUR BY R.A.F. AND

ALLIED AIRCRAFT OF THE NORTH-WEST AFRICAN AIR FORCES, THE MIDDLE EAST

COMMAND ANI MALTA

(3/4 July - 28 August, 1943)

SKey: jN.A.A.F.
and MALTA
MIDDLE EAST

TYPE OF VESSEL Sunk IProbably

Sunk
Damaged Results
Unknown I TOTALS

CARGO VESSELS

3 - 24 33 60
Merchant Vessels...............
1 7 6 - 14

-- 1 1
Tankers
- 1 - 1

1 1 2
Trawlers........ ............
- - 1 - 1

1 1 9 5 .16
Coasters and Freighters 1 - 1

1 2 7 5 15
"F"-Boats .

9. 4 16 36 65
Siebel Ferries and T.L.C..........

26 12 40 53 131
Barges and Tugs ............... 1 -- 1

1 1 12 14
Schooners and Sailing Vessels ... 5 2 24 9 40

9 19 19 47
Miscellaneous and Unidentified ... 6 2 8

NAVAL VESSELS

Battleships
5

- 1 1
Cruisers
1
1

Destroyers. ........... .
- 3 1 4

Submarines

- 2 2
Minelayers and M.T.Bs .... .......

"E"-Boats
1 - 2 2 5
1 1

- 2 8 10
Escort Vessels, etc..............
2 2

41 29 I 127 176 373

TOTALS.
-n'a
N, zp
amw7
nu E
Aft
IE
Emam_
3
JD 1
45 17 70

DUi 11 tU
 AIR/SEA RESCUE OPERATIONS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN BY R.A.F. AND ALLIED AIRCRAFT OF THE NORTH-WEST AFRICAN

AIR FORCES, THE MIDDLE EAST COMMAND AND MALTA

(3/4 July - 28 August, 1943)

Total number of personnel rescued during this period:- 143. : N.A.A.F.

and MALTA

Ke:MIDDLE EAST
- - I-
- . -I --- I

Number of Sorties Effective location of aircrew

or wreckage
FORTNIGHTLY
--------------------- --- --------. ; --- - ----- --- -- ----------- ---------
PERIODS
Rescues Wreckage,
Bomber Fighter TOTALS (1 or more empty TOTALS
persons) dinghy, etc.
~-ea;s~ ------------ ~-- --- ! ~clo--~er~l
( l~c~ -------- - --- ------- ~~.. --I-------- IIC-i-~~

230 287 6* 17 i
3/4 - 17 July ...
23 3
;3 "% IL
"ifi:L
r
187 247 58 22 ii
~ d78 31 July ...
17 78 8

107 154 11 21
31 July/i Aug. - 14 A ug.
22 59 2 5
II:-

226 324 37
14/15 - 28 August j"
2 22 4 1~1

I- ~~ l -~r~cmp--
- C3
.ZI~I~^
II~ r ~hl~ a ~ ~ -~Wl~ ~--- i~l~ bl~kP~ L U~ ~/ ~--~.--~~Y
l ~ L...I

i -
1_S
1--------.
262 750 1012 44 * 97
:
i

GRAND TOTALS
141 41 182 4* 20
- - - I- -- - -
I - - - - --

* Includes co-operation with H.S.L. in certain cases. In addition certain of these rescues were effected by Naval vessels directed to scene by
aircraft on search.
 RECONNAISSANCE BY R.A.F. GARRISON AIRCRAFT BASED ON MALTA

(3/4 July - 28 August, 1943)

LAND AND HARBOUR

FORTNIGHTLY PERIODS LAND HARBOUR TOTALS

3/4 - 17 July .. ................... .. 49 59 108

17/18 - 31 July... .. .......... ".......45 56 101

31 July/i Aug. -- 14 Aug. ............. 43 53 96

14/15 - 28 Aug....... .......... ... 44 42 86

GRAND TOTALS..............181 210 391

In addition to the above, 93 sorties were flown on Special Tasks.

EASTERN AND CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN

Submarine (area

FORTNIGHTLY PERIODS Anti-shipping and close cover TOTALS

searches)

3/4 - 17 July.........................48 17 65

17/18 - 31 July.............. ....... 39 96 135

31 July/i Aug. - 14 Aug. ............ 23 83 106

14/15 - 28 Aug...................... 28 74 102

GRAND TOTALS 408

- ra
 ATTACKS ON LAND TARGETS BY R.A.F. BOMBER AND MINE-LAYING AIRCRAFT GARRISONING MALTA

(3/4 July - 28 August, 1943)

PORTS, BASES AND LINES AIRFIELDS and ENEMY CAMPS

OF COMMUNICATION
LANDING GROUNDS and POSITIONS
(including Mine-laying)
FORT-
FORTNIGHTLY
m NIGHTLY
PERIODS u ,c 4,
w TOTALS
H -I-

.6~
w
~H 0
NO 0
0
0
I--I 1------9 Il---II- --- i

3/4-17 July............... - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

17/18 - 31 July. ... ......- - - 14 14 - - - - - - - - 14

.31 July/l Aug. - 14 Aug.........- 4 - 25 29 - - 29

14/15 - 28 Aug. ............. ...- 3 ; -- 26 29 - - - - - 29

___________
- . - - I -
___________ _____________________

GRAND TOTALS....... 72
-'-1:-:~
--,r

OPERATIONS OVER LAND AND SEA BY R.A.F. FIGHTER AND FIGHTER-BOMBER GARRISON AIRCRAFT BASED ON MALTA
PIT,
(3/4 July - 28 August, 1943)

I:.~ ;~c
s ~~

Local-Defence Ground Offensive Bomber

L-'
FORTIGHTLY (including attack- Ground Oei K Bomber
Niht Fighters S & T/E 'Attack- Recce. Intruder and Anti- Shipping TOTALS
PERIODS and cover, to Land and Patrol Recce. Shipping Protection
~ retng offensive (including F/Bomber Sea
i:~-~l"~.j Escort
Recce.) Cannon)

3~i~ -
3/4 -17July... .............. .. 90 45 - 712 53 481 1 180 1562

17/18 - 31 July ........ ... ...... 213 19 14 193 32 21 9 65 566

Lo-LII_-ll;.rli..i-1
31J uly/1 Aug.-14 August 181 15 25 35 14 - o 80 358
-"a i
I-i
1--
-;-,--;-.-; 14/15-28 August ... ... 194 5 26 10 27 - 1 97 360

GRAND TOTALS ... ... 678 84 65 950 126 502 19 422 2846
EFFECTIVE SORTIES AGAINST SHIPPING AND SUBMARINES AT SEA IN THE EASTERN AND

CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN BY R.A.F. GARRISON AIRCRAFIT BASED ON MALTA

(3/4 July - 28 August, 1943)

:Attacks on Submarines
S Attacks on Shipping

For results of attacks on enemy shipping and submarines see TABLE on page 57.

DR K I5
RESULTS OF ATTACKS (BY EFFECTIVE SORTIES) AGAINST SHIPPING AND SUBMARINES
AT SEA IN THE EASTERN AND CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN BY R.A.F. GARRISON AIRCRAFT
BASED ON MALTA

(3/4 July -- 28 August, 1943)

IKy
Ke
Attacks on Submarines
Attacks on Shipping

RESULTS OF ATTACKS
FORTNIGHTLY Effective_________.
PERIODS Sorties Sn
or Probably Damaged Results TOTALS
Beached Sunk Unknown

2- - 2 -2
3/4 - 17 July.... ...

9 - - 2 8 10
17/18 - 31 July ...
5 - -2 1 3

10 1 - 5 17
31. July/i Aug. -14 Aug.
1 - - - - -

5 -- 1 - + 1
14/15 - .28 August..

26 1 - 10 9 20
GRAND TOTALS
6 -,2 -, 1,3
 Q ~'LEM NOS

!AR/SSA
CORFu

CEVAPECAAL *XWALK

00 CEflLOIAAKEm~h EURIPOCHANNEL IO

C//J*AHENUS
DVzNC~iTAAZUAD0
%ANkO A SAMO
4WOS QEA. KAPJA
ITWS

KYTI1NOS
9
4n SYRDS
MKONOS
NAQ
ON lA N EIPHOS PAO 4 KALE

IINz d'4
NTIPARO0S C AMORLOS

S AaMEOS O 17K~o? TA P

PHOLO WEs TiIERA SAP

zv pwl
lowAL Q APIE 'ShRJNAA

ANTIKYTHERA
Air Operations In The Aegean
JANUARY TO SEPTEMBER, 1943
_ ___I_ I

COMPARED WITH MORE portentous events further No. 201 (Naval Co-operation) Group. By the end
west, the operations carried out this year by the of 1942, as the tide of war had receded from
Middle East Command in the Aegean and Ionian Egypt, many of the Group's units had been trans-
Seas seem relatively insignificant. Yet, when the ferred to Malta, where they could operate more
reason for them is understood, they have an im- easily against Axis convoys bound for North-west
portant bearing on the war in the Mediterranean Africa. Since our own convoys, however, had to
area as a whole. be protected, certain units or detachments - re-
connaissance, twin-engined fighters and torpedo-
As the enemy lost the initiative after the VIIIth
bombers - continued to be based in Egypt.
Army's advance from Alamein in October, 1942,
Among them was a recently arrived Marauder
retention of some foothold on the northern side of
squadron and these aircraft flew the first few
the Mediterranean became increasingly necessary
tentative offensive reconnaissance patrols in the
to him if he were to keep the back-door to Nazi
Aegean.
Europe - Greece and the Balkans - shut. Ger-
man strategy in the Eastern Mediterranean was A single Marauder, armed with a torpedo, made
accordingly based on a strong "outer ring" of the actual debut three days after Christmas, but
defence consisting of Crete, Scarpanto and Rhodes. bad weather forced it to return before any sight-
Retention of these strategically vital islands, with ings were made. The next patrol was on the last
their air and sea bases, denied us the possibility day of the year, when two Marauders saw a few
of single-engined fighter cover over the Aegean small craft south of Antikythera Island.
and thus rendered a landing on the mainland No attacks materialised, however, until New
behind them impracticable. Behind this "outer Year's Day. Two Marauders, on an offensive
ring", in order to keep the lines of communication sweep, made a machine-gun attack on a stationary
open, the enemy maintained a number of smaller three-masted sailing vessel west of Lesbos, with
island outposts in the Aegean. unobserved results, and later scored hits on a
Garrison duty was, until the collapse of Italy, trawler or drifter of 3/400 tons further to the
largely in the hands of the Italians. Nevertheless, south.
by September, 1943, the Germans had some 35,000 Altogether during January Marauders flew 31
troops in Crete, 7,000 in Rhodes and 4 - 5,000 sorties - 29 in the Aegean and two in the Ionian
scattered around the other islands - and were Sea. Twenty sightings were made, normally of
strong enough to seize complete control within a small craft. Seven torpedo attacks followed, but
few days after Italy had signed the Armistice. only one vessel - of 750 tons - was claimed as
This, however, is anticipating events, but it is sunk. iines were also laid on three occasions by
necessary to indicate the importance placed by Marauders and Wellingtons in the Euripo Chan-
Germany on the Aegean situation and the prepa- nel, between Euboea and the mainland.
rations that had been made to meet trouble in
that quarter. Enemy Counter-Measures
Even towards the end of 1942 the increase in The effect of these attacks went beyond the
shipping around Greece, bringing extra stocks of damage done to actual shipping. The possibility
food, fuel and ammunition from Italy, showed of attack at any moment and in any quarter
that action by us was anticipated. The ships used forced the enemy to give his ships more protec-
were mainly small - seldom more than three or tion, both by air and surface craft, and the threat
four thousand tons - and for plying between to the island outposts themselves necessitated
Greece and the island outposts the enemy still additional defensive fighter effort.
had a large fleet of caiques, schooners, trawlers No. 201 Group continued its activity throughout
and barges. February, and by now various sections of the
Aegean area had been selected and numbered for
First Patrols by Marauders future reference when briefing armed reconnais-
Our policy was to cause the maximum disloca- sances. Suitable prey, however, was still hard
tion of this sea-borne traffic as a preliminary to to find. In sixteen sorties Marauders made five
possible future offensive activity against the sightings, but in no case was the vessel large
"outer ring." Plans were accordingly laid by enough to warrant a torpedo.
*"2*
 p
--

More substantial results came from a daylight The transfer of the Marauders was balanced
attack on the harbour at Melos Island by six by the arrival of an extra Beaufighter squadron.
bomber and three torpedo Marauders on 21st Fe- These aircraft and, occasionally, Baltimores ope-
bruary. Two vessels of-1,500 tons each were hit rated by day, and torpedo Wellingtons joined in
by torpedoes, one sinking and the other being the hunt by night. The Wellingtons and the Bal-
left ablaze. Other activity in February consisted timores were unlucky, but the Beaufighters car-
of further mine-laying in the Euripo Channel and ried out cannon and machine-gun attacks on five
the taking of many valuable photographs. occasions. On the 24th they set a 120 tons
schooner on fire; on the 26th one caique was seen
At the end of February the Marauder squadron
to go down and another was left on fire and
was transferred to North-west Africa, so was no
sinking; and next day a 125 tons caique was left
longer available for strikes in the Aegean. In
smoking and abandoned by its crew.
March, although striking forces of Beaufighters These successes, however, were insignificant
were at readiness, no suitable targets were found compared with the records of May and June. In
by reconnaissance. May there was again an increase in the number
of convoys that had to be given protection - a
Successful Beaufighter Strikes
total of 133 - but as many aircraft as possible
In April, in spite of the increasing number of were spared for harassing the enemy in the
friendly convoys moving through the Eastern Aegean. Under the threat of invasion, the enemy
Mediterranean - 122 convoys were given protec- naturally strove to reinforce and supply his gar-
tion as against 94 during March - offensive ac- risons at all vulnerable points and, consequently,
tivity was resumed in the Aegean and along the sea traffic increased by leaps and bounds all
west coast of Greece. round Greece.

CAIQUES 200 TONS

LARGE MERCHANT VESSEL 500FT-9,000 TONS
Note prominent derricks and several hatches

GERMAN "F" BOAT 156 FT-SPEED 8 KNOTS

Note parallel sides, downwards slope of topsides and wheelhouse aft

SMALL MERCHANT VESSEL

Note"reduced number of hatches

61 -
 LINER-TROOP TRANSPORT 450 FT-7,000 TONS
Note full superstructure and large number of boats carried

Taking full advantage of this, No. 201 Group's interfere with them and damaged another. Two
aircraft put up 183 sorties on offensive sweeps. Beaufighters were lost and a third was damaged
The Wellingtons were unable to find suitable and had to land in Turkey.
targets for torpedoes, but the Beaufighters and
Baltimores made up for this by their successes. Two Attacks on Submarines
Of the steam ships sighted, five were attacked. Other operations in May included two attacks
One 800 tons merchant vessel was sunk; another on submarines by aircraft returning from Aegean
of the same size was left with its deck cargo of patrols and an attack on the seaplane base at
hay on fire; a small steamer of 150 tons was sunk Preveza,4n the west coast of Greece between
and another of 250 damaged with cannon shells; Corfu and Cephalonia.
and finally a mine-sweeper was hit and set alight. The first submarine attack occurred on the 7th
Of the smaller fry, 50 sailing vessels totalling when one was sighted on the surface by three
4,500 tons were attacked and hit with cannon or Baltimores. The submarine immediately crash-
machine-gun fire; fourteen totalling 1,120 tons dived and only one Baltimore was able to bomb,
were sunk and 36 totalling 3,385 tons were da- dropping two x 250 pounders from 200 feet, which
maged. overshot by 50 yards as the periscope was sub-
During these operations Beaufighters also shot merging. On the 25th an Italian submarine was
down seven enemy aircraft that attempted to seen by two returning Beaufighters. Cannon hits

NAVAL AUXILIARY

iED 200FT-800 TONS

 I

DESTROYER 350 FT-1,900 TONS

Note, older types often have two or three funnels

were scored before it could submerge and a second 26/27th a Wellington, briefed to attack the sea-
attack was made while it was at periscope depth. plane base, was unable to locate, so dropped six
An oil patch observed next day in approximately x 100 lb. bombs on the slipways, with unobserved
the same position suggests that damage may results.
have been done to oil tanks or pipes.
The first attack on the Preveza seaplane base The Levkas Canal Blocked
was planned for the 16th after photographic re- In June activity around Greece was again con-
connaissance had shown that normally some siderable - 144 sorties being flown - although
fifteeen seaplanes were moored there or drawn up successes were not up to the May standard,
on the beach. Six Beaufighters were briefed, but The Wellingtons at night once more drew a blank,
were foiled by thick clouds. Nine days later, but by day Beaufighters and Baltimores sank
however, another six Beaufighters were more sixteen sailing vessels totalling 1,840 tons, pro-
fortunate and found fourteen seaplanes and flying bably sank two and claimed a further 29; damaged.
boats waiting for them. Their cannon fire des- They made seven attacks on larger vessels, but
troyed a Cant.501 and two Cant.506s, set on fire had only one definite result - although this was
and probably destroyed another Cant.506, and a good one. On the 27th four Beaufighters caught
badly damaged five more. A fuel dump on shore a passenger-type vessel of 3,800 tons passing
was also hit and set alight. On the night of the through the Levkas Canal, dividing the island of

COASTER 200-250FT-1,000 TONS

Note derricks and hatches, and bridge amidships or just forward of engine room i

nDECLAS-+ r +,+t+ 1
1
-
1
U+t-l
 ra~6 Eta~

LARGE TANKER 500 FT-1,000 TONS

Note, usually engines aft; no derricks or hatches, prominent catwalk and ventilation boxes

Levkas from the west coast of Greece. They objective being a number of dredgers that were
scored two direct hits amidships with 250 lb. working there. All the aircraft attacked the
bombs as well as a number of near misses and largest dredger, of 250 - 300 tons, two bombs
also straffed the. vessel with cannon fire. Smoke scoring very near misses and two overshooting
was seen to be rising from it as they left and by about ten yards. This dredger and a smaller
subsequent reconnaissance showed it aground and one of some 125 tons were also straffed with
listing 45 degrees to port, blocking the northern cannon and machine-gun fire. One Beaufighter
entrance to the canal. One Beaufighter struck failed to return and another, hit by A.A. fire,
the ship's aerial with its port bomb-rack and took made a belly-landing at base.
nine feet of the wire back to base. On the nights of 13/14th and 14/15th July
The first assignment in July - on the 1st - three Wellingtons made further attempts to finish
was to try to do more damage to the helpless the vessel off. On the first occasion each drop-
vessel. Two Beaufighters were briefed and ped eleven x 250 lb. bombs, but results were un-
aimed four bombs at the target. They straddled observed. One crew reported coloured lights seen
it with two of them, while the others fell 25 - 30 along the coast - possibly the work of patriots-
yards short. as being a useful navigational aid.
Later in the day four more Beaufighters carried On the following night one of the Wellingtons
out another offensive sweep over the canal, their dropped its bombs from only 50 feet and explo-

ITALIAN "'E" BOAT FT-SPEED 42 KNOTS

Note u s amidships
A tug leaving Preveza harbour attacked by Beaufighters, 22nd August, 1943.

A coaster of 1/2,000 tons attacked by cannon fire, 22nd August, 1943.

A merchant vessel of 1/2,000 tons under attack by Beaufighters south of Preveza.

A minelayer or patrol vessel under attack in Syros (Kyklades) harbour.

sions were seen in the target area, although the 250 tons probably sunk, and fourteen totalling
vessel was obscured by smoke. The other two 1,100 tons damaged.
aircraft bombed from 4,500 - 5,000 feet, with Apart from the shipping strikes in the Aegean
unknown results. At the end of the month sal- and off the west coast of Greece, No. 201 Group's
vage work appeared to have ceased - and the aircraft also turned their attention to a number
canal remained blocked. of land targets. These included a train hidden
in a clump of trees (one of the Beaufighters re-
Wellingtons Find Targets turned to base festooned with fir branches); a
In general in July Wellingtons, Baltimores and bridge carrying a railway track; A.A. and ma-
Beaufighters continued the aggressive policy in chine-gun posts; cars and trucks; and Kalamata
the Aegean, although commitments in connection airfield in the south of Greece. For the special
with friendly convoys made it impossible to keep operation carried out by A.H.Q., A.D.E.M., over
up the scale of the two previous months. In all, Crete on 23rd July, No. 201 Group provided eight
86 sorties were put up on offensive reconnaissan- Baltimores and seven Beaufighters, of which six
ce. Baltimores failed to return to base.
In this month the Wellingtons came into their
own at last. Apart from the Levkas Canal ope- Trouble with Bombs
rations described above, they found suitable Towards the end of July began the first of a
targets on three other occasions. On the night of series of claims of bombs failing to explode that
24/25th four Wellingtons sighted a single vessel grew into something of an epidemic in August.
on a northerly course east of the island of Nisero, On the first occasion Beaufighters claimed a di-
between Cos and Rhodes. One aircraft dropped rect hit with a 250 lb. bomb on the bows of a
its torpedoes and a second attack was made with 110 tons schooner anchored in Kyllene, on the
bombs, both with unknown results. At Alimnia west coast of Greece opposite the island of Zan-
anchorage, just off Rhodes, two merchant vessels te. The bomb apparently did not explode, al-
of 1,000 and 2,000 tons were also attacked and though others were seen to burst on the shore.
near misses scored. Reports of other failures of both 250 and 500
On the following night two Wellingtons, on a pounders were brought back by Beaufighters aid
sweep in the Rhodes - Leros area, bombed a mer- Wellingtons on 5th, 7th, 11th, 11/12th, 14/15th
chant vessel, escorted by three destroyers. The and 15th August.
first stick of five bombs was aimed at the mer- These reports were investigated by the Arma-
chant vessel, with unobserved results, and the ment Section of H.Q., R.A.F., M.E., and the
second stick of six scored near misses across the failures were attributed mainly to the fact that
stern of one of the destroyers. in most cases direct hits had not been made on
On the 28/29th three Wellingtons made a the ships attacked and that bombs had not ex-
return visit to Alimnia harbour, where shipping ploded on hitting the sea owing to the low height
had been attacked the previous day by four Beau- from which they were dropped; or if they did
fighters. Two merchant vessels, of 3,000 and strike the target, they had not had time to sta-
2,500 tons, were present, and two of the Beau- bilise and consequently glanced off. The trouble
fighters had scored direct hits with four bombs practically ceased after the middle of the month.
on the- smaller vessel, leaving it listing and emit- In spite of these bomb troubles, Beaufighters
ting smoke and flames, while the other two scor- and Wellingtons had a comparatively satisfactory
ed cannon and machine-gun strikes on the larger month, flying, with occasional Baltimores, a total
vessel. The first Wellington lit up the two ships of 202 sorties. Wellingtons found only a few
with flares and then dropped six x 500 lb. bombs targets worthy of torpedoes, the most successful
from 4,500 feet, causing a column of smoke to attack taking place on the night of the 12/13th.
issue from the port side of the larger vessel. The One aircraft of two engaged on an anti-shipping
other two aircraft each dropped eleven x 250 Ib. sweep aimed a torpedo at a 2,000 tons merchant
bombs from 1,200 feet, straddling the targets. vessel west-south-west of Melos Island. A hit
SThe most successful Beaufighter strikes, apart was scored on the port side, causing a cloud of
from the attack on Alimnia mentioned above, steam and smoke.
were against the lesser craft, A Titano-type Beaufighters on the 5th scored numerous can-
vessel was left listing to port and shrouded in non hits on a 300 tons trawler anchored by the
smoke on the 27th; on the 29th four near misses quayside at Preveza; near misses with bombs and
were scored on a 250 tons schooner, which was hits with cannon on a corvette-type vessel near
also raked with cannon and machine-gun fire; Githion, in the Gulf of Laconia, on the 8th; com-
and next day two Beaufighters, returning from pletely destroyed an 80 tons caique in Paros Bay
a sweep in the Alimnia area-where they had on the 12th with a bomb that burst five yards
seen the 2,500 tons vessel, attacked on the 28th, away; bombed the landing ground and harbour
lying almost completely submerged in the ancho- at Kalamata on the 15th; claimed a bomb hit on
rage-caught a 500 tons tug-type vessel and set the stern of a 500 tons coaster in Vonitsa Bay,
it alight with cannon and machine-gun fire. In Preveza, on the 18th; and on the 30th scored
addition, during the month seven sailing vessels near r isses with bombs and strikes with cannon
totalling 705 tons were claimed as sunk, one of on a 2,500 tons merchant vessel off Levkas.

67

*a *B'i- i~i~ s ".

 During the Preveza attack on the 5th, one o Occupy Aegean Islands
Beaufighter's fuselage struck the forward mast In September came an elaboration of our ag-
of the trawler and snapped off several feet. The gressive policy in the Aegean. After the seizing
aircraft made base safely, but others were not so of control at Rhodes by the Germans following
fortunate in the later part of the month. On the the Allied Armistice with Italy, it was decided to
19th a Beaufighter, believed hit by A.A., crash- occupy the Aegean islands of Castelrosso, Cos,.
landed near Missolonghi, on the west coast of Leros and Samos. Cos, with its landing ground,
Greece; two were missing from sweeps on the and Leros, with its harbour, could then be used
22nd; one was shot down next day by intense as bases on which to build up a force capable
A.A. fire during an attack on Zante harbour; on of seriously threatening communications with
the 28th another, with engine trouble, came down Rhodes and other German-held outpost and, even-
in the sea off Cyprus, the crew being rescued; tuall, as possible springboards for more am
and, finally, in the Levkas attack on the 30th one tually, as possible springboards for more ambi-
Beaufighter was caught by A.A. fire and crashed tious undertakings. Castelrosso would be a useful
in the sea. intermediate supply base and Samos a valuable

This an attack on two M/Vs

 ... Direct hits were scored from low level in face of strong anti-aircraftfire.

advanced outpost. The three services were to co- claimed one hit and two near misses on a 300 tons
operate in these operations. vessel unloading its cargo off Gavdos Island, leav-
In the early part of the month R.A.F. activity ing it on fire and down at the stern.
in the Aegean and Ionian Seas continued nor- Later on the same day, in connection with the
mally. On the 2nd one of four Beaufighters, at- invasion of Cos and Leros, a short series of di-
tacking shipping anchored off Cos, struck the versionary bombing attacks began against Rhodes
mast of a caique and crashed into the sea. Four airfields. Shortly after dusk five Beaufighters
other Beaufighters on the same day caused ex- visited Maritza airfield, but owing to the dark-
plosions and fires among a group of 30 M.T., ness no enemy aircraft could be seen and the
which they found parked on a road near Preveza, Beaufighters had to be content with bombing and
and also scored a bomb hit amidships on a 1,500 machine-gunning the hangars. Shortly after-
tons merchant vessel outside the harbour there. wards four Wellingtons attacked Calato airfield,
On the 7th three Baltimores seriously damaged starting':many fires in the dispersal area.
an 80 tons caique with bombs and machineguln . Next day a more shatteriing a1 k on the two
fire off Naxos Island. On the 11th a single Bal- airfields took place. Forty-three .T.S.A.F. Libe-
timore, on reconnaissance for shipping off Crete, rators were briefed, of which five -returned early.

69 E
 tonnage of ships sunk and damaged alone-163
ships with a tonnage of approximately 53,580 tons.
fires, burbd si lf But the value of the operations went beyond mere
Twenty-three bombed Mart W s 1 figures, taking in such subsidiary factors that the
covered by bursts. Fires were started ith enemy had to maintain a large defensive air force
persal area and about six aircraft were reckoned in the Aegean, and, eventually, to augment it in
to have been destroyed on the ground. In all, the face of the threat of our landings; that outlying
Liberators dropped 340 x 500 lb. bombs between garrisons had to be reinforced by troops that
10.16 and 10.25 hours. would have been useful in the main theatres of ac-
On the 13th the first British troops landed in tivity; and that a continuous state of tension was
Cos. The operations that took place between caused among the Germans forming the garrisons.
then and 3rd October are, however, outside the The importance placed by Germany on our unwel-
scope of this article and will be dealt with in the come intrusions is shown by the energetic measu-
next issue of the Mediterranean Review. res taken to seize Italian-held islands when Italy
signed the Armistice and when, a few day later,
The Period in Retrospect it was learned that our troops were in Cos and
Roughly nine months had now passed since the Leros.
beginning of our operations in the Aegean and At the end of September Germany's "outer
Ionian Sea areas. What had been accomplished? ring" still stood intact. Nine months' effort by
Was the effort worth while? No. 201 Group's aircraft had not, however, made
On examination, it becomes clear from the re- the position of the garrisons manning it any
cord of those nine months that the effort was more enviable - and offensive operations in the
worth while. This is proved by the number and Aegean still continued.

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and torpedo tubes forward. with central deckhouse

70
 PARTICULARS OF SHIPPING SUNK OR DAMAGED IN THE AEGEAN
BY R.A.F. AIRCRAFT

1 Jan. - 30 Sept., 1943 ey: Shipping at Sea

Key:Shipping in Harbour
-I -
I -II -

Sunk or Probably
TYPE OF VESSEL Damaged TOTALS
Beached Sunk
i ~I
I

CARGO VESSELS, etc.

11
M .Vs. ... .... ... ... ... 3

"F"-Boats and Barges ... 2

59
Schooners and Trawler s .. .. ... 75

1
Coasters ..... ... 2

1
Tugs ... ... ... ... o... ... .. o ... ...°
1

NAVAL VESSELS.

1
Destroyers ... .................. 1

1
M .T.Bs ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

"E"-Boats ... ... .. .. . .. ...... ... 1

- 1 1
Escort Vessels (unspecified) ......... 1 2 3

11 42 75
GRAND TOTALS 69 88
'15

Approximative Tonnage

Combined Totals

Sunk ... ... ... ... ... ..... . ... 3385 4570
1185

Probably Sunk ........ 16800 19850

3050

Damaged ... ... .. .. ... ... .. 110 29160

. 11040

GRAND TOTALS 38305 53580

158275
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