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Encyclopedia of Invasions & Conquests, Fourth Edition

Sicily, Allied Invasion of

Having successfully completed the occupation of North Africa, British and American leaders pondered the next target in their campaign against the Axis. American President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met in Casablanca, Morocco, in January 1943 to discuss this and other strategic matters. Two options presented themselves for a continued campaign in the Mediterranean area: Corsica or Sardinia, to set up an invasion of southern France; or Sicily, to set up an invasion of Italy. The two leaders decided to feint at Sardinia and plan the operation for Sicily. Occupation of the island would open up the sea-lanes of the Mediterranean to the Suez Canal and save time over the Cape of Good Hope route then in use. Hopefully, it would also force Germany to divert troops from the Russian front to counter the southern threat.

More than 400,000 German and Italian troops defended the island, which was known for its rugged terrain. The British Eighth Army under General Sir Bernard Montgomery was to land on the southeastern corner of the triangular island and drive up the coast to Messina, cutting off any Axis retreat into Italy. The American Seventh Army under General George Patton was to land in the central part of the south coast and clear the middle and western parts of the island of the enemy as well as drive north parallel to the British attack.

Early on the morning of 10 June 1943, American airborne troops landed for their first-ever combat operation. Their mission was to seize road junctions and delay any reinforcements that came up the few roads available on the island. The Germans had decided to hold back most of their troops from the beaches and respond to the Allied initiatives as though there were too much seacoast to defend. The initial landings went smoothly, but a German armored counterattack the next day put severe pressure on the American positions. It was ultimately driven back, and by the fourth day of the invasion, the Allies had a secure beachhead.

As Montgomery’s forces encountered severe resistance along the coast road, they gradually had to move farther and farther inland, pushing American forces farther west. Patton took it upon himself to send his forces northwest to capture Palermo, then drive eastward along the north coast road, thus putting pressure on the retreating Axis troops from two directions. By the end of June, the Germans had decided to abandon the island, and began a fighting withdrawal toward the port of Messina. Despite constant pressure from the British attacking overland and Patton staging amphibious flanking moves, the Germans managed to extricate themselves according to plan. When Allied forces entered Messina on 17 August, they found the city empty; the Germans had evacuated 100,000 men and 10,000 vehicles.

While not the stunning victory for which the Allies had hoped, the capture of Sicily had major results. It accomplished its primary mission of securing the sea-lanes through the Mediterranean. More importantly, it put such a strain on Italian morale that Mussolini was overthrown, and the new Italian government secretly approached the Allies to talk peace, ultimately agreeing to the demand for unconditional surrender called for by the Allies at the Casablanca Conference. This action was no surprise to Hitler; he had been sending German troops into the country for some months in anticipation of the Italian defection. Though the Italian army was no longer a factor in the war effort, the Germans did not abandon the countryside. The defense the Germans mounted after the landing of British troops in September 1943 continued until the end of the war. The Germans fought a slow and costly (for both sides) withdrawal up the entire peninsula, and were still fighting hard in the far north of the country when the surrender was signed in Germany in May 1945.

The invasion of Sicily caused a large amount of destruction, particularly around the cities of Palermo and Messina. The island’s inhabitants were glad to see both the war and the fascists go. The Allies were welcomed, if for no other reason than that they brought food and medicines. The lack of a fascist government structure left a power vacuum behind, which was filled by leaders of the local Mafia families. They backed a popular separatist movement until 1946, when Italy granted the island a large measure of local autonomy. The new relationship with Italy was further strengthened by the inclusion in the new Italian constitution of a clause instituting land reform; the largest landowners had to break up their holdings or be subject to government intervention. With land to work and universal suffrage, the Sicilians found their postwar condition much improved.

See also: North Africa, U.S. Invasion of.

References:

1 

Birtle, A. J., Sicily (Washington, DC: U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1993); Garland, Albert, Sicily and the Surrender of Italy (Washington, DC: U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1965); Smith, Denis Mack, A History of Sicily (New York: Viking, 1968).

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MLA 9th
, . "Sicily, Allied Invasion Of." Encyclopedia of Invasions & Conquests, Fourth Edition, edited by Paul K. Davis, Salem Press, 2023. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=GHInv4e_0244.
APA 7th
, . (2023). Sicily, Allied Invasion of. In P. K. Davis (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Invasions & Conquests, Fourth Edition. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
,. "Sicily, Allied Invasion Of." Edited by Paul K. Davis. Encyclopedia of Invasions & Conquests, Fourth Edition. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2023. Accessed October 15, 2025. online.salempress.com.