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4 unusual facts about Allied invasion of Sicily


Allied invasion of Sicily

The British Eighth Army had four infantry divisions and an independent infantry brigade organized under XIII Corps commanded by Lieutenant-General Miles Dempsey and XXX Corps under Lieutenant-General Sir Oliver Leese.

To the east, the British 1st Airborne Division commanded by Major General George F. Hopkinson were to seize vital bridges and high ground.

AM-Lira

The AM-lira (Allied-Military Currency) was the currency issued in Italy by AMGOT after the invasion of Sicily in 1943.

Don Whitehead

He covered the Allied invasion of Sicily at Gela, with the First Infantry Division.


8th Airlift Squadron

The history of the 8th includes airborne assaults on Sicily and Southern France, support of partisans in Northern Italy and the Balkans, and transportation of personnel and supplies in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, during World War II.

Flores-class gunboat

Flores and Soemba were united in the Mediterranean Sea and played an active and successful role in the landings in Sicily, Salerno, Anzio, Garigliano, Gaeta and finally, at the beaches of Normandy in June 1944.

HMS Royal Scotsman

In May 1943 she took part in landings on the Italian island of Pantelleria ("Operation Corkscrew"), then on 10 July landed troops on the beach codenamed "Bark South" during the Allied invasion of Sicily.

Landing Craft Infantry

In another instance, Lt. Alec Guinness RNVR made numerous trips as the Commanding Officer of HMS LCI(L)-124 delivering troops to the beach near Cape Passero lighthouse on 9 July 1943 during the Allied invasion of Sicily.

Motobomba

The FFF was subsequently used in attacks against invasion shipping at Bône in Algeria on April 16, 1943 and at Syracuse during the Allied invasion of Sicily later that year.

USS LST-1

During World War II, LST-1 was assigned to the European Theater and participated in the following operations: Allied invasion of Sicily (July 1943); Salerno Landings (September 1943); Anzio-Nettuno phase of operations on the west coast of Italy (January to March 1944); and the Invasion of Normandy (June 1944).


see also

1943 in organized crime

The US Military grants Michele Navarra, the Mafia boss of Corleone, permission to collect abandoned military vehicles left by the Italian army during the allied invasion of Sicily.