The Art Of Tank Warfare - Chris Keeling

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opposed, and easily overpowered the weak German and Italian forces deployed along the west coast. After
seizing Gela and Licata, the US forces moved up the coast through Agrigento, Ribera, and Castelvetrano
during the remainder of July. Meanwhile, the Axis forces were reinforced by General Hube’s Fourteenth
Panzer Corps and the Hermann Göring Panzer division from Italy into northeastern Sicily. With the nearly
bloodless capture of Palermo in the north, the western half of the island had been captured. Patton’s Seventh
Army then moved east to relieve pressure on the British forces, which were being held up at Mount Etna by
Hube’s Panzers, by occupying Falcone in early August. This force continued its advance, crossing the Termini
River to attack Messina the following week. By the end of August, Messina had fallen, and Sicily had been
secured, although about 100,000 German and Italian troops had escaped over the Strait of Messina to Italy.
The surviving Axis troops were quickly reorganized and reinforced, then placed in position to defend against
the expected attack on mainland Italy. This attack, mounted on September 3rd, coincided with the day Italy
officially surrendered to the Allies. German occupation forces quickly disarmed the remaining Italian forces,
while the Luftwaffe damaged the Italian fleet and while both forces stubbornly resisted the parallel Allied
advances up the sides of the Italian peninsula. On September 9th, General Mark Clark led the US Fifth
Army, including the 36th and 45th Infantry divisions and the British X Corps, ashore at Salerno. Salerno
was defended by the German LXXVI Panzer Corps, which included the 16th and Hermann Göring Panzer
divisions, as well as the 3rd, 15th and 29th Panzer Grenadier divisions. This amphibious attack caused
German forces in the “boot” to withdraw northwards, allowing the Allies to make rapid progress until they
reached the Germans’ “Viktor Line,” north of Naples, on October 3rd. Here, German reinforcements, which
were arriving from northern Italy, southern France, Austria, and Sardinia, held back the Allied advance long
enough for the “Gustav Line” to be prepared farther north, along the Sangro and Garigliano Rivers.