World War II Europe: Fighting in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy

Second Battle of El Alamein

With the Japanese declaration of war on Britain in December 1941, Auchinleck was forced to transfer some of his forces east for the defense of Burma and India. Taking advantage of Auchinleck's weakness, Rommel launched a massive offensive that overran the British position in the Western Desert and pressed deep into Egypt until it was halted at El Alamein. Upset by Auchinleck's defeat, Churchill sacked him in favor of General Harold Alexander. Taking command, Alexander gave control of his ground forces to General Bernard Montgomery. To regain the lost territory, Montgomery opened the Second Battle of El Alamein on October 23, 1942. Assaulting the German lines, Montgomery's Eighth Army was finally able to break through after twelve days of fighting. The battle cost Rommel almost all of his armor and forced him to retreat back towards Tunisia.

The Americans Arrive

On November 8, five days after Montgomery's victory in Egypt, US forces stormed ashore in Morocco and Algeria as part of Operation Torch. While US commanders had favored a direct assault on mainland Europe, the British suggested an attack on North Africa as a way to reduce pressure on the Soviets. Moving through minimal resistance by Vichy French forces, US troops consolidated their position and began heading east to attack Rommel's rear. Fighting on two fronts, Rommel assumed a defensive position in Tunisia. American forces first encountered the Germans at the Battle of Kasserine Pass (February 19-25) where Major General Lloyd Fredendall's II Corps was routed. After the defeat, US forces initiated massive changes which including unit reorganization and changes in command. The most notable of these was Lieutenant General George S. Patton replacing Fredendall.

Victory in North Africa

Despite the victory at Kasserine, the German situation continued to worsen. On March 9, Rommel departed Africa, citing health reasons, and turned over command to General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim. Later that month, Montgomery broke through the Mareth Line in southern Tunisia, further tightening the noose. Under the coordination of US General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the combined British and American forces pressed the remaining German and Italian troops, while Admiral Andrew Cunningham ensured that they could not escape by sea. Following the fall of Tunis, the Axis forces in North Africa surrendered on May 13, 1943, and 275,000 German and Italian soldiers were taken prisoner.

Operation Husky: The Invasion of Sicily

As the fighting in North Africa was concluding, the Allied leadership determined that it would not be possible to stage a cross-Channel invasion during 1943. In lieu of an attack on France, it was decided to invade Sicily with the goals of eliminating the island as an Axis base and encouraging the fall of Mussolini's government. The principle forces for the assault were the US 7th Army under Lt. Gen. George S. Patton and the British Eighth Army under Gen. Bernard Montgomery, with Eisenhower and Alexander in overall command.

On the night of July 9/10, Allied airborne units began landing, while the main ground forces came ashore three hours later on the southeast and southwest coasts of the island. The Allied advance initially suffered from a lack of coordination between US and British forces as Montgomery pushed northeast towards the strategic port of Messina and Patton pushed north and west. The campaign saw tensions rise between Patton and Montgomery as the independent-minded American felt the British were stealing the show. Ignoring Alexander's orders, Patton drove north and captured Palermo, before turning east and beating Montgomery to Messina by a few hours. The campaign had the desired effect as the capture of Palermo had helped spur Mussolini's overthrow in Rome.

Into Italy

With Sicily secured, Allied forces prepared to attack what Churchill referred to as the "underbelly of Europe." On September 3, 1943, Montgomery's Eighth Army came ashore in Calabria. As a result of these landings, the new Italian government, led by Pietro Badoglio surrendered to the Allies on September 8. Though the Italians had been defeated, the German forces in Italy dug in to defend the country. The day after Italy's capitulation, the main Allied landings occurred at Salerno. Fighting their way ashore against heavy opposition, American and British forces quickly took the city Between September 12-14, the Germans launched a series of counterattacks with the goal of destroying the beachhead before it could link up with the Eighth Army. These were repulsed and the German commander, General Heinrich von Vietinghoff withdrew his forces to a defensive line to the north.

Pressing North

Linking up with Eighth Army, the forces at Salerno turned north and captured Naples and Foggia. Moving up the peninsula, the Allied advance began to slow due to harsh, mountainous terrain that was ideally suited for defense. In October, the German commander in Italy, Field Marshall Albert Kesselring convinced Hitler that every inch of Italy should be defended to keep the Allies away from Germany. To conduct this defensive campaign, Kesselring constructed numerous lines of fortifications across Italy. The most formidable of these was the Winter (Gustav) Line which stopped the US 5th Army's advance at the end of 1943. In an attempt to turn the Germans out of the Winter Line, Allied forces landed further north at Anzio in January 1944. Unfortunately for the Allies, the forces that came ashore were quickly contained by the Germans and were unable to breakout of the beachhead.

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