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    World War 2 In Review No. 54
    World War 2 In Review No. 54
    World War 2 In Review No. 54
    Ebook496 pages1 hour

    World War 2 In Review No. 54

    By Merriam Press

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    Merriam Press World War 2 In Review Series. The following articles on World War II are in this issue: (1) Canadian Army in the Conquest of Sicily (2) Malta: Mediterranean Bastion (3) British Army General Orde Charles Wingate (4) Nisei: Japanese-Americans in the U.S. Army in World War II (5) Arab Legion (6) Slovak Air Force: The Luftwaffe’s First Ally (7) German Arado Ar 234 Pilot’s Operating Instructions (8) British 18/25-pounder (9) American Chevrolet G506 1½-ton 4x4 Trucks (10) Uniforms of German Army Officers 1937-1945 (11) Infanterie Sturmabzeichen: German Infantry Assault Badge (12) Uniform Insignia of the Organization Todt (13) German Field Bishops Uniform and Insignia (14) Hans Speidel: A German Hero (15) American 53rd Coast Artillery Regiment (16) Incident at Gross-Steinum: Atrocity or Tragedy? (17) Mystery of a Landing: Sicily, 1943 (18) Valor in the Desert: The Infantry Routed the Tanks (19) One Good Man, That Shavetail: A Veteran’s Account. 419 B&W/color photos/illus.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLulu.com
    Release dateNov 3, 2018
    ISBN9780359164967
    World War 2 In Review No. 54

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      Book preview

      World War 2 In Review No. 54 - Merriam Press

      World War 2 In Review No. 54

      World War 2 In Review No. 54

      F:\Working Data\Merriam Press Logo CS.jpg

      Hoosick Falls, New York

      2018

      First eBook Edition

      Copyright © 2018 by Merriam Press

      Additional material copyright of named contributors.

      All rights reserved.

      No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

      The views expressed are solely those of the author.

      ISBN 978-0-359-16496-7

      This work was designed, produced, and published in the United States of America by the Merriam Press, 489 South Street, Hoosick Falls NY 12090.

      Notice

      The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

      Mission Statement

      This series presents articles and pictorials on topics covering many aspects of World War 2. In addition to new articles and pictorials on topics not previously covered, future volumes may include additional material on the subjects covered in this volume. The volumes in this series will comprise a single source for innumerable articles and tens of thousands of images of interest to anyone interested in the history and study of World War 2. While no doubt some of these images and other materials could be found online, countless hours could be spent searching thousands of web sites to find at least some of this material.

      The Images

      These photos are seventy-plus years old, were taken under less than ideal conditions, and some were taken by individuals who were neither professional photographers nor using professional equipment. Thus, the quality of the original image may be less than perfect. While Merriam Press tries to obtain the best quality images possible, the quality of the images in this publication will no doubt vary greatly.

      This series of publications utilizes the editor’s collection of tens of thousands of photographs and other illustrative material acquired since 1968. Hundreds of sources over the years have been searched for material on every subject.

      Photographs Needed

      Merriam Press welcomes any contributions of photographs

      of this or any subject for future volumes in this series.

      How to Use This Publication

      To get the best viewing experience, the use of the Adobe Digital program is highly recommended. This free program is available from Adobe.

      This publication was designed to allow for larger images than most eReaders will accommodate. When the publication was created, the images were inserted in a fixed size (6.2 inches wide and up to 8 inches high) and cannot be resized in the program. The text, of course, can be enlarged and reduced as desired.

      Viewing on a computer or other device with a large enough screen will allow viewing of the photos and other illustrations in their entirety. Viewing this publication on most eReaders will result in the images not being shown in their entirety.

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      •

      Welcome to No. 54 of the World War 2 In Review Series

      The following articles are in this issue of World War 2 In Review:

      (1) Canadian Army in the Conquest of Sicily

      (2) Malta: Mediterranean Bastion

      (3) British Army General Orde Charles Wingate

      (4) Nisei: Japanese-Americans in the U.S. Army in World War II

      (5) Arab Legion

      (6) Slovak Air Force: The Luftwaffe’s First Ally

      (7) German Arado Ar 234 Pilot’s Operating Instructions

      (8) British 18/25-pounder

      (9) American Chevrolet G506 1½-ton 4x4 Trucks

      (10) Uniforms of German Army Officers 1937-1945

      (11) Infanterie Sturmabzeichen: German Infantry Assault Badge

      (12) Uniform Insignia of the Organization Todt

      (13) German Field Bishops Uniform and Insignia

      (14) Hans Speidel: A German Hero

      (15) American 53rd Coast Artillery Regiment

      (16) Incident at Gross-Steinum: Atrocity or Tragedy?

      (17) Mystery of a Landing: Sicily, 1943

      (18) Valor in the Desert: The Infantry Routed the Tanks: Victoria Cross Recipient Lt.-Col. Victor Buller Turner, The Rifle Brigade, Royal Army

      (19) One Good Man, That Shavetail: A Veteran’s Account

      with 419 B&W and color photographs, maps and illustrations.

      Watch for future issues of this series with more articles on the history of World War II.

      Canadian Army in the Conquest of Sicily

      by C. P. Stacey

      F:\Working Data\WW2 In Review\WR Published\WR - 054 - Mixed - FINISHED\WR054_LE1_files\image004.jpg

      Troops of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, part of the 1st Canadian Division, entered Modica marching in a relaxed manner, but rifles are close to hand and bayonets are fixed, ready for sudden action. Apparently, the standard issue length of the Khaki Drill shorts just wasn’t breezy enough for the lead soldier, who has his rolled up. The British and Commonwealth forces gained some protection through the use of fashionable knee-high socks paired with canvas gaiters or wool puttees, at the cost of ventilation.

      Early on the morning of 10 July 1943, troops of two Allied armies began landing at various beaches in the southeast corner of Sicily. The conquest of the island was successfully concluded thirty-eight days later, when the last of the German garrison retired across the Messina Strait to the Italian mainland. This campaign, in which Canadian forces played a not inconsiderable part, marked the first major blow against the so-called soft underbelly of the Axis, and provided the Allies with a springboard for operations against the mainland of Hitler’s Europe.

      The Sicilian operation is interesting to the soldier on several counts. The assault involved amphibious organization on a very large scale. The subsequent fighting meant, on one side, a difficult advance across mountainous terrain which gave great advantages to the defenders; on the other side, a delaying action maintained in the face of superior forces.

      The decision to attack Sicily was taken at the Casablanca Conference in January 1943. The conference set the favorable July moon period as the target date for the invasion, to which was given the code name HUSKY. General Sir H. R. L. G. Alexander was named Deputy Commander-in-Chief under General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s supreme command, and was charged with the detailed planning, preparation and execution of the operation.

      Planning began immediately under a special staff, but the fighting in Tunisia continued to occupy the attention of the Supreme Commander and his Deputy, as well as that of the two designated army commanders (General Sir Bernard Montgomery and Lieutenant General George S. Patton Jr.) until mid-May. The result was that the first outline plan, which called for separate assaults by the U.S. Seventh Army near Palermo in the northwest corner of the island, and the British Eighth Army near Catania on the east coast, did not meet with the full approval of those who would be responsible for carrying it out. The chief objection was to the wide dispersion of the proposed landings. Eventually the plan was completely recast on the sound strategic principle of concentration of strength in the crucial area. The landings in the northwest were canceled and the entire Western Task Force was diverted to the southeastern assault, being placed on the Eighth Army’s immediate left.

      The plan as finally adopted fulfilled three main requirements: the landings were to take place on suitable beaches which could be given fighter cover from Allied airfields in Tunisia and on Malta; the major port of Catania would be an early objective (although administrative demands would be met initially by the use of lesser ports, and to an unprecedented extent, particularly in the American sector, by maintenance over the beaches); and the airfields in southeastern Sicily would be seized in order to ensure protection for our ships lying off the beaches and to afford greater security for further offensive operations.

      The assault area extended for more than 100 miles around Cape Passero, the extreme south-easterly tip of the island, to include the port of Syracuse on the right and the smaller harbor of Licata on the left. After preparatory operations by Allied naval forces and air forces to neutralize enemy naval efforts and gain air supremacy, the two task forces would launch pre-dawn seaborne assaults, assisted by airborne landings, designed to secure Syracuse and Licata and adjacent air bases and establish a firm lodgment area from which to conduct operations against the ports of Augusta and Catania and the important Gerbini group of airfields in the Catania Plain. The capture of these objectives would pave the way to the reduction of the island.

      Allied estimates of the strength of the Axis garrison in Sicily proved substantially correct. Actually at the time of the invasion there were two German and four Italian field divisions and between five and six Italian coastal divisions on the island—the whole being under command of the Headquarters of the Italian Sixth Army, which was at Enna, the hub city of Sicily. The Italian forces, particularly those of the coastal formations, were of low fighting quality, considerably inferior to the battle-seasoned troops of the two German divisions—the Hermann Göring Panzer Division and the 15th Panzergrenadier Division. On the morning of 10 July the bulk of the Hermann Göring Division was at Caltagirone, midway between Augusta and Licata, where it formed, with two Italian field formations—the 4th (Livorno) and the 54th (Napoli) Divisions—a mobile reserve for counterattack after the coastal divisions had met the first shock of invasion. The 15th Panzergrenadier Division had been moved a few days earlier to the western end of Sicily in order to counter any assault on Palermo.

      Against this garrison the Allies were to employ in the assault nine divisions (two of them airborne), and independent brigade and certain Commando units. To carry out the tasks assigned to the Eighth Army, General Montgomery planned five simultaneous landings, using the 13th Corps (the 5th and 50th Divisions) on his right; and the 30th Corps (the 1st Canadian and 51st [Highland] Divisions and the 231st [Malta] Brigade) on the left, on both sides of the Pachino peninsula. The main assault in the north was to be preceded by the drop of an airlanding brigade group of the 1st Airborne Division west of Syracuse and a landing by Commando troops south of the port with the joint object of securing road communications and capturing coastal batteries guarding the harbor. On completion of the assault phase the 13th Corps was to advance north across the River Simeto and capture Catania. On the Allied left General Patton would assault with the U.S. 2nd Corps (the 1st and 45th Divisions) in the Gulf of Gela to take the town of Gela and the Comiso group of airfields, and land the 3rd Division (reinforced by part of the 2nd Armored Division) farther west to capture the port of Licata and its airfields. Once the lodgment area was secured, the Seventh Army’s role was to protect the Eighth Army’s left flank.

      As D-day approached, a carefully coordinated convoy program brought the invasion forces from many points of the compass to the assembly area south of Malta. British formations of the Eighth Army came from the Middle East and Tripolitania; the 1st Canadian Division sailed directly from the United Kingdom. The American assault divisions embarked at ports in Algeria and Tunisia. By the evening of 9 July more than three thousand merchant ships and naval craft were assembled in readiness for the descent upon Sicily. The Allied air forces had done their work well; seven weeks of heavy blows against Sicilian airfields had left many of them unserviceable and driven half the enemy’s aircraft to bases on the Italian mainland.

      As dusk fell the glider-borne 1st Airlanding Brigade (of the British 1st Airborne Division) and American paratroops of the 82nd Airborne Division—in all five thousand strong—took off from Tunisian airfields for Sicily. Their mission was only partly successful, both formations being widely dispersed. By late evening a gale which had threatened to postpone the seaborne assault moderated, and the first landings were made covered by naval bombardment shortly after midnight. They achieved success in all sectors. Caught completely by surprise, the Italian coastal defenses offered little organized resistance, and by the end of D-day the Allies had captured all their initial objectives.

      Major-General G. G. Simonds’ 1st Canadian Division made its assault with the 1st and 2nd Infantry Brigades on a five-mile stretch of coast just west of the tip of the Pachino Peninsula, while farther west a Special Service Brigade of two Royal Marine Commandos, also under General Simonds, carried out simultaneous landings on the extreme left of the Eighth Army’s front. Meeting only very slight resistance the 1st Brigade seized in rapid succession an Italian coastal battery and the deserted Pachino airfield, while on the left the 2nd Brigade linked up with the Commando forces and exploited three or four miles inland. Canadian casualties in the first twenty-four hours of the invasion were almost negligible.

      Neither army had yet encountered any Germans. On the east coast the 13th Corps, which was commanded by Lieutenant General Miles C. Dempsey, had made rapid progress during the morning, and by 9:00 p.m. the 5th Division had reached Syracuse—to take the port undamaged. On the right of the Canadians the other formations of Lieutenant-General Sir Oliver Leese’s 30th Corps—the 51st Division and the Malta Brigade—had secured Pachino and the eastern half of the peninsula. The assault divisions of the U.S. Seventh Army, having landed in generally rougher surf conditions on the more exposed western beaches, had warded off scattered Axis bombing and strafing attacks, and by nightfall were holding firm bridgeheads about Licata and Gela.

      The next three days saw the establishment of the lodgment area envisaged in General Alexander’s final invasion plan. On 11 July the 13th Corps gave its bridgehead over to the 30th Corps, and advanced northward on Augusta, which the 5th Division captured early on the 13th. The 30th Corps moved on two axes into the rough tableland which reaches down from Caltagirone to cover most of the southeast corner of the island. The 51st Division reached Vizzini on the 13th. Advancing on the corps’ left the Canadians found resistance in the towns near the coast completely broken by Allied aerial bombing and naval shelling. By the morning of the 12th they had made contact with the 45th U.S. Division in Ragusa.

      Meanwhile, on the Allied left General Patton’s forces had gained possession of a continuous bridgehead which extended to a point 20 miles west of Licata. They were putting into use the captured airfields near the coast and preparing to deepen their holdings sufficiently to provide the necessary protection for the Eighth Army’s left flank. The Americans had been the first to clash with the Germans. On 11 July their 1st Division had beaten back with the support of naval gunfire three fierce counterattacks delivered in the Gela area by a battle group of the Hermann Göring Division using sixty tanks.

      It was General Alexander’s intention that after the assaulting armies had secured a firm base on a line from Catania to Licata his forces should proceed to split the island in half. The first step in this direction would be to seize the central group of road junctions about Enna, and thence press on to the north coast in order to sever the east-west communications completely. Control of the road centers was of great tactical importance, for in the rugged terrain that covered the greater part of the island maneuver off the roads and tracks was extremely difficult, if not impossible. The unexpectedly light resistance encountered during the first few days of the campaign enabled General Montgomery to make a start on this plan before Catania had been captured. On 12 July he directed Leese to advance on Caltagirone and Enna, and thence on Leonforte, an important road center on the main Catania-Palermo highway; the 13th Corps was to continue its drive northward along the coast.

      The attack on the army’s right flank met strong opposition. On the night of 13-14 July, Commando troops, landing in the Gulf of Catania, secured a road bridge on the main Syracuse-Catania highway; while farther north the 1st Parachute Brigade (of the 1st Airborne Division), dropping at the mouth of the Simeto River, captured the important Primosole Bridge six miles south of Catania. Both bridges were held until the arrival of relieving troops, and on the 16th, after very bitter fighting, a small foothold was established north of the Simeto. Efforts by the 50th Division to break out of this bridgehead failed; it was apparent that the Germans were determined to oppose as long as possible the capture of Catania and the important Gerbini airfields.

      Late on the 15th, when already there were indications of a deadlock at the Simeto, the army commander wrote to General Leese urging him in view of the slowdown in operations on the right

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