OTD #History #AATW #LGOP #OperationHusky

 On this day in history: The invasion of Sicily, code-named Operation Husky began on the night of July 9, 1943, with combined air and sea landings. Operation Husky involved four separate Airborne operations, two by the British and two by the U.S. Their first objective was to parachute into an area around Gela on the southern shore of Sicily to close off roads leading to the beaches and secure the drop zone for the next operation. They were also to take out Objective Y which was a series of 16 concrete "pillboxes". 

The second operation was called HUSKY II. Paratroopers loaded the C-47 aircraft and took off for Sicily from the airstrip near Kairouan, Tunisia. Near the Sicilian coast, however, an Allied naval vessel suddenly fired upon the formation. Immediately, all other naval vessels and shore troops joined in, downing friendly aircraft and forcing planeloads of paratroopers to exit far from their intended drop zones in one of the greatest tragedies of World War II. 23 of 144 USAAF transports were shot down by friendly fire and a total of 318 American troops were killed or wounded in the operation.

By morning, only 400 of the Regiment’s 1600 soldiers had reached the objective area. The others had been dropped in isolated groups on all parts of the island and carried out demolitions, cut lines of communication, established island roadblocks, ambushed German and Italian motorized columns, and caused so much confusion over such an extensive area that initial German radio reports estimated the number of American Paratroopers dropped to be over ten times the actual number.

#OTD #History #AATW #LGOP #OperationHusky