CMH Pub. 72-16. Covers the Allied invasion of Sicily from July 9 to August 17, 1943. Sicily was the first piece of the Axis homeland to fall to the Allies during World War 2. Includes a color map, black and white photographs, and suggestions for further reading. Item 344-G. Related products: The Mediterranean Theater of Operations: Sicily and the Surrender of Italy -Print Paperback format -is available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-029-00483-6 United States Army in World War II, The War Against Germany and Italy: Mediterranean and Adjacent Areas -Print Hardcover/Clothbound format- is available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-029-00422-4 --Print Paperback format -- is available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-029-00421-6 Italy-Anzio, Historical Map (Poster) -is available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-000-00944-9 A Hard Look at Hard Power: Assessing the Defense Capabilities of Key U.S. Allies and Security Partners is available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-000-01158-3 World War II resources collection can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/catalog/us-military-history/battles-wars/world-war-ii

With victory in North Africa complete, the Allies had a choice. The Americans wanted an early cross channel attack from Britain on North West Europe. Churchill favored invading the soft underbelly of Italy to weaken the Axis forces and gain Italian surrender. With Eisenhowers army and battle-hardened Eighth Army in North Africa, Churchill prevailed.The ambitious Operation HUSKY required meticulous planning. Montgomery's Eighth Army and Patton's Seventh landed successfully although the air landing proved costly. While the outcome was not in doubt the mountainous terrain acted in the defenders favor. The German presence was higher than expected and the vast bulk of the enemy were Italian. In little over a month, the first Americans reached Messina.The strategic plan was successful: the Italian capitulated, Hitler had to reinforce his Southern flank relieving pressure on the Soviets and valuable lessons were learned by Allied for D-Day.

This Leavenworth Paper is a critical reconstruction of World War II Ranger operations conducted at or near Djebel el Ank, Tunisia; Porto Empedocle, Sicily; Cisterna, Italy; Zerf, Germany; and Cabanatuan in the Philippines. It is not intended to be a comprehensive account of World War II Ranger operations, for such a study would have to include numerous minor actions that are too poorly documented to be studied to advantage. It is, however, representative for it examines several types of operations conducted against the troops of three enemy nations in a variety of physical and tactical environments. As such, it draws a wide range of lessons useful to combat leaders who may have to conduct such operations or be on guard against them in the future. Many factors determined the outcomes of the operations featured in this Leavenworth Paper, and of these there are four that are important enough to merit special emphasis. These are surprise, the quality of opposing forces, the success of friendly forces with which the Rangers were cooperating, and popular support.

In the second volume of his epic trilogy about the liberation of Europe in World War II, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Atkinson tells the harrowing story of the campaigns in Sicily and Italy.