Allied invasion of Sicily

Significance

The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, opened in July 1943 and resulted in Axis forces being driven from the island. The operation was executed against the Italian 6th Army and the German XIV Panzer Corps by a combined Allied force of roughly 160,000 troops under the overall direction of AFHQ and 15th Army Group. Securing Sicily provided the Allies with a stepping stone to the Italian mainland, directly enabling the subsequent Allied invasion of Italy. That broader Italian campaign ultimately removed Italy from the war as an Axis belligerent, representing a significant strategic rupture in the European theater. The operation also demonstrated Allied capacity to coordinate large-scale amphibious landings involving multiple army-level formations—Patton's Seventh Army and Montgomery's Eighth Army—under unified command structures including naval and air components led by Cunningham and Tedder respectively.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (19)