Carry out Operation Husky

[tverse]

AM – July11, 1943 (T4)

Start of turn 4 – Morning Day 2.

3rd Infantry Division

Continue to push along the coast with following units:
CCA/2nd Arm. Div.
15th RCT/3rd ID
7th RCT/3rd ID

Probe north flank of 3rd Div. area with 30th RCT/3rd ID.

[tverse]

AM – July11, 1943 (T4)

Start of turn 4 – Morning Day 2.

Counter Attack At Gela

Hermann Goring and Livorno Division move to attack beachheads.

The actual attack was directed at 1st Division and the beachhead around Gela.

In my game, the attack is directed at the boundray between 3rd and 1st divisions and specifically at the 1 recon troop of the 1st Div.

16th RCT of the 1st Div. waiting to come ashore.

General Bradley has requested CCB/ 2nd Armored Division support.

[tverse]

AM – July11, 1943 (T4)

Start of turn 4 – Morning Day 2.

US 45th Div. & 1st Cdn Div.

Link up at Ragusa

[tverse]

AM – July11, 1943 (T4)

Start of turn 4 – Morning Day 2.

CW – British Divisions

All Units - Continue drive northward up the coast.

5th Division – secure Augusta.

[tverse]

PM – July11, 1943 (T5)

Start of turn 5 – Afternoon Day 2.

All units making good progress.

Allies are flooded with prisoners! See news summary:
“deserts”; “disintegrate”; “falls apart”; “deserts to Allies”; “dissolves”

[tverse]

Prisoners of War.

[tverse]

AM – July12, 1943 (T6)

Start of turn 6 – Morning Day 3.

Overview of key losses.

Also note News Summary – Friendly fire.

[tverse]

AM – July12, 1943 (T6)

Morning after.

[cantona2]

It was indeed a FUBAR of the highest order with the most dire of consequences. The lessons learnt from this event changed future air drops; at one point the Combined Chiefs toyed with scrapping further airborne ops during amphibious landings due to the disaster in Sicily. Ike fought hard to keep them and the reports after the event make for interesting reading. The catalouge of errors was immense. From very poor to non-existant pre landing air recognition drills, to poor fire discipline on the part of the navy to a general lack of communication that was endemic to the way Husky was planned.

[tverse]

In reading this book and the previous book, "An Army At Dawn" on Operation Torch and Race for Tunisia, the amount of soldiers lost to poor planning and ineffective support borders on criminal. Also based on these two books, I do not see why Patton was touted as such a great general...it is not evident in these two books.

[cantona2]

ORIGINAL: tverse

In reading this book and the previous book, "An Army At Dawn" on Operation Torch and Race for Tunisia, the amount of soldiers lost to poor planning and ineffective support borders on criminal. Also based on these two books, I do not see why Patton was touted as such a great general...it is not evident in these two books.

They make for good reading but for Torch I can recommend Desperate Venture by Gelb. D'Este's Bitter Victory is one of the best books on Sicily out there. Tomblin has written an excellent naval history of ops in the Med (With Utmost Spirit). The Combined Arms Research Library (https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/) has many excellent primary sources on Torch and Husky.

[tverse]

ORIGINAL: cantona2

ORIGINAL: tverse

In reading this book and the previous book, "An Army At Dawn" on Operation Torch and Race for Tunisia, the amount of soldiers lost to poor planning and ineffective support borders on criminal. Also based on these two books, I do not see why Patton was touted as such a great general...it is not evident in these two books.

They make for good reading but for Torch I can recommend Desperate Venture by Gelb. D'Este's Bitter Victory is one of the best books on Sicily out there. Tomblin has written an excellent naval history of ops in the Med (With Utmost Spirit). The Combined Arms Research Library (https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/) has many excellent primary sources on Torch and Husky.

Thanks for the recommendations, especially the Naval activity could be interesting. It would be fun to play a scenario that dwells on the Naval warfare as the key actor in the Med. These books I am reading are really about the US military developing into a true force of power, i.e. An Army at Dawn. The discussion of naval activity is really minor and only as a supporting character.

[tverse]

AM – July12, 1943 (T6)

US 7th Army

3rd Division - on the left nearing Canicattì and Porto Empledocle.
45th Division - on the right a bit scattered but pressing toward the upland town of Vizzini.
1st Division – has successfully fended off the Hermann Goring Division.

[tverse]

AM – July12, 1943 (T6)

CW 8th Army

XIII Corps – Pushing along coast. 5th Division has taken Augusta. Congestion along the coastal roads.

XXX Corps – 1st Cdn Division has linked up with the US 4th Division.
All units are congested and progress is slow trying to move through the mountain areas (shown by “uplands” outline).

[cantona2]

ORIGINAL: tverse

ORIGINAL: cantona2

ORIGINAL: tverse

In reading this book and the previous book, "An Army At Dawn" on Operation Torch and Race for Tunisia, the amount of soldiers lost to poor planning and ineffective support borders on criminal. Also based on these two books, I do not see why Patton was touted as such a great general...it is not evident in these two books.

They make for good reading but for Torch I can recommend Desperate Venture by Gelb. D'Este's Bitter Victory is one of the best books on Sicily out there. Tomblin has written an excellent naval history of ops in the Med (With Utmost Spirit). The Combined Arms Research Library (https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/) has many excellent primary sources on Torch and Husky.

Thanks for the recommendations, especially the Naval activity could be interesting. It would be fun to play a scenario that dwells on the Naval warfare as the key actor in the Med. These books I am reading are really about the US military developing into a true force of power, i.e. An Army at Dawn. The discussion of naval activity is really minor and only as a supporting character.

Both Desperate Venture and With Utmost Spirit are good reads from the Naval side. There are also the official histories most of which are available at the ibiblio website. If you pm me your email i can send you some primary sources on the matter.

[tverse]

PM – July12, 1943 (T7)

Overview at beginning of turn 7 – Afternoon day 3.

Most frontline units are showing fatigue and low supplies therefore their health “lite” is in orange and red range.
For the visually challenged (old eyes like mine) two zoom ins for an example.

The leading edge of the front has a supply range in the single digit.
The red highlighted hex has a recently arrived supply unit which should help improve supplies to the front.
Several of these units for all key divisions are waiting to some ashore.

I have decided to rest most frontline units for the this turn.

[tverse]

Move out of the way – Let Monty win the war!

[tverse]

We Want to Fight!

[tverse]

AM – July13, 1943 (T8)

The overall plan going forward after Montgomery and Patton each make there pitch to Alexander.

Note: Patton’s pitch to Alexander was actually 4 days after Montgomery’s plan was approved.
However, in this playing of the scenario I needed to accelerate Patton’s plan.

[tverse]

AM – July13, 1943 (T8)

CW – 8th Army

XXX Corps – Advance through US 45th Divisions Area toward Enna then swing northward to Adrano, on the western side of Mt. Etna.

XIII Corps – Continue along coastal road to Catania and then advance on the east side of Mt. Etna to Messina.

1st Arb & Special Service Bde - Clean up pockets of enemy located in the upland area.