Chapter 56
Mediterranean Theater
May 1942
May brought a small pause in Allied operations in Sicily, except on the British side, where the fall of Centuripe and Paterno came in to celebrate the beginning of the month. With the flank of Mount Etna secured, the South African and British troops were free to rush towards Acireale, closing the Catania pocket on the 1st Gebirgsjager and parts of the 26th Infantry Division
Assietta. It would take three days for Montgomery to mop up the town, and set up positions in front of the “Etna Line”, which would need a few days’ preparations to breach. The French and Belgians would also continue clearing the lines of the
Aosta division, which fully surrendered on May 4th, 1942.
In the meantime, the Allies did not stay inactive, with French Foreign Legion and British SAS battalions landing on Ustica and the Aegadian Islands. The Allied air forces continued their interdiction missions, stopping the Germans or Italians from being able to ensure naval dominance.
With the establishment of the “Etna Line”, the Allies also managed to buy a few “calm” days, occupying positions without too much of a fight. Nicosia was thus occupied by the Belgians of the 5th Infantry Division, with the Poles pursuing the remnants of the Hermann-Goring Division all the way to Cerami, only stopping in front of the improvised defences of the Etna Line at Troina.
The French for their part covered the most ground: with the fall of Palermo, their divisions continued along the northern coast, past Cefalu and towards Santo Stefano di Camastra, which was reached on May 7th. Their advance stopped around Caronia, with the 1st Alpine Division taking positions in the hills around Mistretta, holding the Belgian flank.
By now, success seemed completely assured for the Allies: the remaining German and Italian forces only held a small quarter of the island, but still defended it with vigor, having established many small obstacles and improvised forts to try and stop the Allied advance while preparing for an upcoming counter-offensive which would drive them out of Sicily. Of course, this was not to be. With the Allies in full control of the seas, and the Regia Marina having been completely decimated, holding Sicily was just an illusion. Hitler in fact categorically refused to send divisions to Italy, though he did agree to the withdrawal of the 6th SS Gebirgs-Division
Nord from the Finnish front, for an immediate deployment to Italy [1]. And with the upcoming fall of Leningrad, Hitler also anticipated he could free up more divisions for his “PanzerKorps Italien”, which would be tasked with defending the Boot in case Mussolini faltered in this duty [2]. As for Mussolini, he did not have many divisions at his disposal, the Greek Front having consumed most of his reserves. By the time he redeployed the 25th Infantry Division
Bologna and the 17th Infantry Division
Pavia, from Naples and Taranto respectfully, the Etna Line had already been breached.
On May 11th, the Etna Line was pierced in several places, and in one go. Belgian troops, helped by armor, smashed the lines of the Hermann-Goring around Troina, reaching Cesaro by nightfall. Likewise, to the south, Montgomery engaged the 50th Infantry (Northumbrian) to clear the defences of the Etna Line around Adrano and Acireale. After only twelve hours of fighting and under Allied-friendly skies, the Etna Line broke. However, with the shortening of the front, the fighting did not subside until several days. Cesaro was not entirely secured until May 13th, when the Poles finally cleared the last remaining German armored vehicles. General Guzzoni warned Rome that same day: he could not expect to hold much longer.
In fact, in Rome, the opinion was divided. Mussolini seemed to believe that with upcoming German reinforcements, the Allies could be driven out of Italy and that their offensive would soon run out of steam. On the other side, General Vittorio Ambrosio, chief of the armed forces, disagreed. The General saw Italy as lost, just like the War in general, and did not see how much longer Mussolini would last as head of government. Ambrosio thus looked to the future: to preserve his forces for what was to come. He believed that with the War lost, the only thing he could do was surrender to the Allies, which would mean turning against the Germans, and for that, he would need as strong of an Army as possible. As such, Ambrosio continued to delay the sending of the
Pavia and
Bologna Divisions, which he thought were much better used for the “defence” of Naples and Taranto. He just failed to mention against who these divisions would defend those cities.
Ambrosio’s point of view was shared by friends in high places: Marshal Badoglio, and the King himself, Vittorio-Emanuele III. The latter even gave his direct assent for the General to do his utmost to keep Italy as well-defended as he could. Likewise, the King knew that Mussolini would not last much longer. The fall of Sicily was the death knell for Il Duce, and the King would be unwise not to take advantage of it.
Finally, these fears were realized on May 15th, with the Allied general offensive towards Messina. French units started to move along the coast, taking San Fratello and moving towards Torrenova. To the south, the Poles pushed back the Germans in cooperation with the 2nd NZ Division towards Randazzo, on the northern slopes of the Etna. This town was the last bastion before the open road towards Messina, and was thus the scene of very fierce fighting. The Germans and Italians held onto the town with determination, forcing the Allies to fight hard and call several times on air support to unlock the situation. It would not be until May 21st that the town finally fell into the hands of the Polish 3rd Infantry Division, but this one would not cavalcade towards Messina: it had to be replaced at the front by the 2nd Belgian Infantry Division.
The fall of Randazzo meant that the Allies now had Messina in their sights. Paul Conrath, commander of the
Hermann-Goring Division, knew that it was over. That night, Berlin gave him the order to evacuate his forces towards the mainland to avoid annihilation. However, these orders were not matched by the Italians: Mussolini believed that even with the loss of the town, Sicily could still be held. Worse, he ordered reinforcements to be sent! Ambrosio consented to send more troops in direction of Naples, but there would be no embarkation. The General, as a fine negotiator (and opportunist) even managed to wrestle from the Duce the repatriation from Greece of a few divisions, including the valuable
Principe Amedeo Duca d’Aosta motorized division and the
Littorio armored division [3].
With the fall of Randazzo, the Allies immediately got moving. French troops rushed past Capo d’Orlando, towards Brolo, reaching Falcone on the 22nd. On the 24th, Montgomery seized Taormine, last town of any significance before Messina. The Franco-Belgian Armored Group, emboldened by the British successes and wishing to honor Juin’s promise of being the first in Messina, rushed as fast as they could, bolting past Tonnarella and cutting the Milazzo peninsula on the 27th.
The fall of Milazzo prompted Ambrosio to order Guzzoni to immediately evacuate Messina with the forces he had. The Allies were now less than 20 kilometres from the heart of the city, and there was nothing stopping them. What mattered now was the defence of Italy…against who, though, was left unanswered. In fact, there was not much more Guzzoni could save…if only the scattered remains of two infantry divisions.
On May 29th, after a month and a half of furious fighting, the French tanks of General Leclerc entered Messina a little over an hour before General Montgomery’s 6th Infantry Division reached the suburbs of the town. General Juin, arriving in the afternoon, later quipped with the British General: “I believe we have won the first stage of the Giro d’Italia!” [4]. Montgomery lost his bet, but he was no less happy. His forces had reached Messina with minimal casualties, and the Empire had won a great victory! On the Allied side, only the Poles of the 3rd Infantry Division had truly suffered, with the French 1st Alpine Division and New Zealander 2nd Infantry Division also seeing a relatively high number of casualties.
On the other hand, it was a near disaster for the Axis. General Guzzoni had escaped along with the remnants of the 1st Infantry Division
Superga and the 4th Infantry Division
Livorno, both of which did not even have a quarter of their initial strength. General Conrath’s
Hermann-Goring Division fared little better, having preceded the two Italian divisions across the Strait of Messina. But the Axis also lost big: the 1st Gebirgsjager and
Assietta Divisions were lost in Catania and in the fights along the Etna Line, the
Napoli Division was crushed during the Battle for Enna and the
Aosta Division crumbled in the hills over Palermo. And now, as if to taunt them, the Allies launched a massive raid on Naples, on the day after the fall of Messina.
Operation Torch was a massive success for the Allies, and one that would resonate everywhere. But now, there was work to be done, as their gaze turned towards an even greater prize: Italy.
[1] The Finnish Front was becoming a hell for logistics, and with no hope of reaching Murmansk and operations in progress towards Leningrad, it was decided to recall most of the "excess" divisions from the Northern part of the front.
[2] Or, really, more to take control of Italy if Mussolini (or his successor, Berlin was not blind) had the bright idea of handing it over to the Allies.
[3] While avoiding to commit to sending them replacements in Greece, which did not fail to send alarm bells both in London and Berlin.
[4] Referencing the cycling race that took place in Italy annually.
