Photographs: Allied Landings at GEORGE and HOW Beaches, Sicily, 1943 (2)

Canadians in Combined Operations in Sicily, Operation HUSKY

Beginning July 10, 1943 the 80th and 81st Flotillas Got to Work!

2nd Battalion, The Seaforth Highlanders (The Ross-Shire Buffs,

Duke of Albany's), embarking at Sousse (N. Africa) 5 July, 1943

Photo Credit - National Army Museum, Study collection

Introduction:

A day or two prior to the invasion of Sicily (Operation HUSKY, beginning July 10, 1943) my father and mates in RCNVR and Combined Operations boarded a troop ship in/near Alexandria, Egypt - along with their landing crafts, some on deck, some hanging from davits - and, due to tight quarters, and within minutes were likely rubbing shoulders with the Seaforth Highlanders and other members of Monty's Eighth Army, destined to land at several beaches along the east coast of Sicily. 

LCAs leave HMS Rocksand, a landing ship (loaded with LCAs

"hanging from davits"). Photo Credit - Wikipedia

Maps, timelines, descriptions of various types of landing zones had been produced and handed to officers on an endless supply of large ships that made up a huge armada, the largest in history up to that date.

Note with photo at top of page: After embarking at Sousse in Tunisia, the 2nd Battalion landed in Sicily on 10 July as part of 152nd Infantry Brigade of the 51st (Highland) Division. Operation HUSKY, the invasion of Sicily, was one of the largest amphibious assaults of World War Two. From a collection of 650 photographs compiled by the Commando Association. National Army Museum, Study collection

The armada - filled with ships of every description - carried troops and landing crafts and guns and munitions and materials of war by the ton. 

Some would say, "They came loaded for bear!" And I am glad they did. In his Navy memoirs my father wrote that "once, with our LCM (landing craft, mechanised) loaded with high octane gas and a Lorrie, we were heading for the beach when we saw machine gun bullets stitching the water right towards us. Fortunately, an LST (landing ship tank) loaded with bofors opened up and scared off the planes, or we were gone if the bullets had hit the gas cans. I was hiding behind a truck tire, so was Joe Watson of Simcoe. What good would that have done?"

Bofors gun on the upper deck of a Landing Ship Tank (LST), Sousse

harbour, July 1943. National Army Museum, Study collection

Note with above photo: Sousse in Tunisia was used by the Allies as a port (Editor - one of many) prior to the invasion of Sicily. The Bofors 40 mm gun was the most widely used Allied anti-aircraft gun of the war. The gun was quick firing, reliable and versatile. It had sufficient punch to knock out all types of aircraft and yet was light enough to be adapted to a mobile role. From a collection of 650 photographs compiled by the Commando Association*.

(*Help Wanted: Location of 650 photos re Commando Assoc. Contact Editor at gordh7700@gmail.com)

Please click here to read a news report about Joe Watson's WWII experiences. It is entitled 'Joe Watson, RCNVR and Combined Operations, 1941 - 1945': "A German Plane... Strafed Us With Machine Gun Fire"

Landing craft of the Sicily invasion armada setting sail, July 1943

Photo Credit - National Army Museum, Study Collection

Note with above photo: The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, began on 9 July 1943, and ended on 17 August. At the time it was the largest amphibious operation of the war.

I believe this photograph was taken from a vantage point on a Landing Craft (for), Infantry (Large), aka (LCI,(L). One can see a new innovation re landing crafts, i.e., a ramp on both sides of the bow to make disembarkation of troops faster and easier. Two winches, one per ramp, can be seen inside the yellow oval that I've added to the photograph. First off the ramp in some cases would be a sailor hauling a rope toward the beach, giving the disembarking troops something to grab, to help them maintain their balance/direction while they moving toward the beach.

Next is a photo from the same time period with troops disembarking from an LCI(L) using one of the onboard ramps:

Men of 51st Highland Division wading ashore during the invasion of

Sicily, 10 July 1943. Photo - National Army Museum, Study collection

Note with above photo: The division, part of 30 Corps, landed at the south-east tip of the island near Pachino on 10 July. The landing was largely unopposed and the division soon pressed inland to secure the bridgehead. From a collection of 650 photographs compiled by the Commando Association.

Perhaps the new innovation, i.e., ramps at the bow, caught my father's eye, as one very used to the LCMs of the Canadian 80th Flotilla (with one ramp across the front of the craft. See photo below).

Troops and material of war disembarking from an LST (landing ship for

tanks), onto a rhino deck, centre. One LCM (front right) lands as well.

And about the LCI (L)s in Sicily my father writes:

July 10, 1943. We arrived off Sicily in the middle of the night and stopped about four miles out. Other ships and new LCIs (landing craft infantry), fairly large barges, were landing troops. Soldiers went off each side of the foc’sle, down steps into the water and then ashore, during which time we saw much tracer fire. This was to be our worst invasion yet. Those left aboard had to wait until daylight so we went fishing for an hour or more, but there were no fish. (Is Dad fishing for a pat on the back? From "Dad, Well Done"  page 31)

 

The vast armada gradually took positions up and down the eastern and along the southern shores of Sicily. A few photos by a Major Sales lead toward beaches where many Canadians in Combined Operations served:

'Invasion shipping off Sicily', 10 O'Clock, D-Day, 10 July, 1943

Photo Credit - Major Wilfred Herbert James Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County

of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), World War Two, Italy, 1943.

Note with above photo: Transported on American-built 'Landing Ships, Tank', or 'LSTs', sailing from North Africa, the 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) landed in Sicily on 10 July 1943 as part of 4th Armoured Brigade, fighting their way across the island as the Italian and German defenders retreated towards the Straits of Messina. The surviving Axis forces evacuated the island by 17 August.

From an album containing 246 photographs compiled by Major Wilfred Herbert James Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters). National Army Museum, Study collection.

Major Sale and some of his 246 photographs were introduced to readers in Part 1 of this series re GEORGE and HOW Beaches. And if I find more photos of GEORGE Beach - where my father loaded and unloaded landing crafts for about four weeks - readers here will be the first to know.

In this post I am sharing some I have found so far that focus on activities at HOW Beach. The quality is quite good and, according to WWII and modern day maps HOW Beach appears to be only about 2 miles south of where GEORGE Beach was located.

Map belonging to Bill Lindsay, RCNVR/Combined Operations, member

of the 81st Canadian Flotilla of LCMs. Found in St. Nazaire to Singapore,

The Canadian Amphibious War 1941 - 1945, Volume 1, page 179

The 'Green' section of HOW Beach is at/near modern day Gallina. 'Red' and 'Amber' sections are farther south. GEORGE Beach (incl. Green, Red and Amber sections) is found to the north, is also highlighted in black at the top, right-side of the map and was home to the 80th Flotilla of Canadian LCMs and is now known as modern day Fontane Bianche.

Below are six more photos taken by Major Wilfred Herbert James Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), World War Two, Italy, 1943:

'Preparing to land at How beach', D-Day, Sicily, 10 July 1943

National Army Museum, Study collection

'Preparing to land at Howe beach', D-Day, Sicily, 10 July 1943

National Army Museum

'Landing ship. Going ashore', D-Day, Sicily, 10 July 1943

National Army Museum

'Landing on Howe Beach', D-Day, Sicily, 10 July 1943

National Army Museum

The town of Cassibile was inland, just a few miles west of GEORGE and north-west of HOW Beach. Perhaps Sale's next set of photos will skip passed GEORGE Beach in order to follow the troops - and not the sailors!

3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) cross a Bridge

near Cassibile, Sicily, July 1943. National Army Museum

Note with the above photo: According to the unit war diary, 41 of 50 tanks were landed on 10 July 1943. Resistance on the ground and from the air was limited. Cassibile and the high ground to the west of the village were among the initial objectives of the Sharpshooters following their successful amphibious landing.

If my hunt for more photos by Major Sale at GEORGE and HOW Beach is successful, they will appear here in the (near?) future.

Please click here to view Photographs: Allied Landings at GEORGE and HOW Beaches, Sicily, 1943 (1)

Unattributed Photos GH