The first wave. Sicilian invasion. "H" hour of the "D" day draws near and the first wave of men to invade Sicily prepare to debark from Allied transports lying four miles off shore. Landing boats, swung to deck level, are loaded with men and equipment. After they are lowered into the sea, cables are unhooked, the boats are cast off, and engines are started. They circle slowly in formation until the signal to head in is given. A control boat, between the transports and the beach, directs the men to shore. Fires, resulting from Allied naval and air bombardment, burn brightly along the coast and spasmodic enemy anti-aircraft fire meets fierce retaliation frm Allied destroyers

The Allied invasion of Sicily, code-named Operation Husky, began before dawn on July 10, 1943, with combined air and sea landings involving 150,000 troops, 3,000 ships and 4,000 aircraft and 600 tanks. Allied troops encountered little resistance. The Axis defense of Sicily was weakened by losses the German and Italian armies had suffered in North Africa, in casualties as well as the several hundred thousand troops captured at the end of the campaign. On July 25, the day after Mussolini’s arrest, Italian troops began withdrawing from Sicily. As July turned to August, Patton, and Montgomery and their armies battled mostly against German troops pushing the Axis forces until most were trapped in a northeast corner of the island. After 38 days of fighting, the U.S. and Great Britain successfully drove German and Italian troops from the island. On August 17, 1943, Patton, expecting to fight one final battle, was surprised to learn that the enemy forces had disappeared. The battle for Sicily was complete, but German losses had not been severe, and the Allies’ failure to capture the fleeing Axis armies undermined their victory.