ABSTRACT
On July 10th, a little before three o’clock in the morning, British and American troops after a queasy and uncomfortable passage, began to land on the southern shores of Sicily. It had been a stormy night following a stormy day, and it was a wild morning of high seas to make landing difficult on exposed beaches. The bad weather had lulled the defenders into a false sense of security. They were taken by surprise, the Italians having little stomach for a fight. Soon after first light the Allies had solid footholds on the island from Pachino in the south east to Licata in the south west. A fierce German counter-attack by an armoured ‘battle group’ was repulsed by the Americans at Gela by engineers, infantry and groups of all services, every man fighting with whatever weapons came to hand. It was a revealing action, for it showed the adaptability and individuality of the Americans at their best. Caught on the wrong foot, as it were, they changed feet rapidly. The Germans had already noted in Tunisia how quick their new enemy was to learn.
