1943 military campaign of World War II on the island of Sicily, Italy
"Invasion of Sicily" redirects here. For the Athenian offensive in the Second Peloponnesian War, see Sicilian Expedition. For the 1860 conquest of Sicily as part of the Unification of Italy, see Expedition of the Thousand.
To divert some of the Axis forces to other areas, the Allies engaged in several deception operations, the most famous and successful of which was Operation Mincemeat. Husky began on the night of 9–10 July 1943 and ended on 17 August. Strategically, Husky achieved the goals set out for it by Allied planners; the Allies drove Axis air, land and naval forces from the island and the Mediterraneansea lanes were opened for Allied merchant ships for the first time since 1941. These events led to the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini, being toppled from power in Italy on 25 July, and to the Allied invasion of Italy on 3 September.
The German leader, Adolf Hitler, "canceled a major offensive at Kursk after only a week, in part to divert forces to Italy," resulting in a reduction of German strength on the Eastern Front.[17] The collapse of Italy necessitated German troops replacing the Italians in Italy and to a lesser extent the Balkans, resulting in one-fifth of the entire German army being diverted from the east to southern Europe, a proportion that would remain until near the end of the war.[18]
^ abHart, Basil H. Liddel (1970). A History of the Second World War. London, Weidenfeld Nicolson. p. 627.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Cite error: The named reference Sicily p. 305 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abUfficio storico dello Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito (USSME) (1993). Le operazioni in Sicilia e in Calabria. Rome. pp. 400–401.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)