The History of WWII Podcast · Ray Harris Jr

Episode 592-Friendly Fire Massacre

·30 min·2 clips

American ships open fire on 144 aircraft, shooting down 23 C-47s and killing or wounding 318 men of the 504th.

The episode picks up after Patton's 7th Army has landed along Sicily's southern coast. Before July 10 is over, Lakota, Skogliti, and Gela are in Allied hands. The bridgehead is only about 8 by 15 miles, so it is real, but fragile. The Axis understands that the invasion fleet is large and that reports of paratroops have come in from the island's southeastern corner at 5 a.m. on July 10. That means the reaction has to come quickly. At a high level, the Germans and Italians know they need to move before the beachhead hardens. Kesselring hears a rumor that Syracuse has fallen and believes it. That changes everything for him, because if the British are free to turn north toward Messina, the Axis escape route is in danger. The German response becomes a race to stop that from happening. Once the Americans are cleared from Gala, the Hermann Gehring Division is ordered south. German units are then supposed to head east to block the British, while the Livorno Division moves west against the Americans at Lakota. Conrath orders three Panzer forces out at 6.15 a.m. on July 11, which is already 15 minutes late. The delay matters because the whole attack depends on coordination. If the Italians had moved on time, the late Panzers might still have caught the enemy off guard. Communications are still unreliable, though, so nobody can be sure what anyone else is doing. Mobile Group E does move off on time and strikes the Americans. Axis aircraft join in and attack the beachhead while the ships are still offshore. The group keeps pressing forward for two hours under heavy American shelling. The Germans do not fare as well. They run into close-quarter fighting before they can make real progress. Conrath sees the larger attack starting to unravel and goes to the front himself. He barks orders and gets his men moving again. Some American lines are bypassed, and others are overrun. By 9 a.m., German forces are preparing to head toward Gala Proper. Then American pressure comes in from the east, cutting across the advance and forcing another turn in the fight.

As heard by us

Rumors, timing, and counterattacks shape Sicily's opening day.

Episode 592 stays locked on Sicily's opening-day scramble. Patton's 7th Army has already come ashore, Lakota, Skogliti, and Gela are in Allied hands by July 10, and the Axis is trying to throw a counterattack together before the bridgehead settles.

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Why you'd press play

Play this when you want Sicily's first day to feel like a timed counterattack map.

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