The invasion of Sicily, code-named Operation Husky, began before dawn on 10th July 1943, with combined air and sea landings involving 150,000 troops, 3,000 ships and 4,000 aircraft, all directed at the southern shores of the island. This massive assault was nearly cancelled the previous day when a summer storm arose and caused serious difficulties for paratroopers dropping behind enemy lines that night. However, the storm also worked to the Allies’ advantage when Axis defenders along the Sicilian coast judged that no commander would attempt amphibious landings in such wind and rain. By the afternoon of 10th July, supported by shattering naval and aerial bombardments of enemy positions, 150,000 Allied troops reached the Sicilian shores, bringing along 600 tanks.

The landings progressed with Lieutenant General George S. Patton commanding American ground forces and General Bernard L. Montgomery leading British ground forces. Allied troops encountered light resistance to their combined operations. Hitler had been so deceived by “Mincemeat” that he had left only two German divisions in Sicily to battle Allied soldiers. Even several days into the attack he was convinced that it was a diversionary manoeuvre and continued to warn his officers to expect the main landings at Sardinia or Corsica. The Axis defence of Sicily was also 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.

Having being used to being at the forefront of the attack for the majority of battles during the North African Campaign, for the time-being, the 111 Fd Regt would remain in Tunisia awaiting orders.

For the next five weeks, Patton’s army moved toward the northwestern shore of Sicily, then east toward Messina, protecting the flank of Montgomery’s veteran forces as they moved up the east coast of the island. Meanwhile, jarred by the Allied invasion, the Italian fascist regime fell rapidly into disrepute, as the Allies had hoped. On 24th July 1943, Prime Minister Benito Mussolini was deposed and arrested. A new provisional government was set up under Marshal Pietro Badoglio, who had opposed Italy’s alliance with Nazi Germany and who immediately began secret discussions with the Allies about an armistice. On 25th July, the day after Mussolini’s arrest, the first Italian troops began withdrawing from Sicily. Hitler instructed his forces to make contingency plans for withdrawal but to continue to fight fiercely against the Allied advance.