July 1943

Sicily

Montgomery plans to get to Catania by a combined land, sea and air assault. At 7:00pm Brig Gerald Lathbury's 1st British Parachute Brigade board up in Tunisia. Their objective: to seize and hold Primosole Bridge, 7 miles south of Catania. Lathbury's plan: the 1st Battalion is to land north and south of bridge; the 3rd Battalion 1000 yards further north to defend a possible counterattack from Catania; the 2nd Battalion is to secure the high ground south of the Simeto River. Unknown to the British is that Maj Werner Schmidt 1st Parachute Machine Gun Battalion had landed at Catania in the early morning. He formed up his men and marched them south toward the Primosole Bridge. They are to hold the bridge.

The British paratroop drop is another airborne disaster. Again friendly fire causes the troop carrier planes to drift far off course. 11 planes are shot down, 49 are severely damaged, and 47 receive minor damage. Some of British troops land among German parachute battalion and are mistaken for Germans. Some are not and taken prisoner. Lathbury manages to gather about 40 men and head for bridge where they find 50 men from his 1st Parachute Battalion had already taken the positon. More soon rally around and form a defensive postion around the bridge. As the gliders carrying artillery support approach, another disaster ensues. Several are shot down, one crashes into the sea, but 4 crash-land close enough to the bridge to join Lathbury with 5 antitank guns. After the glider artillery drop disaster, Lathbury has 12 officers and 283 men out of the planned 1856.

British 3rd Commando is landed at Agnone, near mouth of Simeto, they are to capture Malati Bridge over the Leonardo River 3000 yards north of Lentini and 5 miles inland. Again the Italian defenders in the area melt away. The bridge is taken by 4:00am on the 14th.

Montgomery wants Kirkman's 50th Infantry Division to advance to the Primosole Bridge by early morning on the 14th. There is a problem, however, the division is tired and does not have much motor transport. On their right flank is 5th Infantry Division being blocked by Brigade Schmalz, 2 battalions of the 3rd Parachute Regiment and part of the 115th Panzer Grenadier Regiment. Progress is slow, as Brigade Schmalz falls back to Villasmundo where they perform another delaying action. On Kirkman's left is the 6th Green Howards of the 69th Brigade advancing on the unimproved Sortino-Carlentini Road, well beyond right flank of Villasmundo. As they move forward, the find another panzer grenadier detachment on the heights of Monte Pancali, 3 miles south of Carlentini. The German troops stop the Green Howards at 4:30pm.

In the US sector, Sherman begins his advance. Heavy resistance is put up by the 35th Bersagileri Battalion, but after fighting all day they retreat with fewer than 200 men. Along the coastal highway Sherman's task force is blocked on the Naro River, 4 miles east of Agrigento, by 73rd Bersaglieri Battalion and remnants of 2 coastal artillery battalions. The Defenders are soon battered by the US Navy cruisers Birminham (CL-62), Brooklyn (CL-40), Philadelphia (CL-41), the British monitor Abercrombie and a few destroyers. This is too much for the 207th Coastal Defense Division which crumbles. The 73rd Bersaglieri Battalion holds its positions but is surrounded north of the coastal hwy by the Americans the next day. The hold off for two more days before written off by De Laurentiis who retreats to Agrigento for a last stand.