August 1943

Sicily

The British 5th Division attacks Catania. The 50th Division is ordered to be ready for a move towards Catania. In the British XXX Corps area, the Canadian 1st and the British 78th Divisions pursue the enemy northward across Salso River.

The fifth day of battle for Troina begins with 18 US artillery battalions and waves of fighter-bombers pounding Troina and its approaches into rubble. The ground attack, however, is a failure. Group Fullriede conducts skillful and aggressive defense launching numerous local counterattacks. The German defenders are assisted by Lt-Col Gianquinto's 1st Battalion of the 5th (Aosta) Regiment. There are a total of 24 counterattacks carried out by the Germans and Italians.

The 3rd Infantry Division renews its attack against the San Fratello position at 6:00am but are again stopped cold. There is no help from the divisional artillery as they have not had time to move up, set up and register their guns before the infantry attacked. After four hours Truscott calls off the attack. In this battle of San Fratello, Maj-Gen Fries had deployed Lt-Col Krueger's newly arrived 71st Panzer Grenadier Regiment on his right (coastal) flank and the remnants of the Italian Assietta Division (now under Gen Ottorino Schrieber) in the center, the least vulnerable part of the line. The left flank (interior) flank is held by Col Ulich's 15th Panzer Grenadier Regiment.

Patton decides to use an amphibious landing to outflank the San Fratello position. Lt-Col Lyle Bernard's 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, is chosen for the job. Attached to the battalion are a platoon of tanks and 2 batteries of field artillery. Adm Davidson assigns 2 cruisers (Philadelphia (CL-41) and Savannah (CL-42) and 6 destroyers to cover the landings.

The German plan to evacuate Sicily take shape. Hube's plan calls for the XIV Panzer Corps to retreat to Messina in stages by night. Five general lines of resistance are designated and each is to be held for one day each and then abandoned by night. These would evolve into four major lines, designated the Tortorici Line and Phase Lines 1, 2 and 3, with several intermediate positions and phase lines. Every step backward would release troops to the assembly areas and then to the ferry sites on order. On the last evening the rear guards would march directly from the fifth line to the boats completing the operation.

Col Baade's command included three naval flotillas, the army engineer landing battalion, 2 or 3 engineer fortification battalions and 2 port maintenance companies, a total of 134 small naval vessels, ferries, barges, not including minesweepers and patrol boats which would screen the operation. Baade developed six ferry routes which included several landing places on each shore. Hube selected the four he considered the most practical, all of which were north of Messina. A fifth route south of the city was surveyed and designated for emergency only. From north to south Hube assigned the first route, at the northern tip of Sicily, to the 15th Panzer Grenadier Division. The second route, also near the tip, is given to the 29th Panzer Grenadier Division. Route 3, located 2 miles north of Messina, is to be used by the corps headquarters, general headquarters, and miscellaneous troops, the 131st Flak Regiment and Maj-Gen Stahel's troops. It was also to accommodate any overflow from other routes. The fourth route, 1 mile north of Messina, is assigned to the Hermann Göring Division, and attached elements of the 1st Parachute Division. Routes 1 and 2 are the responsibility of Capt Kurt Paul's 771st Engineer Landing Battalion. Routes 3, 4 and 5 are the responsibility of the 2nd, 4th and 10th Flotillas, respectively. The 771st controlled several Siebel ferries, at least 11 L-boats (large, open boats put together using pontoons, each capable of carrying 2 trucks), some W-boats, and a great many I-boats (both of these were motorboats). The 2nd Flotilla consisted of 20 MFPs (naval barges) and 2 MALs (naval artillery lighters). The 10th Flotilla had 8 Siebel ferries, 2 heavily armed combat Siebel ferries, about 10 I-boats and 2 W-boats. The 4th Flotilla was similarly equipped. All totaled, Commander Baron Gustav von Liebenstein had 33 MFBs, 12 Siebel ferries, 2 MALs, 11 L-boats, 71 I-boats and 5 W-boats. For protection, Capt Kamptz had very little, 4 100-ton minesweepers, and 1 senior officer's boat (SG 14), and old French colonial-service gunboat of a thousand tons and 1 88-mm and 4 37-mm AA guns plus 3 sets of quad-mounted 20-mm AA guns.

Hube specified troops to only cross at night, but weapons and equipment during day or night at the discretion of Baade - a strict order of priority: anti-tank weapons, artillery, self-propelled weapons (panzers and assault guns), trucks and motorized vehicles, in that order. Traffic controllers were assigned to direct each stage of the withdrawal and loading.