Posts Tagged ‘Sicily Campaign’
Message from King Charles launches commemorations of the 80th anniversary of Sicily landings
King Charles, the son of a Sicily campaign veteran, sent a message of support to The Sicily Peace, Security & Prosperity Conference held earlier this month in Catania to launch commemoration events for the 80th anniversary of the landings on the island in 1943. “His Majesty has asked me to thank you for coming together to…
Read MoreJoe Mantegna, drawing on his Italian roots, lends his support for the Sicily Peace, Security & Prosperity Conference
Italian-American actor, movie star, director and philanthropist Joe Mantegna says his Sicilian roots and the experiences of his parents’ generation in the Second World War are behind his support for The Sicily Peace, Security & Prosperity Conference at Catania’s Le Ciminiere Festival Centre on 7-8 July. “In my career I’ve portrayed many characters who dramatize…
Read MoreTop speakers to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Sicily landings at Catania conference
More than 30 speakers from Italy, Canada, Germany, the UK and the US will address the Sicily Peace, Security & Prosperity conference in Catania on 7-8 July organised in partnership with Museo Storico dello Sbarco in Sicilia 1943 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the landings in Sicily. The event will be followed by…
Read MoreSwift success in Sicily was built on the lessons of the Tunisian campaign
At 1445 local time on 13 May 1943, 18 Army Group Commander General Harold Alexander sent the following signal to UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill in London: “Sir, it is my duty to report that the Tunisian campaign is over. All enemy resistance has ceased. We are masters of the North African shores.” One week later, American,…
Read MoreCountdown to Husky: Operation Mincemeat
Charles Cholmondeley (left) and Ewen Montagu with the van taking the body of Glyndwr Michael to Scotland on 17 April 1943 At 0415 on Friday 30 April 1943, the body of Glyndwr Michael was taken out of a sealed container on the deck of the Royal Navy submarine HMS Seraph which had surfaced off Huelva on…
Read MoreCountdown to Husky: Canada joins the campaign
The sun was shining brightly on the afternoon of 23 April 1943 when Commander of the First Canadian Army Lieutenant General Andrew McNaughton (see left, below) strode into the War Office in Whitehall. It was St George’s Day and it had been more than two years since the last German bombing attack on Britain’s capital. The…
Read MoreStars in the Sicilian campaign: Douglas Fairbanks Jr
The transition of Douglas Fairbanks Jr from Hollywood action hero to combat veteran was completed off the coast of Sicily near Gela in the early hours of 10 July 1943. Among those on the deck of Admiral Henry Hewitt‘s flagship USS Monrovia in the darkness before dawn, Fairbanks had spent the previous evening coaching Seventh…
Read MoreRemembering the dead of the Sicily campaign
The CWGC Catania War Cemetery, the largest in Sicily, has 2,135 graves The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) cemeteries in Catania and Syracuse contain the remains of 2,410 men who lost their lives between the start of the Sicilian campaign on the night of 9 July and the end of August 1943. The overwhelming majority…
Read MorePhoto portrait initiative to mark the 80th anniversary of Operation Husky
Canadian Agira CWGC War Cemetery with photo markers Photographic portraits of Americans, Britons and Canadians who died in Sicily in 1943 are to be placed in the island’s war cemeteries this July as part of the 80th anniversary commemorations to mark Operation Husky. The project was initiated in 2019 by Jimmy Hilgen, a police sergeant…
Read MoreThe USAAF bombing raids on Palermo in January 1943
Palermo, capital of Sicily, has been shaped by events that changed the course of Europe’s history. But an impact of an unprecedented kind followed Italy’s declaration of war against Britain and France on 10 June 1940. Palermo was one of the first targets of French bombing raids at the end of that month. Starting in…
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