Operation Husky, 1943

The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as the Battle of Sicily and Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which Allied forces invaded the Italian island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis forces. The island was defended by the Italian 6th Army and the German XIV Panzer Corps. The invasion paved the way for the Allied invasion of mainland Italy and initiated the Italian campaign that removed Italy from the war. With the conclusion of the North Africa campaign in May 1943, the victorious Allies had for the first time ejected the Axis powers from a theatre of war. Now at Italy's doorstep, the Allied powers—led by the United States and United Kingdom—decided to attack Axis forces in Europe via Italy, rather than Western Europe, due to the wavering Italian morale, control over Mediterranean sea lanes, and the vulnerability of German supply lines along the Italian Peninsula. To divert some Axis forces to other areas, the Allies engaged in deception operations, the most successful of which was Operation Mincemeat. Operation Husky began on the night of 9/10 July 1943 with a large amphibious and airborne operation, followed by a six-week land campaign that ended on 17 August. The Allies achieved their primary aims, Axis air, land and naval forces were driven from the island and the Mediterranean was opened to Allied merchant ships for the first time since 1941. These events led to the ousting of Italian leader Benito Mussolini and the fall of his regime, which was replaced by the First Badoglio government. Italy's collapse necessitated German troops replacing Italian forces in the country, and to a lesser extent the Balkans, resulting in one-fifth of the German army being diverted from the Eastern Front, a proportion that would remain until near the end of the war.