The July 1943 invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky) was a masterstroke of military planning and execution. It freed much of the Mediterranean Sea for Allied shipping, inflicted more than 175,000 casualties on the Axis forces, took down Benito Mussolini’s government, and knocked Italy out of the war. It’s stunning, in retrospect, to consider that it almost didn’t happen. The Planning and Execution of Operation Husky American planners believed invading anything but the Italian mainland would be an irrelevant venture. At the Casablanca Conference in January 1943, the British convinced the U.S. that clearing Sicily would mean clearing the Mediterranean of Axis aircraft and ships. Before the invasion, code-named Operation Husky, could begin, the Allies needed to reduce the island’s defenses. The Allied bomber force began hitting targets in Sardinia, Sicily, southern Italy, and Greece to keep the Axis guessing where the next attack would be. Allied forces also bombed and...
