Talyn
Emissary
On July 10, 1943, the Allied invasion of Sicily — codenamed Operation Husky — put more assault troops ashore on its first day than the Normandy landings would 11 months later. Despite the scale of these amphibious and vertical assaults on the Mediterranean’s largest island, the images most carry of this campaign come from a movie: Patton.
In the 1970 film, U.S. Lt. Gen. George S. Patton wins the race to Messina and waits, smirking, as British Lt. Gen. Bernard Montgomery’s column rolls in late. The scene is an invention that reduces the campaign to a duel between two generals’ egos.
The rivalry was real enough. Patton did order his commanders that taking Messina first was a matter of American prestige, but it was the symptom, not the substance. The deeper failure was a campaign no one was truly commanding.
warontherocks.com
In the 1970 film, U.S. Lt. Gen. George S. Patton wins the race to Messina and waits, smirking, as British Lt. Gen. Bernard Montgomery’s column rolls in late. The scene is an invention that reduces the campaign to a duel between two generals’ egos.
The rivalry was real enough. Patton did order his commanders that taking Messina first was a matter of American prestige, but it was the symptom, not the substance. The deeper failure was a campaign no one was truly commanding.
The Importance of the Invasion of Sicily
On July 10, 1943, the Allied invasion of Sicily — codenamed Operation Husky — put more assault troops ashore on its first day than the Normandy landings
