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| 10. The Invasion of Italy, 1943–1944 |
| 1943, July 10 |
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| U.S., British, and Canadian forces invaded Sicily under the command of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Over 2,000 vessels were employed to convoy 160,000 men, and landings were effected along the southern coast. The Americans seized Gela; the British Eighth Army and Canadian troops, disembarking at Cape Passaro, drove along the east shore. | 1 |
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| July 14 |
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| Port Augusta was captured. | 2 |
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| July 19 |
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| Allied bombing planes wrecked Naples, and, after repeated warnings, attacked railway terminals and military objectives in Rome (July 20). | 3 |
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| July 22 |
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| Half of Sicily was occupied, the Allied front stretching from Catania to Mazzara. Palermo fell on July 24. | 4 |
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| July 25 |
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| BENITO MUSSOLINI WAS FORCED TO RESIGN with his cabinet, and his place was taken by Marshal Pietro Badoglio, who opened negotiations for an armistice. | 5 |
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| Aug. 18 |
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| Resistance in Sicily collapsed with the fall of Messina. The campaign had cost the Allied armies an estimated 22,000 casualties, the Axis forces 167,000. At a loss of 274 planes, the Allied airmen accounted for 1,691 enemy aircraft. | 6 |
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| Sept. 3 |
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| British and American forces crossed the Straits of Messina and landed in southern Italy. | 7 |
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| Sept. 3 |
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| An armistice was signed at Algiers, ending hostilities between the Anglo-American forces and those of the Badoglio regime. It was announced (Sept. 8) that the Italian surrender was unconditional. The actual terms were not disclosed. | 8 |
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| Sept. 15 |
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| Ex-premier Mussolini, who had been held prisoner near Rome, was rescued by German troops (Sept. 12), who seized the leading cities, including Rome. | 9 |
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| Oct. 1 |
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| After landing near Salerno (Sept. 9), American troops entered Naples. Thereafter, however, winter weather, the mountainous countryside, and stubborn German resistance stopped the Allied advance on a line south of Cassino. | 10 |
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