Allied Invasion of Sicily - Axis Evacuation

Axis Evacuation

By 27 July the Axis commanders had realised that the outcome of the campaign would be evacuation from Messina. Kesselring reported to Hitler 29 July that an evacuation could be accomplished in three days and initial written plans were formulated dated 1 August. However, when Hube suggested on 4 August that a start should be made by transferring superfluous men and equipment, Guzzoni refused to sanction the idea without the approval of the Comando Supremo. The Germans nevertheless went ahead, transferring over 12,000 men, 4,500 vehicles and 5,000 tons of equipment between 1 and 10 August. On 6 August Hube suggested to Guzzoni, via von Senger, that HQ 6th Army should move to Calabria. Guzzoni rejected the idea but asked if Hube had decided to evacuate Sicily. Von Senger replied that Hube had not. The next day Guzzoni learned of the German planning for evacuation and reported to Rome of his conviction of their intentions. On 7 August Guzzoni reported that without German support, any last ditch stand would only be short. On 9 August Rome ordered that Guzzoni's authority should be extended to Calabria and that he should transfer there forces which would usefully reinforce the area. On 10 August Guzzoni informed Hube that he was responsible for the defence of north-east Sicily and that Italian coastal units and the Messina garrison were under his command. Guzzoni then crossed to the mainland with 6th Army HQ and 16th Corps HQ, leaving Admiral Barone and Admiral Parenti to organise the evacuation of the remains of the Livorno and Assietta divisions (and any other troops and equipment that could be saved).

Key to the German plan's success was its thoroughness and clear lines of command imposing strict discipline on the operation. Colonel Ernst-Günther Baade was the German Commandant Messina Straits with Fortress Commander powers including control over infantry, artillery, anti-aircraft, engineer and construction, transport and administration units as well as German naval transport headquarters. On the mainland Major-General Richard Heidrich, who had remained in Calabria with his 1st Parachute Division headquarters and 1st Parachute Regiment when the rest of the division had been sent as reinforcements to Sicily, was appointed XIV Panzer Corps Mainland Commander to receive evacuating formations while Hube continued to control the operations on the island.

Full-scale withdrawal began on 11 August and continued to 17 August. During this period Hube ordered successive withdrawals each night of between 5 and 15 miles (8.0 and 24 km), keeping the following Allied units at arm's length with the use of mines, demolitions and other obstacles. As the peninsula narrowed, shortening his front, he was able to withdraw units for evacuation. The Allies attempted to counter this by launching brigade-sized amphibious assaults, one each by 7th and 8th Armies, on 15 August. However, the speed of the Axis withdrawal was such that these operations "hit air".

The German and Italian evacuation schemes proved highly successful. The Allies were not able to prevent the orderly withdrawal nor effectively interfere with transports across the Strait of Messina. The narrow straits were protected by 120 heavy and 112 light anti-aircraft guns. The resulting overlapping gunfire from both sides of the strait was described by Allied pilots as worse than over the Ruhr, making daylight air attacks highly hazardous and generally unsuccessful. Night attacks were less hazardous, and there were times when air attack was able to delay and even suspend traffic across the straits. However, when daylight returned the Axis were able to clear the backlog from the previous night. Nor was naval interdiction any more practicable. The straits varied from 2 to 6 miles (3.2 to 9.7 km) wide and were covered by artillery up to 24 centimetres (9.4 in) in calibre. This, combined with the hazards of a 6-knot (11 km/h; 6.9 mph) current, made risking warships unjustifiable.

On 18 August the German High Command recorded that 60,000 troops had been recovered. The equivalent Italian figure was about 75,000.