Operation Ladbroke - Background

Background

By December 1942, with Allied forces advancing through Tunisia the North African campaign was coming to a close; with victory in North Africa imminent, discussions began among the Allies regarding the nature of their next objective. Many Americans argued for an immediate invasion of France, while the British, as well as General Dwight D. Eisenhower, argued that the island of Sardinia was the best subsequent target of the Allied troops. In January 1943 Prime Minister Winston Churchill and American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt settled at the Casablanca conference on the island of Sicily, whose invasion and occupation could potentially provide the Allies with Mediterranean shipping routes and airfields nearer to mainland Italy and Germany. The codename Operation Husky was decided upon for the invasion, and planning began in February. Initially the British, Eighth Army under the command of General Bernard Montgomery, were to land on the south-eastern corner of the island and advance north to the port of Syracuse. Two days later the American Seventh Army commanded by General George Patton would land on the western corner of the island and move towards the port of Palermo.

In March it was decided that the American 82nd Airborne Division and the British 1st Airborne Division would be dropped by parachute and glider just prior to the amphibious landings; they would land a few miles behind the beaches and neutralize their defenders, thereby aiding the landing of the Allied ground forces. However, in early May these directives were heavily altered at the insistence of General Montgomery; he argued that with Allied forces landing separately at either end of the island, the defending Axis forces would have the opportunity to defeat each Allied Army in turn before both could unite. Instead the plans were altered to land both the Eighth Seventh Armies simultaneously along a 100 miles (160 km) stretch of coastline on Sicily's south-eastern corner. At the same time, the plans for the two airborne divisions were also adjusted; Montgomery believed that the airborne troops should be landed near Syracuse, so that they could seize the valuable port. 82nd Airborne Division commander Maxwell D. Taylor further asserted that dropping behind the island's beaches and overcoming its defences was not a suitable mission for the airborne troops, as they were only lightly armed and vulnerable to friendly fire of the planned Allied naval bombardment. In the revised blueprint for the airborne divisions, a reinforced regimental combat team from the 82nd Airborne Division would be dropped by parachute north-east of the port of Gela to block the movement of Axis reserves towards the Allied beachheads. The 1st Airborne Division was now to conduct three brigade-size airborne operations: the Ponte Grande road bridge south of Syracuse was to be captured by the 1st Airlanding Brigade, the port of Augusta was to be seized by 2nd Parachute Brigade, and finally the Primasole Bridge over the River Simeto was to be taken and secured by the 1st Parachute Brigade.