Operation Slapstick - Aftermath

Aftermath

Operation Slapstick did not provide the diversion Eisenhower had hoped for. The decision by Heidrich not to oppose the landings was made without reference to Kesselring's headquarters. Heidrich had expected to be confronted by an overwhelming Allied force and had withdrawn his units north, although he endeavoured to delay the Allied advance where possible by ambushes and roadblocks. The German division went on to frustrate the Allied attempt to advance on Rome during the Battle of Cassino in 1944.

The British 1st Airborne Division only fought in one other battle during the war. Almost a year to the day, on 17 September 1944, they took part in Operation Market Garden, the airborne assault crossing of the River Rhine in the Netherlands. Trapped behind German lines with their backs to the river and surrounded by parts of two panzer divisions, the division was virtually destroyed in the Battle of Arnhem; only 2,100 men of the 10,000 that had started the mission were evacuated south of the Rhine.