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Scenario Southern Sicily, 10th July 1943 Operation Husky commences as Allied airborne and seaborne forces land on Sicily. The invasion of Sicily was designed to open the shipping lanes in the Mediterranean, eliminate the island as an Axis base, and to encourage the fall of Mussolini's government. General Eisenhower was given overall command with British General Alexander designated as the ground commander. The principle forces for the assault were the US 7th Army under Lt. Gen. George S. Patton (right) and the British Eighth Army under Gen. Bernard Montgomery. Facing the 165,000 Allied troops were 405,000 Italians and Germans under Gen. Alfredo Guzzoni. On the night of July 9/10, Allied airborne units began landing, while the main ground forces came ashore three hours later on the southeast and southwest coasts of the island. The Allied advance initially suffered from a lack of coordination between US and British forces as Montgomery pushed northeast towards the strategic port of Messina and Patton pushed north and west. Amongst the Allied forces were 1st & 4th Ranger Battalions, 82d Airborne, 505th& 504th Parachute Reg, 2d Armored Division, 1st & 9th Infantry Div. British units under 8th Army were diverse - see list here. The island was defended by the Italian 6th Army made up of coastal defence units, four front line divisions and miscellaneous units under army command, and the German XIV Panzer Corps. The total Axis force was about 190,000 Italian and 40,000 German troops, with at least 147 tanks and about 220 artillery pieces and included the Hermann Goering Panzer Div, 15th Panzer Grenadier Div, 1st Parachute Div, XIV Panzer Corps, 9th Panzer Grenadier Div, 129th Panzer Grenadier Reg and the Italian Livorno Div and Aosta Div. The Italians reinforced the garrison with 12,000 reinforcements and 91 tanks. As Montgomery's army began to get bogged down, Alexander ordered the Americans to shift east and protect the British left flank. Seeking a more important role for his men, Patton sent a reconnaissance in force towards the island's capital, Palermo. When Alexander radioed the Americans to stop their advance, Patton claimed the orders were "garbled in transmission" and pushed on to the city capturing it. The fall of Palermo helped spur Mussolini's overthrow in Rome. With Patton in position on the north coast, Alexander ordered a two-prong assault on Messina, hoping to take the city before Axis forces could evacuate the island. Driving hard, Patton entered the city on August 17, a few hours after the last Axis troops departed, and a few hours before Montgomery. The successful campaign set up the invasion of Italy and taught the Allies valuable lessons that were utilized the following year on D-Day.
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Where and when
Game will be 24 hours, (11 am – 12 noon Sunday ) with an overnight ceasefire. All sides will be in one large camp which will also act as a safezone. You are welcome to camp overnight on the Friday. You will need to be on site ideally 9 am Saturday to pitch camp, register and be ready for game on at 11am. Due to the focused nature of this film-sim event, numbers will be strictly The total price of this weekender event will be £45. Full details on the forum. Click here! Bookings now beiing taken here - payment in advance. Game fees are non-refundable however the place is transferable. If you are unable to attend then you may make your own arrangements to swap with another player, you can use the forum for this purpose. We only ask that you transfer Axis for Axis, Allied for Akkied. A side swap must be approved by CiA before transfer.
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Some views of the game location
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This game is being held at Ex-Site's large site, set in the spectacular North Wales countryside. This exciting rural site has very varied terrain that gives a distinct flavour of Sicily - from woodland to heathland, from olive groves to rocky crags. In-game vehicles will be provided.
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Hostilitites will cease Saturday evening and the camp will be shared. |
