An Easy Landing on the Toe of the Boot
Most of the news clippings relate to D-Day Italy (Operation Baytown),
From The Ottawa Citizen, September 3, 1943
Introduction:
Reportedly, the Canadian 80th Flotilla of Landing Crafts was very busy during D-Day, transporting troops and the supplies of war from Messina (Sicily) to beaches - swarming with activity - at Reggio Calabria on the toe of the boot. My father manned one of the Landing Crafts, Mechanised (LCMs) and says in memoirs and a newspaper interview that "Italy was easy" compared to July landings in Sicily.
A second major landing of American and British troops on September 9 at Salerno was not easy at all, it was 'a close run affair' (heavily opposed), and some Canadians (members of RCNVR and Combined Ops) would report that it was the hardest, most dangerous of the challenges they faced in the Mediterranean Theatre.
That being said, a collection of articles from various war correspondents (including Sholto Watt of The Montreal Star) help tell a significant part of the story concerning the Allied invasion of Italy. Some news about action on other war fronts, details about Ottawa citizens, and an item or two from the memoirs of Canadian sailors are also presented.
(Any questions or offers of other supporting stories/materials can be emailed to gordh7700@gmail.com)
From The (Ottawa) Evening Citizen:
News from another theatre of war -
Gay Paree, not so gay!
"and an aircraft assembly plant"
The invasion of Italy was "a big show" but it was not the "second front"; Allied forces, however, would battle it out with German forces for several months, while all the while, the build-up of "second front" forces took place unabated in the United Kingdom.
British and American troops would invade Salerno on Sept. 9. The city
and landing area lies between Naples and Pisciotta, above.
A lengthy report follows re the invasion at Reggio:
The Berlin broadcast claims (below) "many landing barges were sunk... w considerable losses", but Canadian memoirs report differently:
It was no different touching down on the Italian beach at Reggio Calabria than on previous invasions. Naturally we felt our way slowly to our landing place. Everything was strangely quiet and we Canadian sailors were quite tense, expecting to be fired upon, but we touched down safely, discharged our cargo and left as orderly and quietly as possible.
In the morning light on our second trip to Italy across seven miles of the Messina Straits we saw how the Allied artillery barrage across the straits had levelled every conceivable thing; not a thing moved, the devastation was unbelievable and from day one we had no problems; it was easy come, easy go from Sicily to Italy.
"Dad, Well Done" by D. Harrison, RCNVR, Combined Operations, page 115
Descriptive phrases about landing craft always catch my eye. We read two lines here (above and below) that remind me of one line my father wrote, i.e. "small craft make small targets." Above we read, "We saw hundreds of craft darting to and fro unmolested in the strait." And below, "...the swarm of small craft..." Remember the word "swarm" when you come to Alan Moorhead's article farther below.
Alan Moorehead, a British writer and author of "Eclipse" (an excellent book in four parts, the first part re the invasion of Italy; first published in 1945) reports below concerning the first wave of British and Canadian troops. He is the first correspondent to describe flotillas of landing craft as a "mosquito fleet" (...small? ...swarming? ...always buzzing here and there?):
In an earlier article above, by Edward Kennedy, the absence of U.S. troops was noted, i.e., "there was no mention of American ground forces taking part in the amphibious attack." Where were they? One good idea is raised below:
The article above reminds me of another short article I found in The Montreal Star a few months ago (from the date I presented this post). It concerned "the first eye-witness of the Allied landing operations" at Salerno, on September 9, 1943, just a few days after this article. At Salerno, the first eye-witness was a Canadian Flight Officer from a community one hour from my home. The pilot still has family members living in the area, including a younger brother (now age 92), so I took the news clipping and went for a car ride.
The entry concerning the Salerno Allied armada can be viewed by clicking in the link below -
Editor's Research: FO John Anthony Vasicek RCAF
And now, more articles about the invasion of Italy:
Below is information that has a link to London, my current place of residence:
Quebec City, Canada, is a lovely place to visit whether you have a conference to attend or not!
No writer is listed with this next article, but it has to be someone with an eye on where the Allied troops are coming from and where they have been, going back to the invasion of North Africa in 1942:
Grapes of Freedom come from Happy Sicilians:
I think I saved the best for last.
A few more articles follow related to the expanding war front in the Mediterranean, and the last is by Sholto Watt, the war correspondent attached to The Montreal Star who held my attention for several month's worth of earlier entries on this site (under the heading 'Editor's Research'). And I'm still not done, to tell the truth. More from The Star will follow once I can return to microfiche files at the University of Western Ontario (UWO), now closed due to COVID-19:
When I began searching through The Montreal Star - several months ago - I was quickly rewarded with a fine article by Sholto Watt that described the scene on September 2, 1943. I looked forward to his Sept. 3 article but I was unable to find it until now... in another newspaper! (And one day I will put all his articles together in one file for readers):
More to follow from The Ottawa Citizen.
Please link to Context: Operation Baytown (1) Ottawa Citizen (Sept. 1-2, 1943).
Unattributed Photos GH
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