Articles: Italy, September 3, 1943 - Pt 2.

D-Day Italy: Operation Baytown at Reggio Calabria

Introduction:

According to Clayton Marks of London Ontario (in his text Combined Operations), the Officers of the Flotilla were briefed about plans related to D-Day Italy sometime on September 1st, 1943, at one of the assembly points near Messina (from which the expedition was to cross). Then, thirty-six hours later (likely in the very early hours of Sept. 3, D-Day,  Canadians of the Royal 22nd Regiment, the West Nova Scotians, and the Carleton and Yorks embarked upon some of the assembled landing craft. Here we learn Canadian soldiers and Canadian sailors - manning the landing crafts - were operating together at last. (Page 86)

Canadian troops were mentioned in the first sentence of some of the earliest news to hit Canadian shores about the invasion: 

The following photo, from an unnamed source (likely not related to the actual landings), accompanied the article in The Winnipeg Tribune:

Lloyd Evans (RCNVR, Combined Operations and a member of the 80th Flotilla of Landing Craft) recalls the following about September 3rd and a subsequent operation in his Navy memoirs:

We went in at Reggio with our load of Canadian troops under a very heavy allied artillery barrage from the hills of Messina. There appeared to be little or no opposition. We later found out that Italy had already agreed to surrender but hadn’t announced it to wrong foot the Germans. The deception worked since the Germans did not reinforce the positions vacated by the Italians. I can still see the Sicilians running around cheering 'Benito et finito' [Benito (Mousellini) is finished]. To celebrate one of the locals dug up a bottle of great wine he had buried to keep it safe from the Germans.

Allied forces advanced quite rapidly so another unplanned landing further up the coast was set in motion. The object this time was to land supplies for the advancing Allied forces and our flotilla was one of several selected for the job. While we waited on a safe beach for the signal to leave a few large warships, including a battleship, went past at high speed. Their mission was to shell the new landing beach before we moved in during the night.

The waves they created started to wash the landing craft off the beach so I winched the door up a little prior to ramming the craft back onto the beach. Unfortunately I left the safety catch off the winch handle and the next wave lifted the boat and I took the full force of the spinning winch handle on my left leg before I could remove it.

One of the other boys made a similar mistake but this time with the kedge anchor winch. It hit him on the head to his severe injury. An Italian surgeon inserted a steel plate in his skull to repair the damage.

Since this landing was not part of the original plan there was little reliable intelligence as to enemy defences. An LCI was sent in to investigate but luck was against them as the beach was defended by some top German artillery units and the craft was destroyed. The landing was called off. (Page 33, My Naval Chronicle)

In the aforementioned text, Combined Operations, we read the following about Sept. 3, D-Day Italy:

In the early morning darkness of September 3rd the loaded craft moved up the Strait, close inshore on the Sicilian side, making for their take-off point. Among many ships crowding the narrow waters, "Warspite" and "Valiant" swept by, looming hugely. The wash from the battleships' passing bounced the landing craft like water bugs and sent huge waves over the sides to soak the men. The big ships of the Royal Navy, at that tense, nerve-fraying moment, came in for a heartfelt cursing.

At dawn the armies for the invasion of Italy moved across the six mile Strait. "Warspite" and "Valiant" were forgiven their trespass by the men in the landing craft as the Navy added to a great barrage put up by artillery firing from Sicily across the Strait. Screaming through the half-light overhead, thousands of shells from the artillery of the Army and the big Naval guns passed above the Flotilla. Plumed explosions rose inland as the ramps of the craft went down and the conquerors of Sicily set foot on the Italian mainland. Great transit searchlights from the Sicilian side were cutting through the dim morning to assist navigation and directing smoke shells were providing some assistance mixed with a good deal of confusion. (Page 86)

More details about events prior to the invasion of Italy from Page 1 of The Winnipeg Tribune:

My father, also of RCNVR, Combined Ops, and a member of the 80th Flotilla of Landing Crafts, recalls the following in his Navy memoirs, "DAD, WELL DONE":

If memory serves me correctly, (we) attacked Italy at Reggio di Calabria across Messina Strait on my birthday, September 6, 1943.

(Editor: Sorry, Dad, you were off by three days. But Sept. 3 was something to celebrate, after all).

There was no resistance. The air force had done a complete job and there wasn’t a whole building standing and the railroad yards were ripped to shreds. (Page 35)

At midnight on September 3, 1943 our Canadian landing craft flotilla, loaded once again with war machinery, left the beaches near Messina, Sicily and crossed the Messina Strait to Reggio Calabria in Italy. The invasion of Italy was underway. (Page 113)

It was no different touching down on the Italian beach at Reggio di Calabria at around midnight, September 3, 1943 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. (Page 114)

The Italian campaign was “easy,” so far as his share of the invasion was concerned, he said. “There was nothing to it. It was just a matter of walking in and taking over, after a 55-minute bombardment of Reggio Calabria, on the toe of the Italian boot, by naval guns and rocket guns.” (page 123)

More details in the form of articles, maps and editorial cartoons from The Winnipeg Tribune follow:

Please link to Articles: Italy, September 1 - 2, 1943 - Pt 1.

Unattributed Photos GH

Articles: Italy, September 1 - 2, 1943 - Pt 1.

A New Chapter for Canadians on Landing Crafts.

[Photo: Canadians in Combined Ops had a front row seat during the shelling of Italy]

Introduction: D-Day Italy, September 3 1943, is but two days away. Canadians sailors in the 80th Flotilla of Landing Crafts have moved their newly-repaired barges ("Don't call 'em barges," some sailors had said earlier) from Malta to locations near or at the edge of Messina, Sicily's capital city. 

They were ready to start hauling Allied troops and materials of war across the seven-mile-wide strait to Reggio Calabria, located on the toe of Italy's boot. For the first time they would also be asked to carry Canadian troops in their fleet of flat-bottomed crafts (LCMs - Landing Craft, Mechanized), and they were delighted when they heard that news. They only needed to be given the signal.

Lloyd Evans of Markham, Ontario (RCNVR, Combined Operations) recalls the following about this time period:

Most days in Malta were bright and sunny and one particular day in early September of 1943 was no exception. I, and a crew of 4, found ourselves back in our landing craft on a northerly tack. We had several escort vessels and after a few hours under way all hell broke loose when about 60 enemy bombers dropped their loads all over the place. They were flying low enough for us to clearly see their bomb doors opening and their bombs being released.

Lloyd Evans and a pet monkey, likely aboard a transport ship

travelling around Africa on route to D-Day Sicily, July 1943. 

Fortunately they didn’t hit anything and soon departed the scene when heavy A.A. fire threatened their safety... or perhaps they didn’t think a bunch of empty landing craft was worth the risk of being shot down. It soon became clear that we were heading back to Sicily for the invasion of Italy. By this time Sicily was firmly in Allied hands.

We spent a couple of days in the harbours of Augusta and Catania and then to Messina for the attack on Italy itself. (Page 33, My Naval Chronicle by L. Evans)

Prior to the invasion, the Allied forces shelled Reggio Calabria and the Calabrian coastline. A photo with caption from the Sept. 1 issue of The Winnipeg Tribune reveals part of the Allied strength:

Photo: "Tuesday's salvoes" would have been hurled on August 31, 1943

In the book Combined Operations by Clayton Marks of London, Ontario, writes the following about those early days in September prior to D-Day:

On September 1st, at one of the assembly points near Messina, from which the expedition was to cross, the Officers of the Flotilla were briefed. Thirty-six hours later they began to embark the Canadians of the Royal 22nd Regiment, the West Nova Scotians, and the Carleton and Yorks. Canadian soldiers and Canadian sailors were operating together at last. (Page 86)

My father mentioned the following in his Navy memoirs about that same time, related to leaving Malta and heading to Messina with the 80th Flotilla:

Although no one ventured a word, we all had Italy in the back of our minds. Before we got too settled in, we were throwing our hammocks aboard our landing craft again and heading for Sicily.

Our flotillas beached at the mouth of a now dried up river bed at Mili Marina (Editor: About 10 km. south of Messina), then a few days in Catania harbour itself, where we had a good view of German low-level attacks on a British cruiser. At night we watched German planes try to take evasive action as they were caught in the searchlights which circled the harbour. During the day we could see the smoke from Mt. Etna. (Page 113, "DAD, WELL DONE")

In The Winnipeg Tribune (digitized), one will find many articles, maps, cartoons (etc.) related to those early days of the Italian campaign. Several items from Sept.1st and 2nd issues are displayed below:

While in Malta, Canadian sailors in Combined Ops had a chance to rest, act as tourists, read mail and write letters. One can see that Canadian army troops did much the same thing once their duties related to the invasion of Sicily were complete:

Films may still exist related to the role Canadians played while in Sicily: 

England declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939. The invasion of Italy, on Sept. 3, 1943 marked the fourth year of WW2:

On September 2, D-Day minus 1, southern Italy comes under attack again by Allied planes:

For those interested in Navy history and stories, finding old copies of The Gangway, mentioned below, might be an interesting research project:

Four copies of The Gangway can be found at "For Posterity's Sake".

Mention is made of OD Bruce Mooney in the July 1943 issue:

Bruce Mooney, Ex-Newspaperman, With Gangway 

Gangway welcomes a new member to its staff in the person of O. D. Bruce Mooney from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Mooney comes to the Gangway well qualified, having served for ten years on the Winnipeg Tribune. While on the staff of the Gangway he will work with the managing editor as news editor of the Naval newspaper. Joining the staff on the 19th June, Bruce Mooney has already proven himself a valuable addition. (Page 2, The Gangway)

Allied bombings "made life difficult" for some, easier for others, e.g., the invasion force that would set off on D-Day Italy:

Please link to Articles: Sicily, August 27 - 31, 1943 - Pt 18.

Unattributed Photos GH