News from The Winnipeg Tribune, September 3, 1943
Memoirs from Canadians in Combined Operations
Introduction:
The caption beneath an identical map in another newspaper tells us the following: "Allied Troops at Beginning of the Road to Rome - The final phase of the campaign to knock Italy out of the war began at dawn when British and Canadian troops crossed the Strait of Messina from Sicily and landed in the region of Reggio Calabria on the toe of the Italian boot. The map shows clearly the mountainous nature of the country over which the Allied troops must fight their way to Rome." (The Ottawa Citizen, Sept. 3, '43)
Together, the two captions tell us more than the average person would likely know about Operation Baytown, the Allied plan to step once again onto the European mainland - in force, with the desire or goal, and strength to stay - after its exit at Dunkirk.
The headline declares the invasion and several news stories and Navy memoirs tell the tale.
Front page as found in The Winnipeg Tribune (digitized), 1st edition, Sept. 3
Not only was the success of Operation Baytown a significant step forward toward Rome, and then ultimately Berlin, but all three branches of the Canadian forces were involved in dramatic style, working whole-heartedly together in some instances for the first time. E.g., members of the Canadian First Division were transported to the toe of the boot at Reggio aboard the 80th Flotilla of Canadian Landing Crafts. For some, that was an exciting prospect.
Because I had earlier presented passages from Alan Moorehead's book re the Mediterranean theatre of war (Eclipse), I was very happy to find a news article from his pen that mentions landing crafts transporting troops in the Messina Strait. (My father was a proud member of the 80th Flotilla). And other newspaper correspondents informed readers in clear language, as did a veteran or two via later memoirs. Together, the following passages will hopefully provide readers with a good picture of some important moments connected to the invasion of Italy at the toe of the boot. (Later invasions occurred at the heel and shin, as many know, and dramatic events are associated with those as well).
Ronald Monson, an Australian correspondent (see brief biography here), was one writer to make the front page of The Tribune with a concise report:
Eyewitness Reports: Barges Sail to Italy Behind Heavy Barrage
(Distributed by The Canadian Press)
EIGHTH ARMY HEADQUARTERS IN SICILY, Sept. 3 -
British and Canadian troops
swept across Messina straight (sic) before dawn today
and scrambled ashore on the Italian mainland,
quickly establishing the first Allied foothold in Europe proper.
Before daybreak on the fourth anniversary
of the outbreak of war crowded invasion barges
and troop landing craft and amphibious jeeps
crept away from the Sicilian shore
under cover of a heavy artillery barrage
and converged on the beaches.
As the barrage lifted from the beaches
the men leaped ashore.
British artillery bombards the Italian mainland from Messina in Sicily prior
to the initial landings at Reggio. Operation Baytown: the invasion of Italy.
Photo Credit - World War II Today, Imperial War Museum (IWM)
Monson continues:
Artillery firing from Sicily, Allied bombers and guns
from the navy co-operated in a terrific pounding
of the toe of Italy before the invasion began.
Such was the accuracy of our artillery
firing across the strait of Messina
that some enemy gun positions opposite
were knocked out before the first troops landed.
The pre-dawn darkness was dissipated by the flashes
of hundreds of guns pouring a continuous stream
of high explosive on the beaches across the strait
and enemy positions inland.
The first troops were soon scrambling ashore.
Out first foothold in Europe had been established.
di Calabria on the morning of September 3, 1943
Photo Credit - Italia 1943 altervista
On the morning of September 3rd the patient observer - whether a writer, soldier, sailor or citizen of Sicily - would have seen scores of landing crafts of various sizes skimming over the waters of the Messina Strait.
Weather wasn't an issue. Nor was lack of labour. Nor was a fierce opposition.
"Sicily was hot. Italy was easy," wrote my father (RCNVR, Combined Operations) later in life. He remembered correctly.
In the reminiscences of a Canadian LCM Flotilla Engineer Officer (unnamed), we read the following about the dark hours just before the invasion and the crossing of the strait to Italy's shore:
"Red Beach Unopposed! Green Beach Unopposed!"
Just after dark that night, September 2nd, we left the beach
to join our appointed convoy of LCIs, LCTs and LCAs.
This convoy was passing at a certain time close inshore
but it was like a game of hide and seek to find them.
This done, we proceeded up the coast to Mili Marina*,
where our particular boat was to pick up
a Canadian Brigadier and his HQ staff.
The beaches along this part of the coast are paradise
for landing craft with about a five to one slope,
and were well marked with distinguishing lights.
*Mili Marina is 2mi. north of Galati Marina, opposite Reggio di Calabria
"The beaches along this part of the coast are paradise for landing craft..."
Photo credit - Fabrizio Sergi, Film Maker, Santa Teresa di Riva
S. Teresa is seen hugging the bottom of the above map
The Flotilla Officer continues:
The time set for the final stage of the trip
was 0300. (I.e., 3 AM, September 3. D-Day)
We knew the plan was to lay down a heavy artillery
barrage from the island across the Straits of Messina.
Just as we turned from the coast to proceed due east
to the Italian toe, the barrage opened up.
And what a deafening roar!
It was magnificent to say the least, and even a quarter of
a mile off-shore we could feel the concussion from the guns.
By the time we reached mid-channel a fog was settling down
and this was turned into a good imitation of London's foggiest weather
by the smoke from the exploding shells as we neared the coast.
Navigation was difficult, but we managed
to keep on the stern of our guiding M.L.
With all the racket, plus a general expectation of a heavily opposed landing
we expected to hear enemy guns opening up at any minute.
Nothing happened - we crept in closer -
still nothing but the pounding of our own guns, then one of
the Brigadier's wireless sets began to pick up messages.
"Red beach unopposed" and later, "Green beach unopposed"!
By this time we were able to dimly see
the outlines of the hills through the smoke and fog.
Coming closer still, we could see the troops
of the initial wave walking along the beach.
By this time invasion craft of every description were milling about.
What a sight! On the beach, while the troops were unloading,
gay banter could be heard from the boats' crews.
And so easy was the first permanent invasion of Europe!
How true Churchill's words proved,
"We shall strike the soft under-belly of Europe!"
Nowhere on the toe were the landings opposed by a single shot,
nor was a single enemy plane in sight overhead.
But there were planes, ah yes,
the faithful Spitfires droned reassuringly as dawn broke.
This was but the initial landing in Italy.
Our next job was to act as ferry service across the Straits
to keep a steady stream of vehicles and supplies to Monty's Men.
This was first done from Teressa* (sic) and later
from beaches north of the Messina harbour.
Page 100, Combined Operations, by Clayton Marks, London ONT
I feel it is a great privilege to provide a brief preface to
C. Marks continues:
*I suggest the writer means Santa Teresa di Riva, not far south of Mili Marina.
Recently, Fabrizio Sergi, film director and writer, a resident of Santa Teresa di Riva, published a book entitled CHARLIE BEACH, telling the story of of war's effect upon his community, past and present; that Canadian troops and navy personnel were in the area is touched upon as well.
Mr. Sergi's work. Photo Credit - F. Sergi, S. Teresa
[Please take a moment to compare the two photos above re Santa Teresa's shoreline credited to Fabrizio Sergi, taken 80 years apart.... from a similar point of view for the photographer. The topography remains the same.]
Farther up the coast from Santa Teresa, and then just north of Messina, was the beach from which many Allied troops and the machinery of war (and all the fuel required, etc.) were transported to Reggio di Calabria, and to other locations on the toe of the boot between Scilla and Melito, in places a round trip of about 14 miles.
From some vantage point near Messina, Alan Moorehead, a war correspondent of some repute, described the action on September 3rd.
Many staging areas existed from Taormina to Messina, for Operation Baytown.
Photo - Page 32, Eclipse, written by Alan Moorehead
About Operation Baytown, beginning at 0300 hours on September 3rd, Alan Moorehead writes the following, as found in The Winnipeg Tribune:
Starlight Guides Invasion Forces
Representing the Combined British Press
(Distributed by The Canadian Press)
A SICILIAN INVASION PORT, Sept. 3 -
The first wave of attacking British and Canadian troops
sailed against the toe of Italy at night and without a moon.
On a sea which has been consistently calm for a week
many hundreds of ships and barges began setting out
for the Italian coast with only starlight to guide them to the
enemy beaches. They had, however, continuous air cover.
Extraordinary scenes led up to the moment when
the first wave of the invasion expedition got under way.
For ten days past vast numbers of men and vehicles
have been feeding down to the invasion ports.
If you can imagine a pre-war London or New York traffic jam
you can guess what the roads in Sicily have been like.
New and complex road signs sprang up
all over the country to guide the columns of men and
machines down to their right coves and beaches.
Meanwhile, invasion barges -
the same mosquito fleet that made the landing on Sicily -
stole up the coast to take the army on board.
The enemy seems to have been aware that something
was going on. Their high-speed reconnaissance planes
were over from dawn until evening.
Voices In the Dark
By Thursday night everything was pretty well set.
Stores and vehicles which were not already embarked
were waiting in long lines on the lava plains,
ready to go down to shore. It looked like
a huge motor car park.
In the darkness you could hear many thousands of voices,
the rumble of treads on decks and the shouted orders
of officers calling their men to come forward.
Practically every man had made at least one landing before*
Though they had not been told
their exact destination, the troops knew they were bound on
their biggest adventure yet and the atmosphere was tense.
They either talked about something else or not at all.
Two weeks of rest and quiet had given them
great steadiness and confidence.
While Enemy Looks On
A great deal of all the intense organization was
carried out in full view of the Italian mainland.
There has never been any real sign of movement
on the mainland, beyond an occasional shell
lobbing over the straits from the Calabrian hills.
From this distance the mainland looks like uninhabited
rock and at times the silence there has been uncanny.
Just before the invasion, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
flew here for a final check-up with Gen. Sir Harold Alexander
and Gen. Sir Bernard Montgomery. The same veteran battle planners -
unidentified major-generals and brigadiers - who designed
the Sicilian campaign are at work on this job.
*landing craft crews were experienced as well. Many members of RCNVR and Combined Operations were veterans of three previous D-Days (disembarkation days) at Dieppe, North Africa and Sicily.
More can be read about Alan Moorehead here.
Another passage from Combined Operations by Londoner Clayton Marks (when alive, he lived about a dozen city blocks from my current residence) provides the point of view of those manning Canadian landing crafts:
In the Early Morning Darkness of September 3rd
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.
C. Marks continues:
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
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.
For a month after the lightly-opposed Italian landing
the 80th Flotilla carried out its familiar routine of ferry work.
From Page 86, Combined Operations
Unattributed Photos GH
From Page 86, Combined Operations
More passages from September 3rd, 1943 will follow.
For read other significant Passages, please link to "ECLIPSE" by Alan Moorehead (1 - 4).
Unattributed Photos GH
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