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Following victory in the North African Campaign, there was disagreement between the Allies on the next step. The British, especially Winston Churchill advocated the invasion of Italy. It was clear that the Italian people were becoming less enthusiastic about their participation in the war, and it was hoped that an invasion would knock them out of the war, providing at least a major propaganda blow. The elimination of Italy as an enemy would also enable the Royal Navy to completely dominate the Mediterranean Sea, massively improving communications with Egypt, the Far East, the Middle East and India.
The American staff however believed that a full scale invasion of France as soon as possible was necessary to end the war in Europe, and that no operations should be undertaken which might delay that. The matter was largely resolved when it became clear that an invasion of Northern France could not be undertaken in 1943. Given the presence of large numbers of troops trained for amphibious landings in the Mediterranean, a limited scale invasion was authorised.
See Operation Husky
A combined British-American invasion of Sicily began on July 10 1943 with both seaborne and airborne landings. The Germans were unable to prevent the Allied capture of the island, but succeeded in evacuating most of their troops to the mainland, the last leaving on August 17 1943.
British forces landed in the 'toe' of Italy on September 3 1943 in Operation Baytown. The Italian government surredered on 8 September, but the German forces prepared to defend without their assistance. On 9 September American forces landed at SalernoSalerno is a town and a province in Campania, Italy. The main town of the " Costiera Amalfitana" (the part of coast on the Tyrrhenian sea which includes famous towns like Amalfi, Positano, etc. it is mostly known in history having hosted the king of Italy in Operation AvalancheHistory records no less than three events known as Operation Avalanche Operation Avalanche: The Allied invasion of Italy, 1943; Operation Avalanche: A U. investigation of child pornography on the Internet, launched 1999. Operation Avalanche: U. led coalit and additional British forces at TarantoTaranto is a city in southern Italy. It is the capital of Taranto province, and is also a port, and is located on the Gulf of Taranto, in Apulia region. It is about midway down the western coast of the peninsula that forms Italy's heel. According to the 2 in Operation SlapstickOperation Slapstick was a part of the Allied invasion of Italy during World War II on 9 September 1943. The operation consisted of the landing by sea of the British 1st Airborne Division at Taranto, an important naval base. Since the Italian government ha. While the rough terrain prevented fast movement and proved ideal for defense, the Allies continued to push the Germans northwards throught the rest of the year.