Battle of Gela (1943)

Battle of Gela (1943)
	Part of the Allied invasion of Sicily in the Mediterranean theatre of World War II
	; Brooklyn-class cruisers Boise (pictured) and her sister ship Savannah, demonstrated the effectiveness of naval gunfire against tanks.
Date	10–12 July 1943
Location	Gela, Sicily
Result	Allied victory
Belligerents
United States; United Kingdom	Italy; Germany
Commanders and leaders
Henry Kent Hewitt; George S. Patton; Terry de la Mesa Allen Sr.; Hugh Joseph Gaffey; Charles Leslie Keerans Jr. †	Alfredo Guzzoni; Arnaldo Rabellino (POW); Domenico Chirieleison; Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin; Paul Conrath
Units involved
Gela beachead: 1st Infantry Division; 2nd Armored Division; Naval support: USS Savannah; USS Boise; HMS Abercrombie; USS Shubrick; USS Jeffers; USS Maddox; USS Butler; USS Glennon;	Gela beachead: Italian XVIII Coastal Brigade 429th Coastal Battalion; ; North of Gela: 4th Infantry Division "Livorno"; 1st Fallschirm-Panzer Division Hermann Göring; Air support: Luftflotte 2; 3rd Air Fleet; 4th Air Fleet;
Casualties and losses
U.S.:; 2,300 casualties; 1 destroyer sunk	Italian:; 3,350 killed; 5,000 wounded; 2,000 prisoners; German:; 630 killed, wounded, and prisoners; 14 tanks

The amphibious Battle of Gela was the opening engagement of the American portion of the Allied Invasion of Sicily during World War II. United States Navy ships landed United States Army troops along the eastern end of the south coast of Sicily; and withstood attacks by Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica aircraft while defending the beachhead against German tanks and Italian tanks of the Livorno Division until the Army captured the Ponte Olivo Airfield for use by United States Army Air Forces planes. The battle convinced United States Army officers of the value of naval artillery support, and revealed problems coordinating air support from autonomous air forces during amphibious operations.^[5]

^ "WWII Campaigns: Sicily".
^ USS Maddox (ii) (DD 622)
^ Andrea Augello, Uccidi gli italiani: Gela 1943, la battaglia dimenticata, Mursia, Milano 2009, p. 120.
^ Part of the 5,000 wounded are also included among the 2,000 prisoners. Total casualties of the Livorno Division numbered 214 officers and 7,000 men, of whom 1,300 were taken prisoner (Alberto Santoni, Le operazioni in Sicilia e in Calabria, Italian Army Historical Branch, 1989, p. 201).
^ Allard, Dean (1997). "The U.S. Navy Comes Ashore in the Med". Naval History. 11 (5). United States Naval Institute: 47–48.

[1] "WWII Campaigns: Sicily".

[2] USS Maddox (ii) (DD 622)

[3] Andrea Augello, Uccidi gli italiani: Gela 1943, la battaglia dimenticata, Mursia, Milano 2009, p. 120.

[4] Part of the 5,000 wounded are also included among the 2,000 prisoners. Total casualties of the Livorno Division numbered 214 officers and 7,000 men, of whom 1,300 were taken prisoner (Alberto Santoni, Le operazioni in Sicilia e in Calabria, Italian Army Historical Branch, 1989, p. 201).

[nhm-5] Allard, Dean (1997). "The U.S. Navy Comes Ashore in the Med". Naval History. 11 (5). United States Naval Institute: 47–48.

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