19431776 Club
Allied forces storm Sicily; Eisenhower sends seven divisions ashore through a gale
Wind scatters the 82nd Airborne across the southeast of the island before the first shot is fired, as American, British, and Canadian troops hit the beaches.
By the summer of 1943, the Axis had been driven out of North Africa, and the Allies needed a way back onto the European continent. On the night of July 9-10, 1943, an invasion fleet carrying three American, three British, and one Canadian division struck the beaches of Sicily under General Dwight Eisenhower's overall command. Strong winds scattered the American paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne across the southeast of the island before a single shot was fired. Within weeks, the campaign would help topple Benito Mussolini's government…
