10 July, 1943 - Sicily Landings Begin

 Preceded on 9 July by heavy bombing of strategic targets in Sicily by air, on 10 July the Allied landings began on Sicily, taking troops from North Africa into the European theatre of the war and beginning a 'new front'.  

In spite of the positive tone of this newspaper cutting from the Coventry Evening Telegraph, things did not go as planned for the Allied forces.  At this point in the war, this was the largest amphibious landing ever attempted.  Commandos had been landed by glider during the night and few found themselves where they should have been.  The landing craft began to arrive on the beaches in the early morning and in many places this was chaotic.  

Many lessons were learned from the Sicily landings which informed plans for the Normandy landings a year later.