IV ALLIES GAIN FOOTHOLD IN SOUTHERN EUROPE

ALLIES GAIN FOOTHOLD IN SOUTHERN EUROPE




After the Tunisian campaign came to an end and the Axis armies had been finally driven out of the African continent, the victorious Allies were soon in a position to make their next move in the Mediterranean war zone. The capture of the small, but strategically important, island of Pantelleria gave the British and U.S. air forces valuable advanced airfields to complement those of Malta and those along the North African shores. For any amphibious military operations against the Mediterranean coastline of Europe powerful support by fighter cover, or "air umbrella," was absolutely necessary. Indeed, as experience in this war had already shown, no landings on an enemy-occupied coast, however skillfully planned and boldly carried out, could hope to be successful without such fighter cover. The map on the right shows the approximate operational range of fighter aircraft based along the southern shores of the Mediterranean, including the islands of Malta and Pantelleria. It reveals quite clearly, therefore, why Sicily (although it was known to be the most strongly defended of all the chief Italian islands) was selected for the initial attack on the "under belly" of Europe, instead of Sardinia or Corsica. As the map shows, Sicily lay well within operational range of Allied fighter aircraft, whereas, Sardinia was only partly within their range and Corsica was right outside it. It follows, therefore, that while fighters could have accompanied military landings on Sardinia, they could not have covered such landings in anything approaching sufficient strength. Over Sicily, on the other hand, strong fighter protection could be provided quite easily. Another important factor which the Allied commanders must have undoubtedly had in mind when the decision to attack Sicily was made was its possession of a large number of first-class airfields which would prove of the greatest value for the next step in the Mediterranean campaign, the attack on the Italian mainland.










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