By the time Allied forces landed in Sicily on July 10th and 11th, 1943 the air war over the island itself had raged on for over 2 months. The battle for the skies over the Italian island began almost immediately after the destruction of Afrika Korps in Tunisia. The surrender of German and Italian forces on May 12th resulted in 130,000 Germans and 120,000 Italians captured along with German General Von Arnim and 25 other Axis generals.
The following month on June 11th, the fortress island of Pantelleria was captured and a new base of operations for Allied fighters and bombers was established outside of Malta. Now, the 19 Axis airfields in Sicily were under attack by a full assortment of Allied aircraft and the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica were forced off the island. The Allies had won the sky and now were in position to land their forces on the island.
Notable squadrons during the battle for Sicily were the 99th Pursuit Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group, America’s first all black fighter squadrons. The Tuskegee Airmen would be awarded their first Distinguished Unit Citations for their actions over Sicily from May to June. Jagdgeschwader 77, commanded by Johannes “Macki” Steinhoff was the main Luftwaffe fighter group taking on the Allied onslaught. Despite insurmountable odds, JG 77, IV./JG 3, and JG 53 still managed to put up a valiant defense.
The fight for the island of Sicily would last until August 17th when the last Axis units evacuated onto the Italian peninsula. The invasion of Italy would begin a few short weeks later on September 3rd. This FSO recreates the fight for Sicily after the launch of Operation Husky.
Frame 1 - 3 April 2020
Frame 2 - 10 April 2020
Frame 3 - 17 April 2020
More info & full writeup here:
https://ahevents.net/index.php/fso-setups/38-mediterranean-theatre/676-sicilian-stranglehold
