#operation husky

[captain-price-returns]

“I will not.” Sicily, 17 July 1943.

[theworldatwar]

A Sicilian villager tells an American officer which way the Germans have gone - Troina, Italy, Aug 1943. © Robert Capa © International Center of Photography | Magnum Photos

[literallymercy]

not on my mincemeat account but discovered the other day that my form tutors father-in-law was part of operation mincemeat (mostly the invasion part, so the following operation (operation husky)) I was BUZZING

[manyfacesofsicily]

Gore Vidal once wrote that Sicily was "liberated by Lucky Luciano, Vito Genovese, and the American army," and it might not be that wrong. In fact, the more you dig into it, the wilder it gets.

It's 1943. Operation Husky. 160,000 Allied troops are about to storm the beaches of Sicily. But before a single boot hits the sand, the U.S. Navy has already cut a deal with one of the most powerful mob bosses in America -- Charles "Lucky" Luciano -- who is, at this point, sitting in a New York prison cell serving 30-to-50 years for running prostitution rings.

The deal was called Operation Underworld. Luciano's organization had already been protecting the New York docks from sabotage and strikes since 1942. Now the Navy wanted more: Sicilian contacts, maps of harbors, photos of coastlines, names of resistance figures on the island. Luciano delivered. From his cell. Using Meyer Lansky as his go-between.

Meanwhile, Vito Genovese -- Luciano's acting boss back in Italy -- would later install himself as the official interpreter for Charles Poletti, the Allied military governor in charge of Palermo and Naples. The Mafia didn't just help with the invasion; they embedded themselves in the postwar administration. The Allies needed people who could manage Sicilian territory, and the Mafiosi were only too happy to volunteer.

Now, historians debate how much the Mafia actually influenced the military outcome. The Liberation Route Europe foundation flatly states "this pact never existed" in the way popular myth describes it -- no yellow flags with black "L"s on Allied vehicles, no Calogero Vizzini coordinating troop movements. But what IS documented is that Luciano's sentence was commuted, he was deported to Italy in 1946, and Mafia-connected figures were appointed as mayors of Sicilian towns under Allied occupation.

Vidal, who lived in Italy for decades and understood its layered political darkness better than most American writers, wasn't making a simple claim. He was pointing at something uncomfortable: that liberation and corruption arrived on the same boat.

That's the thing about history. The liberators and the gangsters were sometimes the same people. And Sicily is still living with the consequences.

(Photos: On top row, Gore Vidal, Lucky Luciano, and Vito Genovese; bottom row, Allies arrive, English soldier reading about their next target.)

[redarmyscreaming]

M3 Lee, disembarking from LST 313. Gela, Sicily.

[lionofchaeronea]

The "Filter Room" in the Lascaris War Rooms underneath Valletta. As the name suggests, this room was used by the RAF to filter and plot all incoming reports of enemy aircraft. The room has been reconstructed to its appearance in July 1943, when Malta served as the base for "Operation Husky," the Allied invasion of Sicily that set in train the collapse of Mussolini's regime.

[carbone14]

Camp de prisonniers italiens – Jardin Orto Fontanelle – Opération Husky ( Débarquement en Sicile) – Bataille de Gela – Campagne d'Italie – Gela – Sicile – Juillet 1943

[davidcashuk]

On 13 July 1943, Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily was well underway. C-47 aircraft were carrying members of the highly trained 82nd Airborne Division into combat.

Unfortunately, even though warned prior, US Navy gunners got jittery and started firing on the aircraft overhead - fearing they were enemy.

Twenty three Allied aircraft were shot down, and 37 badly damaged (one C-47 had 1000 holes in it). A total of 88 paratroopers and pilots were killed, 162 wounded and 69 missing.

One of those killed was Corporal Roland Manley of 82nd Airborne Division. Roland's remains were repatriated back to the US for burial.

Roland's twin brother Ralph, who jumped into Normandy with the 101st Airborne a year later, visited every year in full uniform to salute his brother.

Ralph Manley passed away peacefully in May 2019 at age 93.