Adriatic Coast 1943
Consider the 8th Army’s Op BAYTOWN landings in the toe and heel of the Italian Mainland.
Examine 1st Airborne Divison’s part in this known as Op SLAPTICK and visit CWGC Bari Cemetery to see the grave of the Airborne’s Commander, Maj Gen ‘Hoppy’ Hopkinson who was killed during the operation. Whilst at Taranto look at the famous November 1940 battle when the Fleet Air Arm’s Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers destroyed half the Italian Fleet in a single night.
Move on to the USAF Foggia airbases and gain an understanding of the hugely significant role they played in the strategic bombing campaign into Southern Europe. At Termoli examine the Commando/SRS amphibious landing in October 1943 named Op DEVON that secured the port at some cost to the British. Visit the terrain over which the bloody battles of the Sangro River were fought and appreciate how they stalled the 8th Army advance in November 1943.
Whilst in the Abruzzi Mountains, understand how the first use of the Italian Partisans was championed by the talented Lionel Wigram, and visit the hilltop village of Pizzaferata where he met his death. At Ortona witness the eastern extent of the German defences on the Gustav Line and step through the 1st Canadian Infantry Divisions battles across the Moro River and the desperate fight over Christmas 1943 for ‘Cider Crossroads’ and the town itself. See where Capt Paul Triquet wins the VC for his assault on Casa Barardi. Appreciate why Ortona is often referred to as ‘the Italian Stalingrad’.
Historically, we always drank more Sicilian wine than we knew - for the reds were used to beef up Bordeaux and others, while the whites were fortified into Masala for the Royal Navy. Even today this ‘continent of wine’ produces more than South Africa, yet behind the sheer scale lies a myriad of styles and grapes grown in all manner of soils from sea level to the slopes of Mount Etna. Tasting the best of Etna Rosso, which we will do, you’ll see why these elegant, perfumed wines have been called the Burgundy of the Mediterranean. And so different from the dark, muscular Nero d’Avolas we will try earlier from the grape’s birthplace of Avola, or the spicy, fragrant Frappatos from that other Allied landing site of Gela, or whites like Zibibbo or the citrusy Carricante used in Etna Bianco.
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51st Highland Division in Sicily
When re-visiting the battlefields of Sicily recently, I set about following the campaign of my wife’s grandfather who commanded 152 Brigade, part of 51st Highland Division. I had been given his copy of the ‘History of the 51st Highland Division 1939-1945’, R B Salmon (1953) and the chapter entitled ‘TheThirty-Nine Days’ covered the campaign in the detail I needed. It included the image of the Divisional Memorial at Sferro, which I was to locate. I knew 51st Highland Division to be a Territorial Division that had been reconstituted after Dunkirk, before being sent to North Africa where it played a decisive role in 8th Army’s victories. Limited training time was available to prepare for the amphibious operations and the fighting that would take place over the very different terrain of Sicily, but they were commanded by Major General Douglas Wimberley who had the reputation as a fearless leader and a superb motivator of men. For good reasons Brigadier Gordon MacMillan did not take command of 152 Brigade until 19 days before the landings and so had to rely, to a large degree, on the preparations that had already been put in place.
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Borghetti Associates provides expert guided tours of the Italian battlefields of the First and Second World Wars.