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The FReeper Foxhole Revisits Operation Husky - Sicily (Jul-Aug, 1943) - July 10th, 2004
see educational sources

Posted on 07/10/2004 12:08:33 AM PDT by snippy_about_it



Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.



...................................................................................... ...........................................

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The FReeper Foxhole Revisits

Sicily - 9 July-17 August 1943

On the night of 9-10 July 1943, an Allied armada of 2,590 vessels launched one of the largest combined operations of World War II— the invasion of Sicily. Over the next thirty-eight days, half a million Allied soldiers, sailors, and airmen grappled with their German and Italian counterparts for control of this rocky outwork of Hitler's "Fortress Europe." When the struggle was over, Sicily became the first piece of the Axis homeland to fall to Allied forces during World War II. More important, it served as both a base for the invasion of Italy and as a training ground for many of the officers and enlisted men who eleven months later landed on the beaches of Normandy.

Situated ninety miles off the north coast of Africa and a mere two and one-half miles from the "toe" of the Italian peninsula, Sicily was both a natural bridge between Africa and Europe and a barrier dividing the Mediterranean Sea. Its rugged topography made it a tough, unsinkable bastion from which Axis air and naval forces could interdict Allied sea lanes through the Mediterranean. Yet despite its strategic location, the Allies were deeply divided over the merits of invading the island, and in the end the decision to invade Sicily represented an uneasy compromise between British and American strategists.


3d Infantry Division troops move along a cliffside road destroyed by the Germans at Cape Calava. (National Archives)


Preparations for Operation HUSKY, the code name for the invasion of Sicily, began immediately after the Casablanca Conference. With the invasion scheduled for 10 July, there was little time to lose. In drawing up the invasion plans, three factors dominated Allied thinking—the island's topography, the location of Axis air bases, and the amount of resistance that could be expected.

Slightly larger than the state of Vermont, Sicily's 10,000 square miles of rough, highly defensible terrain is cut in a roughly triangular shape. Beginning with low hills in the south and west, the land becomes more mountainous to the north and east, ultimately culminating in the island's most prominent feature, the 10,000foot-high volcano Mount Etna. The port of Messina in the island's northeastern corner is the primary transit point between Sicily and the Italian mainland. It was the key strategic objective for the campaign, for without Messina, Axis forces would be cut off from supply and reinforcement. Unfortunately, the country around Messina was extremely rugged and the beaches narrow. Moreover, the city was heavily fortified and beyond the range at which the Allies' Africa-based fighters could provide effective air cover. Consequently, Allied planners ruled it out as an initial objective.

The widest and most accessible beaches for amphibious operations lie along the island's southeastern and western shores. By happy coincidence, Sicily's other major ports—Palermo, Catania, Augusta, and Syracuse—are also clustered in the northwestern and southeastern corners of the island, as were the majority of the island's thirty major airfields. Both the ports and the airfields were major considerations in the minds of the invasion planners. The Army needed the ports for logistical reasons, while the air and naval commanders wanted the airfields captured as early as possible to help protect the invasion fleet from aerial attack.



The confluence of favorable beaches, ports, and airfields in the northwestern and southeastern corners of the island initially led Allied planners to propose landings in both areas. They ultimately rejected this idea, however, because the two landing forces would be unable to provide mutual support. General Montgomery was particularly adamant about the need to concentrate Allied forces to meet what he anticipated would be fierce Axis resistance. German troops had fought tenaciously in Tunisia, and Montgomery feared that Italian soldiers would resist with equal stubbornness now that they would be fighting on home soil. Eisenhower accepted Montgomery's argument and chose the more cautious approach of concentrating Allied forces at only one location, Sicily's southeastern shore.

The final plan called for over seven divisions to wade ashore along a 100-mile front in southeastern Sicily, while elements of two airborne divisions landed behind Axis lines. The British Eighth Army would land four divisions, an independent brigade, and a commando force along a forty-mile front stretching from the Pachino Peninsula north along the Gulf of Noto to a point just south of the port of Syracuse. A glider landing would assist the amphibious troops in capturing Syracuse. To the west, Patton's Seventh Army would land three divisions over an even wider front in the Gulf of Gela. The assault would be supported by parachutists from the 505th Parachute Infantry Regimental Combat Team and the 3d Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry.


Patton at Messina, Life 1943/8/17


Once ashore, the Eighth Army would thrust northward, capturing in succession Augusta, Catania, and the airfield complex at Gerbini before making the final push on Messina. The Seventh Army's initial objectives were several airfields between Licata and Comiso, after which it would advance to a position approximately twenty miles inland designated the Yellow Line. From the Yellow Line the Seventh Army would control the high ground that ringed the American beaches and protect the western flank of the Eighth Army's beachhead. Once this had been secured, the Seventh Army was to push slightly forward to a second position, termed the Blue Line, from which it would control the road network that emanated from Piazza Armerina.

Operations


The invasion got off to a rough start during the night of 9-10 July 1943. As the Allied armada steamed toward the island a fierce, forty-mile-per-hour gale, dubbed the "Mussolini wind" by seasick G.I.s, whipped up the seas, seriously endangering some of the smaller craft. The situation in the air was even worse. Buffeted by the winds and confused by an overly complex flight plan, the inexperienced pilots ferrying Allied airborne forces became disoriented in the darkness and strayed from their courses. Of the 144 gliders bearing British paratroops to landing zones outside of Syracuse, only 12 landed on target, while 69 crashed into the sea and the rest dispersed over a wide area. In the American sector, Colonel Gavin's 3,400 paratroopers were even more widely scattered. Gavin himself landed twenty-five miles southeast of his intended drop zone. The wide dispersion of paratroopers seriously jeopardized Seventh Army's invasion plan by weakening the buffer these men were supposed to form in front of the 1st Division's beachhead. Nevertheless, the men of the 82d Airborne went right to work wherever chance landed them. Operating in small, isolated groups, the paratroopers created considerable confusion in Axis rear areas, attacking patrols and cutting communication lines.




The airborne forces had begun landing about 2330 on 9 July, and by midnight General Guzzoni was fully apprised of their presence. He was not surprised. Axis air reconnaissance had spotted Allied convoys moving toward Sicily earlier that day, and Guzzoni had ordered a full alert at 2200 on the 9th. Based upon the reported airborne drops, Guzzoni correctly surmised that the Allies intended to come ashore in the southeast, and he issued orders to that effect at 0145 on 10 July, nearly an hour before the first assault wave hit the beach. Nevertheless, the dispirited and ill-equipped Italian coastal units hardly put up a fight. Opposition in the Eighth Army's sector was negligible. By the end of the first day the British were firmly ashore and well on their way toward Augusta, having walked into Syracuse virtually unopposed. Resistance was not much stronger in the American zone, and the Seventh Army had little trouble moving ashore despite sporadic air and artillery attacks.

The only serious fighting occurred in the American center, where Axis mobile forces tried to throw the Americans back into the sea before they had a chance to become firmly established. Fortunately for the Americans, the attacks were poorly coordinated. At Gela, the 1st and 4th Ranger Battalions, assisted by the 1st Battalion of the 39th Engineer Combat Regiment, the 1st Battalion of the 531st Engineer Shore Regiment, mortar fire from the 83d Chemical Battalion, and naval gunfire, repulsed two Italian attacks, one by a battalion of infantry and the other by a column of thirteen tanks. Nine or ten of the latter managed to penetrate the town before the Rangers drove them off in a confused melee. Meanwhile, at the vital Piano Lupo crossroads, those few paratroopers who had been fortunate enough to land near their objective repulsed a column of about twenty Italian tanks with the help of naval gunfire and the advancing infantrymen of the 16th Regimental Combat Team. Shortly thereafter they rebuffed a more serious attack made by ninety German Mark III and IV medium tanks, two armored artillery battalions, an armored reconnaissance battalion, and an engineer battalion from the Hermann Goering Division. Naval gunfire played a crucial role in stopping this German thrust. The worst event of the day occurred when seventeen German Tiger I heavy tanks, an armored artillery battalion, and two battalions of motorized infantry from the Hermann Goering Division overran the 1st Battalion, 180th Infantry (45th Division), after a stiff fight, capturing its commander and many of its men.




While Rangers, paratroopers, and infantrymen repelled Axis counterattacks, an even more serious struggle was being waged against mother nature. Although 10 July dawned bright and sunny, the rough seas of the previous night had disorganized several units. The worst case was that of the 45th Division's 180th Regiment, which had been scattered over a ten-mile front. Nor did the beaches prove to be as favorable as anticipated. Soft sand, shifting sandbars, and difficult exits created congestion on the beaches that was further aggravated by enemy air and artillery barrages. By midmorning, between 150 and 200 landing craft were stranded on the shoreline. Nevertheless, American service troops performed herculean feats to keep the men in the front lines supplied and supported. During the first three days the U.S. Army and Navy moved 66,285 personnel, 17,766 deadweight tons of cargo, and 7,396 vehicles over Sicily's southern shores. An entirely new generation of landing craft and ships—LSTs, LCTs, LCIs, and LCVPs—greatly facilitated the logistical effort. Even more remarkable was the innovative DUKW amphibious truck that could move directly from offshore supply ships to inland depots.

By the end of the first day, the Seventh Army had established a beachhead two to four miles deep and fifty miles wide. In the process it had captured over 4,000 prisoners at the cost of 58 killed, 199 wounded, and 700 missing. But the situation was still perilous. Axis counterattacks had created a dangerous bulge in the center of the American line, the very point where the bulk of the 505th Parachute Regiment should have been if its drop had been accurate.

July 11, the second day of the invasion, was the Seventh Army's most perilous day in Sicily. Early that morning, General Guzzoni renewed his attack against the shallow center of the American line—Piano Lupo, Gela, and the beaches beyond. Guzzoni committed the better part of two divisions in the attack, the Hermann Goering Division and the Italian Livorno Division. He backed them up with heavy air attacks by Italian and German planes based in Italy. Congestion on the beaches hampered Bradley's efforts to send tanks forward, so that the defending infantrymen had nothing but artillery and naval gunfire to support them. Cooks, clerks, and Navy shore personnel were pressed into service to help the 1st and 45th Division infantrymen, Rangers, and paratroopers repel the Axis attacks. The fighting was fierce. A few German tanks broke into Gela, while two panzer battalions closed to within two thousand yards of the vulnerable beaches before being repulsed by ground and naval gunfire. Several miles southeast of Gela, Colonel Gavin and an impromptu assembly of paratroopers and 45th Division soldiers effectively thwarted another German column consisting of 700 infantry, a battalion of self-propelled artillery, and a company of Tiger tanks at Biazzo Ridge. By day's end, the Seventh Army had suffered over 2,300 casualties, the Army's greatest oneday loss during the campaign. But as darkness descended, the Americans still held, and in some areas had actually expanded, their narrow foothold on the island.


A bunker covers the beach near Sant'Agata. (National Archives)


After a day of heavy fighting, Patton decided to reinforce his battle-weary center with over 2,000 additional paratroopers from his reserves in North Africa. He ordered that the 1st and 2d Battalions, 504th Paratroop Regiment, the 376th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, and a company from the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion be dropped near Gela on the night of 11 July. German aircraft had been active over the American sector all day, and consequently senior Army and Navy officers went to great lengths to inform everyone of the impending nighttime paratroop drop lest overanxious gunners fire on the friendly aircraft. Nevertheless, when the transport planes arrived over the beaches in the wake of a German air raid, nervous antiaircraft gunners ashore and afloat opened fire with devastating effect. Allied antiaircraft guns shot down 23 and damaged 37 of the 144 American transport planes. The paratroop force suffered approximately 10 percent casualties and was badly disorganized. Later investigation would reveal that not everyone had been informed of the drop despite the Seventh Army's best efforts.

Over the next two days the Seventh Army gradually pushed its way out of the coastal plain and into the hills ringing the American beachhead. Fighting between the 1st Division and the Hermann Goering Division was occasionally stiff, but General Allen moved his men relentlessly forward through Niscemi and on toward the Yellow Line. On the right, Middleton's 45th Division likewise made good progress toward Highway 124, while to the left Truscott's 3d Division infantrymen, supported by 2d Armored Division tanks, moved beyond their initial Yellow Line objectives. The British matched American progress, and by the 13th they had advanced as far as Vizzini in the west and Augusta in the east. Resistance in the British zone was stiffening, however, due to difficult terrain and the arrival from France of elements of Germany's elite 1st Parachute Division.


81-mm. mortars support Patton's drive on Palermo. (National Archives)


As the Eighth Army's drive toward Catania and Gerbini bogged down in heavy fighting, Montgomery persuaded Alexander to shift the boundary line between the American Seventh and British Eighth Armies west, thereby permitting him to advance on a broader front into central Sicily and sidestep the main centers of Axis resistance. The boundary change, which Alexander communicated to Patton just before midnight on 13 July, stripped Highway 124 away from Seventh Army and assigned it instead to the Eighth Army. Under the new instructions, a portion of the Eighth Army would advance up Highway 124 to Enna, the key road junction in central Sicily, before turning northeast toward Messina. In essence, Alexander was interposing British forces between the Americans and the Germans, allowing the Eighth Army to monopolize the primary approaches to Messina and giving it complete responsibility for the Allied main effort. With its original line of advance blocked, Seventh Army was thus relegated to protecting the Eighth Army's flank and rear from possible attack by Axis forces in western Sicily—a distinctly secondary mission.






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The change in front was one of the most important and controversial operational decisions of the campaign. It clearly reflected the British belief that the veteran Eighth Army was better qualified to carry the main burden of the campaign than its junior partner from across the Atlantic. Indeed, the decision did little more than make explicit the priorities and assumptions that had been implicit in the campaign plan all along. On the other hand, by ordering the Seventh Army to stop short of Highway 124 and redirecting its advance, Alexander lost momentum and provided the Axis valuable time to withdraw to a new defensive line between Catania and Enna. The loss of momentum was best illustrated by the repositioning of the 45th Division, which had to return almost to the shoreline before it could sidestep around the 1st Division and take up its new position for a northwestward advance. Given the circumstances, Alexander might have been better served by reinforcing success and shifting the main emphasis of the campaign to the Seventh Army. This was not his choice, however, and his decision stirred up a storm of controversy in the American camp.




Patton and his generals were furious. They had always assumed that the Seventh Army would be permitted to push beyond its initial Yellow and Blue objectives and into central and northern Sicily in order to accompany the Eighth Army on its drive toward Messina. After all, Alexander's vague preinvasion plans had never expressly ruled this out. Now that option had been eliminated and they felt slighted. Not content to accept a secondary role, Patton immediately cast about for an opportunity to have his army play a more decisive part in the campaign. The object which caught his eye was Palermo, Sicily's capital. Capture of this well-known city would not only be a publicity coup, but it would also give his army a major port from which to base further operations along the northern coast.

Patton's first move was to coax Alexander into sanctioning a "reconnaissance" toward the town of Agrigento, several miles west of the 3d Division's current front line. That authorization was all General Truscott needed to seize the city on 15 July. With Agrigento in hand, Patton was in a position to drive into northwestern Sicily, and on the 17th he traveled to Alexander's headquarters to argue for just such a course. Patton wanted to cut loose from the Eighth Army and launch his own, independent drive on Palermo while simultaneously sending Bradley's II Corps north to cut the island in two. Alexander reluctantly agreed, but later had second thoughts and sent Patton a revised set of orders instructing him to strike due north to protect Montgomery's flank rather than west. Seventh Army headquarters ignored Alexander's message claiming that it had been "garbled" in transmission, and by the time Alexander's instructions could be "clarified," Patton was already at Palermo's gates.

The Seventh Army met little opposition during its sweep through western Sicily. Guzzoni had recalled the 15th Panzer Grenadier Division to central Sicily soon after the invasion, and the only troops left in the western portion of the island were Italians who, for the most part, showed little inclination to fight. While General Bradley's II Corps pushed north to cut the island in two east of Palermo, Patton organized the 2d Armored, 82d Airborne, and 3d Infantry Divisions into a provisional corps under Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Keyes and sent it on a 100-mile dash to the Sicilian capital. Palermo fell in only seventy-two hours, and by 24 July the Seventh Army had taken control of the entire western half of the island, capturing 53,000 dispirited Italian soldiers and 400 vehicles at the loss of 272 men.


A Sherman tank moves past Sicily's rugged terrain. (National Archives)


The fall of Palermo was quickly followed by even more startling news. Disenchanted by the long and costly war, Mussolini's opponents ousted the dictator from power on 25 July. Although the Allies had hoped that Operation HUSKY would destabilize the Fascist regime, the coup took them by surprise. Mussolini's downfall did not immediately terminate Italy's participation in the war. Nevertheless, the invasion of Sicily had acted as a catalyst in bringing about an important crack in the Rome-Berlin Axis.

Palermo's capitulation also coincided with the beginning of a new phase of the campaign. On 23 July Alexander ordered Patton to turn eastward toward Messina. Montgomery's drive had bogged down at Catania, and it was now apparent that the Eighth Army was not going to be able to capture Messina on its own. Alexander, therefore, redrew the army boundaries once again, authorizing Patton to approach Messina from the west while Montgomery continued to push from the south.

The drive on Messina would not resemble Patton's quick, cavalry-like raid on Palermo. The city was protected by the most rugged terrain in Sicily, the Caronie Mountains and Mount Etna's towering eminence. In addition, the Germans had constructed a series of strongpoints, called the Etna Line, that ran from the vicinity of Catania on the east coast, around the southern base of Mount Etna, north to San Fratello on the island's northern shore. Here, in Sicily's rugged northeast corner, the Axis had decided to make its stand. But it was to be only a temporary stand, for while General Guzzoni still talked of defending Sicily to the end, Berlin had decided to withdraw gradually from the island. Guzzoni, his authority weakened by the disintegration of most of his Italian units, was not in a position to disagree. From this point forward General Hans Hube, commander of the newly formed German XIV Panzer Corps, and not Guzzoni, exercised real control over Axis forces in Sicily.

General Hube planned to withdraw slowly to the Etna Line where he would make a determined stand while simultaneously undertaking preliminary evacuation measures. Final evacuation would occur in phases, with each withdrawal matched by a progressive retreat to increasingly shorter defensive lines until all Axis troops had been ferried across the Strait of Messina to Italy. To accomplish this task, Hube had the remnants of several Italian formations plus four German divisions—the 1st Parachute, the Hermann Goering Panzer, the 15th Panzer Grenadier, and the newly arrived 29th Panzer Grenadier Division.


Troops and supplies unloading near Gela on D-day. (National Archives)


There were just four narrow roads through the Etna Line, and only two of these actually went all the way to Messina. Possessing these vital arteries became the focal point of the campaign. General Alexander gave each of the Allied armies two roads for the advance on Messina. A portion of the Eighth Army was to advance along the Adrano-Randazzo road that skirted the western slopes of Mount Etna, while the remainder endeavored to drive north along the eastern coastal road, Route 114, to Messina. Alexander assigned the two northern roads to the American Seventh Army. The first, Route 120, ran through the interior of Sicily from Nicosia, through Troina, to Randazzo. The second, Highway 113, hugged the northern shoreline all the way to Messina.

It was Highway 113 that held Patton's interest, for it was his most direct route to Messina. Stung by the belief that Generals Alexander and Montgomery belittled the American Army, Patton was obsessed with the idea of reaching Messina before the British. "This is a horse race in which the prestige of the US Army is at stake," he wrote General Middleton. "We must take Messina before the British. Please use your best efforts to facilitate the success of our race."


Conquest American Style, Newsweek cover 1943/10/18


The race got off to a slow start as the Germans skillfully exploited the mountainous terrain to cut the Allied advance to a crawl. Illness and the weather aided the Germans. Malaria and other fevers incapacitated over 10,000 soldiers. Heat exhaustion brought on by Sicily's 100-degree temperatures knocked additional G.I.s out of the ranks. The Seventh Army advanced two divisions abreast, with the 1st Infantry Division moving along Route 120 and General Middleton's 45th Infantry Division operating on the coast road. After Middleton's G.I.s captured Santo Stefano's "Bloody Ridge" on 30 July, Patton replaced them with General Truscott's 3d Division, allowing the men of the 45th time to rest and recuperate for their next assignment, the invasion of Italy.

Meanwhile, the 1st Infantry Division pushed its way eastward against stiffening German opposition, capturing Nicosia on the 28th before moving on to Troina. Patton planned to take the exhausted 1st Division out of the line once Troina fell. The mountain village, however, would prove to be the unit's toughest battle, as well as one of the most difficult fights of the entire Sicily Campaign. Troina constituted one of the main anchors of the Etna Line and was defended by the 15th Panzer Grenadier Division and elements of the Italian Aosta Division. The Axis forces were deeply entrenched in hills that both dominated the approaches to the town and were difficult to outflank. The barren landscape, almost devoid of cover, made advancing American soldiers easy targets for Axis gunners.



The battle for Troina began on 31 July, when the Germans repulsed an advance by the 39th Infantry Regiment, a 9th Infantry Division outfit temporarily attached to the 1st Division. The setback forced Bradley and Allen to orchestrate a massive assault. Over the next six days the men of the 1st Infantry Division, together with elements of the 9th Division, a French Moroccan infantry battalion, 165 artillery pieces (divided among 9 battalions of 105-mm. howitzers, 6 battalions of 155-mm. howitzers, and 1 battalion of 155-mm. "Long Tom" guns), and numerous Allied aircraft, were locked in combat with Troina's tenacious defenders. Control of key hilltop positions see-sawed back and forth in vicious combat, with the Germans launching no fewer than two dozen counterattacks during the week-long battle.

While the 1st Infantry Division battled for possession of Troina, General Truscott's 3d Division faced equally stiff opposition at San Fratello, the northern terminus of the Etna Line. Here the 29th Panzer Grenadier Division had entrenched itself on a ridge overlooking the coastal highway. Truscott made repeated attempts to crack the San Fratello position beginning on 3 August, but failed to gain much ground. The strength of the German position prompted him to try and outflank it by an amphibious end run. On the night of 7-8 August, while the 3d Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, and 3d Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, seized a key hill along the San Fratello Line, Lt. Col. Lyle Bernard led the 2d Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, reinforced by two batteries from the 58th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, a platoon of medium tanks, and a platoon of combat engineers, in an amphibious landing at Sant'Agata, a few miles behind San Fratello. The amphibious assault force achieved complete surprise and quickly blocked the coastal highway. Unfortunately, the Germans had selected that night to withdraw from San Fratello, and most of their troops had already retired past Bernard's position by the time the Americans arrived. Nevertheless, the 3d Infantry Division's combined land and sea offensive bagged over 1,000 prisoners.

Allied pressure at Troina, San Fratello, and in the British sector had broken the Etna Line, but there would be no lightning exploitation of the victory. Taking maximum advantage of the constricting terrain and armed with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of mines, General Hube withdrew his XIV Panzer Corps in orderly phases toward Messina.


Troina. (National Archives)


Patton made a second bid to trap the 29th Panzer Grenadier Division on 11 August, when he sent Colonel Bernard on another amphibious end run, this time at Brolo. Once again Bernard's men achieved complete surprise, but they soon came under heavy pressure as the German units trapped by the landing tried to batter their way out. Bernard's group proved too small to keep the Germans bottled up, and by the time Truscott linked up with the landing force, the bulk of the 29th Panzer Grenadier Division had escaped.

Time was now running out for the Allies. On 11 August, the day Patton launched the Brolo operation, General Hube began the full-scale evacuation of Sicily. Despite heroic feats by U.S. Army engineers in clearing minefields and repairing blown bridges, the Seventh Army was never quite able to catch the withdrawing Axis forces. A last amphibious end run by a regiment of the 45th Division on 16 August failed when the troops landed behind American, and not German, lines. By then the game was over. On the morning of 17 August, elements of the 3d Infantry Division's 7th Infantry Regiment entered Messina, just hours after the last Axis troops had boarded ship for Italy. The enemy had escaped, but the Seventh Army quickly brought reinforcements into the port, in the words of 3d Division assistant commander Brig. Gen. William Eagles, "to see that the British did not capture the city from us after we had taken it." Shortly after Patton accepted the city's surrender, a column of British vehicles slowly wound its way through Messina's crooked streets. Spotting General Patton, the commander of the British column walked over and offered his hand in congratulations. Patton had won his race.



Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:

The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Operation Husky - Sicily (Jul-Aug, 1943) - July 10th, 2003
www.capnasty.org/issues/7/13/1239
history.acusd.edu
www.history.navy.mil
1 posted on 07/10/2004 12:08:34 AM PDT by snippy_about_it
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Analysis


The American soldier had much to be proud of in the Sicily Campaign. With the exception of those units which had taken part in the Tunisia Campaign, especially the 1st and 9th Infantry Divisions, few American formations employed in Sicily began the campaign with any combat experience, and their abilities were still unknown. But the American troops had done well. After landing on a hostile shore, they had repelled several counterattacks, forced the enemy to withdraw, and relentlessly pursued him over sun-baked hills until the island was theirs. In thirty-eight days they and their British colleagues had killed or wounded approximately 29,000 enemy soldiers and captured over 140,000 more. In contrast, American losses totaled 2,237 killed and 6,544 wounded and captured. The British suffered 12,843 casualties, including 2,721 dead.


Gen. Terry Allen's "Big Red One" lands at Gela July 10, 1943


Sicily was also a victory for the logistician and the staff planner. Although overshadowed by the Normandy invasion a year later, Operation HUSKY was actually the largest amphibious operation of World War II in terms of the size of the landing zone and the number of divisions put ashore on the first day of the invasion. The amphibious operation, as well as the subsequent logistical effort, marked a clear triumph of American staff work and interservice cooperation. Army-Navy cooperation was particularly good, and the fire support provided by Allied naval vessels played a critical role in overcoming Axis resistance, especially around Gela.

The Sicily Campaign also marked the first time in World War II that a complete U.S. field army had fought as a unit. With over 200,000 men in its ranks by the time it reached Messina, the American Seventh Army employed the services of more than 150 different types of units, from infantry regiments to graves registration companies. The final victory was achieved only through the cooperation and collaboration of thousands of individuals from every branch of service.

Strategically, the Sicilian operation achieved the goals set out for it by Allied planners at Casablanca. Axis air and naval forces were driven from their island bastion and the Mediterranean sea lanes were opened to Allied commerce. Hitler had been forced to transfer troops to Sicily and Italy from other theaters, and Mussolini had been toppled from power, thereby opening the way for the eventual dissolution of the Rome-Berlin Axis and Italy's ultimate surrender. Although U.S. military leaders had not initially planned to use Sicily as a springboard for an invasion of Italy, the impact of the operation on the tottering Fascist regime begged exploitation, and the Allies quickly followed up their victory by invading Italy in September 1943.


Palermo - women hold up babies to U.S. soldiers, ILN 1943/07/31


Yet for all its achievements, the Sicily Campaign also demonstrated some weaknesses in Allied capabilities, particularly in the realm of joint operations. None of the Allied commanders had much experience in joint air-land-sea operations, and consequently the three services did not always work together as well as they might have. Ground commanders complained about the lack of close air support and the inaccuracy of airborne drops, air commanders complained of their aircraft's being fired upon by Allied ground and naval forces, and naval officers chided the land commanders for not fully exploiting the fleet's amphibious capabilities to outflank the enemy once the campaign had begun. Similarly, General Alexander's unfortunate decision to broaden the Eighth Army's front at the expense of the Seventh Army can be attributed to the newness of combined operations, for the decision reflected the British Army's proclivity to underestimate American military capabilities—an attitude that American G.I.s proved unjustified during the Sicily Campaign.

One consequence of this lack of integration within the Allied camp was that the Axis was able to evacuate over 100,000 men and 10,000 vehicles from Sicily during the first seventeen days in August. The failure of Allied air and naval forces to interdict the Strait of Messina was due in large part to the fact that neither Eisenhower nor his principal air, land, and sea commanders had formulated a coordinated plan to prevent the withdrawal of Axis forces from the island.


Messina and view of distant Itlay, ILN 1943/09


The escape of Axis forces from Sicily is also attributable to the conservative attitude of Allied commanders. They had opted for the most cautious invasion plan, massing their forces at the most predictable landing site. They never seriously considered the bolder option of launching simultaneous attacks on Messina and Calabria, the "toe" of Italy, to trap all Axis forces in Sicily in one blow. Their conservativeness was somewhat justified, for multinational amphibious operations of this magnitude had never been attempted before, and the initial landings would have been outside of the range of Allied fighter cover. Nevertheless, the advantages to be gained by taking the enemy by surprise and destroying an entire Axis army would seem to have merited greater attention by Allied strategists than it received.

The fundamental reason why the Messina-Calabria option was not seriously considered had to do with grand strategy, not operational considerations. At Casablanca the Allies had agreed only to invade Sicily, not Italy, and U.S. leaders had clearly stated their opposition to anything that might further delay a cross-Channel attack. A landing in Italy, even a local one intended purely to assist the Sicily Campaign, threatened to open the very Pandora's box Marshall wanted to avoid. Of course in the end, the Allies invaded Italy anyway, only to be confronted by the same German troops who had made good their escape from Sicily. But in the spring of 1943, coalition politics ruled out a Calabrian envelopment, and Allied planners confined themselves to a narrow, frontal assault in southeastern Sicily.


1st gun fired on Italy, Newsweek 1943/9/6


Sicily was thus an important victory for the Allies, but not a decisive one. Coalition politics and the innate conservativeness of men who were still learning how to work the intricate machinery of joint, multinational operations tied Allied armies to a strategy which achieved the physical objective while letting the quarry escape. Nevertheless, Axis forces did not escape unscathed, and the experience Allied commanders gained in orchestrating airborne, amphibious, and ground combat operations during the campaign would serve them well in the months ahead, first in Italy and then at Normandy.

2 posted on 07/10/2004 12:09:06 AM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: All
The Man Who Never Was


In the spring of 1943, with the African Campaign coming to a successful conclusion, the Allies began to consider the invasion of Hitler's "Fortress Europe." The most obvious target to start the invasion was Sicily, which was not only in a strategic location that would act as a springboard for the rest of Europe, but it would've allowed for the elimination of the Luftwaffe, a danger to allied shipping in the Mediterranean Sea.

There were problems: to start, the Germans were well aware of the importance of Sicily to the Allies as the logical place to start an invasion. Add to that the mountainous landscape of the island, a joy to defend but impossible to attack. And lastly, the invasion (Operation Husky) would require such a build-up of armaments that it would be next to impossible to go undetected by the Germans.

For Operation Husky to succeed and not turn into a blood bath for the Allies, the German High Command had to be fooled.

On April 30, a fisherman off of the coast of Spain picked up the body of a British Royal Marines courier, Major William Martin. Attached to his wrist was a briefcase, which contained personal correspondence and documents related to the impending Allied invasion of Sardinia. Spain immediately notified the Abwehr (German intelligence).

After this discovery, Hitler promptly moved two Panzer divisions and an additional Waffen SS brigade to Sardinia to prepare for this Allied invasion.

Major William Martin of the British Royal Marines had been dead long before he had even hit the water, much less served in the armed forces. Major Martin was a decoy devised by Sir Archibald Cholmondley (with the appropriate name Operation Mincemeat) and put in action by Lieutenant Commander Ewen Montagu of Naval Intelligence.

Major Martin had to appear as though he had drowned, probably after his plane crashed off the coast of Spain. This necessitated finding a corpse whose lungs were already full of fluid, so that any doctors who examined the body would accept that he had been at sea for some time.

A 34-year-old man was found, recently departed after ingesting rat poison and developing pneumonia. He'd have to appear that he had been dead for a while before falling to enemy hands so that the effects of the seawater would disguise the obvious decomposition.

Intelligence secretaries wrote love letters to Major Martin, one of them even including a photo of herself in a swimsuit to pass for the Major's girlfriend, Pam. Sir Cholmondley carried the letters in his wallet for several weeks to give them an authentic worn look. Martin's persona was further enhanced by adding overdue bills, an angry letter from his bank manager, a letter from his father, tickets, keys. All the sort of things that a real person would happen to carry, along with the documents that told of the Allies' plans of invasion.

When Operation Husky finally took place, the Allies found so little resistance from the enemy in Sicily that the Germans had to retreat all the way to Messina. The invasion was a complete success thanks to the mission carried out by a dead man.

-- Leandro Asnaghi-Nicastro


3 posted on 07/10/2004 12:09:29 AM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: Diva Betsy Ross; Americanwolf; CarolinaScout; Tax-chick; Don W; Poundstone; Wumpus Hunter; ...



FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!



Good Saturday Morning Everyone



If you would like to be added to our ping list, let us know.

4 posted on 07/10/2004 12:11:23 AM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: All


Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization.





Actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

Thanks to quietolong for providing this link.



Iraq Homecoming Tips

~ Thanks to our Veterans still serving, at home and abroad. ~ Freepmail to Ragtime Cowgirl | 2/09/04 | FRiend in the USAF



UPDATED THROUGH APRIL 2004




The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul

Click on Hagar for
"The FReeper Foxhole Compiled List of Daily Threads"

5 posted on 07/10/2004 12:11:50 AM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: snippy_about_it; SAMWolf; Professional Engineer; Matthew Paul; Darksheare; radu; All

Good morning everyone!

6 posted on 07/10/2004 12:16:52 AM PDT by Soaring Feather
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To: bentfeather

Good Morning Feather. 1st in today.


7 posted on 07/10/2004 12:21:51 AM PDT by SAMWolf (Sign here please:_______________________Thanks)
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To: snippy_about_it

Good choice for a revisit.:-)


8 posted on 07/10/2004 12:22:25 AM PDT by SAMWolf (Sign here please:_______________________Thanks)
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To: SAMWolf

You do such a good job on these threads they are worth repeating, plus they are easy for me because you've already done the hard work. Yippee.

Good night partner.


9 posted on 07/10/2004 12:23:28 AM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: bentfeather

Good morning and goodnight feather. ;-)


10 posted on 07/10/2004 12:23:53 AM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: snippy_about_it

Good night Snippy. Thanks for keeping me calm during the paperwork hassles today.


11 posted on 07/10/2004 12:24:46 AM PDT by SAMWolf (Sign here please:_______________________Thanks)
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To: snippy_about_it

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Foxhole.


12 posted on 07/10/2004 3:03:28 AM PDT by E.G.C.
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To: snippy_about_it; SAMWolf

Quick Bump and a note, regars the pic of the Tech Corporal and the two kids....

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME WE SAW A PICTURE LIKE THAT IN THE MAJORR MEDIA...HMMMMMMMMM.

Off to work for another wonderfull day(psst, if you lie to yourself long enough you will start to believe it)

Regards

alfa6 ;>}


13 posted on 07/10/2004 3:48:26 AM PDT by alfa6 (Mrs. Murphy's Postulate on Murphy's Law: Murphy Was an Optimist)
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To: snippy_about_it

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on July 10:
1509 John Calvin Protestant religious reformer/theologian
1723 Sir William Blackstone England, jurist (Blackstone's Commentaries)
1792 George Mifflin Dallas (D) 11th VP (1845-49)
1818 John Stuart "Cerro Gordo" Williams, Brig General (Confederate Army)
1820 Andrew Porter, Brig General (Union volunteers), died in 1872
1821 Christopher Columbus Augur, Major General (Union volunteers)
1833 Lucius Eugene Polk, Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1892
1834 James A McNeill Whistler, US/British painter (Whistler's Mother)
1835 Henryk Wieniawski Lubin Poland, violinist/composer (Souv de Moscou)
1867 Finley Peter Dunne US, journalist/humorist (Mr Dooley)
1871 Marcel Proust France, novelist (Remembrance of Things Past)
1875 Mary McLeod Bethune SC, slave/educator (Bethune-Cookman College)
1879 Dr Harry Nicholls Holmes Penn, crystallized vitamin A
1882 Ima Hogg Texas art patron/founder of the Houston Symphony
1888 Graham McNamee sportscaster (1st Rose Bowl)
1888 Toyohiko Kagawa Kobe, Japan, Christian social reformer
1915 Saul Bellow Quebec, novelist (Nobel 1976-Mr Samler's Planet)
1917 Don Herbert Waconia Minn, Mr Wizard
1919 Rusty Gill St Louis Mo, singer (Polka Time)
1920 David Brinkley Wilmington NC, NBC News anchor (Huntley-Brinkley)
1920 Owen Chamberlain codiscovered antiproton (Nobel 1959)
1921 Jake LaMotta Bronx, middleweight boxing champ (1949-51) (Raging Bull)
1926 Fred Gwynne NYC, actor (Car 54 Where Are You, Munsters)
1927 David Dinkins (Mayor-D-NYC, 1989- )
1931 Julian May, US, sci-fi author (Golden Torc, Magnificat)
1931 Nick Adams Nanticoke Pa, actor (Johnny Yuma-The Rebel)
1942 Pyotr I Klimuk cosmonaut (Soyuz 13, 18, 30)
1943 Arthur Ashe tennis pro (1968 US Open)
1945 Ron Glass actor (Sgt Harris-Barney Miller, Frank's Place)
1946 Sue Lyon Davenport Iowa, actress (Lolita, Evel Knievel)
1947 Arlo Guthrie singer (Alice's Restaurant, City of New Orleans)
1954 Andre Dawson Miami Fla, outfielder (Expos, Cubs, 1987 NL MVP)
1974 Jennifer Montica Curry, Muscatine Iowa, Miss America-Iowa (1996)



Deaths which occurred on July 10:
0138 Publius A Hadrianus, Roman emperor (117-138), dies
0518 Anastasius I Dikoros, [Dyrrhachium/Durazzo], Byzantine emperor, dies
0983 Benedict VI, Italian Pope (974-83), dies
1086 Knut IV, the Saint, king of Denmark (1080-86), murdered
1103 Erik I Ejegod, the good hearted, King of Denmark (1095-1103), dies
1480 Ren‚, last heir of house of Anjou, dies
1535 Jacob Van Campen, Reconstruction bishop, beheaded
1559 Henry II, King of France (1547-59), dies
1584 Willem I "the Silent", [Willem of Orange], earl of Nassau, dies at 51
1692 Bridget Bishop first Salem witch hung
1863 Clement Clarke Moore ('Twas the Night Before Xmas), dies at 83
1863 Paul Jones Semmes, US businessman/Confederate brig-general, dies at 48
1884 Paul Morphy US chess wizard, dies
1910 Johann Galle discoverer of Neptune with telescope, dies
1920 John A "Jacky" Kilverston, adm/designer (dreadnought), dies at 79
1927 Kevin O'Higgins Irish Free State VP, assassinated
1941 Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton pioneer jazz pianist, dies at 56 in LA
1945 Robert Goddard Rocket pioneer, dies
1979 Arthur Fiedler orch leader (Boston Pops), dies at 84
1987 John Hammond died at age 76. Discovered Billie Holiday,Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Robert Johnson, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin and Bob Dylan.
1989 Mel Blanc voice of cartoon characters (Bugs Bunny), dies at 81
1991 Gerome Ragal author (Hair), dies at 48 of cancer


Reported: MISSING in ACTION
1972 GREEN FRANK C. JR.---WASKOM TX.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.


On this day...
0552 Origin of Armenian calendar
1040 Lady Godiva rides naked on horseback to force her husband, the Earl of Mercia, to lower taxes
1460 Wars of Roses: Richard of York defeats King Henry VI at Northampton
1629 1st non-Separatist Congregational Church in America founded (Salem, MA)
1645 Battle at Langport Somerset: Cromwell's New Model-army beats Royalists
1690 Battle of Beachy Head-French fleet defeats Anglo-Dutch fleet
1775 Horatio Gates, issues order excluding blacks from Continental Army
1797 1st US frigate, the "United States," is launched in Phila
1832 Pres Jackson vetoed legislation to re-charter 2nd Bank of US
1847 Urbain J.J. Leverrier & John Couch Adams, codiscoverers of Neptune meet for 1st time at home of John Herschel
1850 VP Fillmore becomes pres following Zachary Taylor's death
1861 Lincoln writes to Kentucky's militia and says Union troops will not enter that state
1862 US begins construction of Central Pacific Railroad
1863 Battle of Charleston, SC (Morris Island)
1863 Battle of Jackson, MS - captured by federals
1866 Indelible pencil patented by Edson P Clark, Northampton, Mass
1875 L Schulhof discovers asteroid #147 Protogeneia
1886 Eruption of Tarawera volcano destroys famous pink & white calcium carbonate hot-spring terraces (North Island, New Zealand)
1890 Wyoming becomes 44th state (1st with female suffrage)
1892 1st concrete-paved street built (Bellefountaine, Ohio)
1910 Chicago White Sox Comiskey Park opens, visiting Browns win 2-0
1913 134ø F (57ø C), Greenland Ranch, Calif (US record)
1914 Boston Red Sox purchase Babe Ruth from the Baltimore Orioles
1917 Emma Goldman imprisoned for obstructing the draft
1918 Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic established
1919 Pres Wilson personally delivers Treaty of Versailles to Senate
1923 2-pound hailstones kill 23 & many cattle. (Rostov, Russia)
1923 All non-fascist parties disolved in Italy
1925 Jury selection took place in John T Scopes evolution trial
1925 USSR's official news agency TASS established
1926 Lake Denmark, NJ arsenal explodes, kills 21, $75m damage
1928 H E Wood discovers asteroid #3300
1929 In game between Pirates & Phillies 9 HRs hit 1 in each inning
1929 US issues newer, smaller-sized paper currency
1932 Jack Burnett gets 9 hits, Eddie Rommel relieves in 2nd & continues to 18-17 victory in 18 as his A's beats Indians in longest relief job
1933 1st police radio system operated, Eastchester Township, NY
1934 1st sitting US president to visit South America, FDR in Colombia
1934 Carl Hubbell strikes out Ruth, Gehrig & Foxx in the All star game
1936 109ø F (43ø C), Cumberland & Frederick, Maryland (state record)
1936 111ø F (44ø C), Phoenixville, Pennsylvania (state record)
1936 New Straits Convention allows Turkish rearmament of Dardanelles
1938 Howard Hughes flies around the world in 91 hours
1940 Battle of Britain began as Nazi forces attacked by air
1943 US & Britain invade Sicily in WW II
1949 1st practical rectangular TV tube announced-Toledo, Oh
1950 "Your Hit Parade" premiers on NBC (later CBS) TV
1951 Armistice talks to end Korean conflict began at Kaesong
1951 E L Johnson discovers asteroid #1609 Brenda
1953 Pravda reports arrest of Beria [affiliate of imperialist]
1958 1st parking meter installed in England (625 installed)
1962 Martin Luther King Jr arrested during demonstration in Georgia
1962 Telstar, 1st geosynchronous communications satellite, launched
1965 Rolling Stones score their 1st #1, "I Can't Get No Satisfaction"
1967 Bobbie Gentry records "Ode to Billie Joe"
1969 NL votes to split into 2 divisions
1972 Democratic convention opens in Miami Beach Florida (McGovern)
1972 Herd of stampeding elephants kills 24, Chandka Forest India
1973 Bahamas gain independence after 300 yrs of British rule (Nat'l Day)
1978 E F Helinand E Shoemaker discovers asteroid #3484
1978 Military coup in Mauritania
1980 Ayatollah Khomeini releases Iran hostage Richard I Queen
1981 CERN achieves 1st proton-antiproton beam collision (570 GeV)
1982 Miguel Vasquez makes 1st public quadruple somersault on trapeze
1983 E Bowell discovers asteroids #3222 Lillerand #3751
1985 Coca-Cola Co announces it will resume selling old formula Coke
1985 French agents sink Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior in New Zealand
1997 RJR Nabisco announces it will replace Joe Camel in new ads
2001 For the second time in a month, a jury in New York rejected the death penalty for one of the men convicted in the bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa, opting instead for life in prison without parole.


Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Albania : Army Day
Bahamas : Independence Day (1973)
Wyoming : Statehood Day (1890)
South Africa : Family Day (Monday)
Swaziland : Reed Dance Day (Monday)
National Nude Weekend
Be Nice to New Jersey Week Ends
National Canned Luncheon Meat Week Ends
Cost of Government Day (approx date)
Hitch Hiking Month


Religious Observances
Buddhist-Burma : Beginning of Buddhist Fast
Christian : SS Rufina & Secunda, virgins & 7 Brothers
RC-Bilbao, Spain : Feast of Virgin of Bego¤a


Religious History
1509 Birth of John Calvin, French religious reformer. His 'Institutes of the ChristianReligion' became the most popular doctrinal statement of the Protestant Reformation.
1629 The first non-separatist Congregational church in America was established atSalem, Massachusetts.
1851 California Wesleyan College was chartered in Santa Clara, under sponsorship ofthe Methodist Church. In 1961 its name was changed to the University of the Pacific.
1925 The famous 'Scopes Monkey Trial' began in Dayton, TN, after high school biologyteacher John T. Scopes, 24, was charged with teaching evolution to his students.
1950 American missionary and martyr Jim Elliot wrote in his journal: 'I am just trying to deliver familiar truth from the oblivion of general acceptance.'

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.



Thought for the day :
"In fashion be a reed in the wind, In principles be a rock in the stream."


Things To Do If You Ever Became An Evil Overlord...
Make sure you have a clear understanding of who is responsible for what in your organization. For example, if a general screws up do not draw your weapon, point it at him, say "And here is the price for failure," then suddenly turn and kill some random underling.


The World's Shortest Books...
Whoopie Goldbergs beauty secrets


Dumb Laws...
Wyoming:
You may not take a picture of a rabbit from January to April without an official permit.


Top Ten Things That sound Dirty In Golf..But Aren't...
3. My hands are so sweaty I can't get a good grip


14 posted on 07/10/2004 6:07:48 AM PDT by Valin (Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It's just that yours is stupid.)
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To: snippy_about_it; SAMWolf

Good morning, snippy and SAM.


15 posted on 07/10/2004 7:08:24 AM PDT by CholeraJoe (Airpower - Iron on target at any price)
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To: E.G.C.

Morning E.G.C. We have a partly cloudy morning and the sun rise lights them up just beautifully.


16 posted on 07/10/2004 7:45:38 AM PDT by SAMWolf (Sign here please:_______________________Thanks)
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To: alfa6
Morning alfa6.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME WE SAW A PICTURE LIKE THAT IN THE MAJORR MEDIA...HMMMMMMMMM.

Ahhh back in the days when most of the media actually supported our troops and the war effort.

17 posted on 07/10/2004 7:47:04 AM PDT by SAMWolf (Sign here please:_______________________Thanks)
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To: Valin
1940 Battle of Britain began as Nazi forces attacked by air

Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.

Winston Churchill

18 posted on 07/10/2004 7:56:21 AM PDT by SAMWolf (Sign here please:_______________________Thanks)
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To: CholeraJoe

Morning CholeraJoe.


19 posted on 07/10/2004 7:56:40 AM PDT by SAMWolf (Sign here please:_______________________Thanks)
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To: snippy_about_it; SAMWolf; All

July 10, 2004

Marriage In Heaven

Read: Mark 12:18-27

When they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. —Mark 12:25

Bible In One Year: Job 41-42; Acts 16:22-40


When I was a student at a Christian high school, I knew a professor whose wife had died. Later he married the widow of his best friend. One day a student asked him,“Will your first wife know about your second marriage when you see her in heaven, and if so, how do you think she’ll react?”The professor smiled and said,“ Of course she will, and because she will be perfect she will not be jealous. Even though we will not live as marriage partners, I believe we will know each other. We will all be the best of friends forever.”

In Mark 12, we read about some enemies of Jesus who invented a story about a woman whose husband died and left no son. Under Jewish law, the brother of the deceased had to marry the widow for the purpose of having a son (Deuteronomy 25:5). According to their story, this happened with seven brothers. Jesus’ detractors asked,“When they rise, whose wife will she be?”He said they neither understood the Scriptures nor God’s power to raise the dead to a glorious new existence without marriage.

I believe that in heaven we will have special feelings for one another. We will love perfectly and enjoy complete healing from all the hurts of our earthly relationships. That will be more fulfilling than any marriage. —Herb Vander Lugt

The love we’ve known while here below
In heaven will find its highest joy,
For we will know Christ’s perfect love
That memories cannot destroy. —D. De Haan


The pleasures of earth cannot compare to the joys of heaven.


20 posted on 07/10/2004 8:48:08 AM PDT by The Mayor (The true measure of our wealth is the treasure we have in heaven)
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