Ships - (1) U.S. Landing Site - Porto Teulada, Sardinia Type of Operation - Complete amphibious assault landing, including air and naval gun fire support and "aggressor" forces. Operation Barclay was the deception plan to support the invasion of Sicily, and was intended to convince the Germans that the Allies might be about to attack Corsica, Sardinia or Greece rather than Sicily.. When Benito Mussolini came to power he was determined to show the strength of his regime by occupying the country. In the event, they were not necessary. As you say, it would have been easier to ship off the invading army from French North Africa. The Invasion of Sicily 1943 Posted on March 9, 2016 by Christian Jennings The Invasion of Sicily. On 10 July 1943, Operation Husky, the invasion of the so-called ‘soft-underbelly’ of Europe, began. Ships - Total 19 Amphibious Transport Group including 1 command ship, 2 transports, 1 cargo ship, 1 dock landing ship, 1 tank landing ship, 1 high speed transport. When Italy declared armistice, September 8th, 1943, german forces decided to evacuate Sardinia, trasferring troops in Corsica, the operation went on with scarce opposition by italian forces. Italy, Sicily and Sardinia Introduction Conventions 1. Even if Sardinia and Corsica had sufficient-sized ports to support an invasion further north, it is doubtful if it would have been worthwhile to let the invasion force leapfrog over these islands first. The contingent in Sardinia assembled around the 90th Panzergrenadiere Division and the contingent in Corsica around the SS-Sturmbrigade "Reichsfuhrer-SS". In Sardinia, the main task of the occupants of these pillboxes was to prevent landings by the enemy; to contain any troops that did land; and to force them back into the sea. The territory occupied and acquired by 1944: Extensive manoeuvres for invasion being carried out by American Sherman tank units in Britain . For the purpose of this reference work, “Italy, Sicily and Sardinia” generally means mainland Italy and the two islands at the beginning of World War II, and does not include Italian acquisitions and annexations in Africa, the Balkans and elsewhere. Read the essential details about what was happening in Italy in the lead up to the Second World War. The big problem for the Allies was that Sicily was the obvious next … In October 1935 Mussolini sent in General Pietro Badoglio and …