Operation Slapstick
Operation Slapstick | |||||||
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Part of the Allied invasion of Italy | |||||||
Aerial view of Taranto. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United Kingdom | Germany | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
George Hopkinson † Ernest Down | Richard Heidrich | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
12th Cruiser Squadron | 1st Parachute Division | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
British Army: 58 dead 154 wounded Royal Navy: 48 dead HMS Abdiel sunk | none during initial landing | ||||||
The Field Ambulance units in the division treated 2,150 casualties, between the landing and being withdrawn. Not all of these were from the 1st Airborne Division.[1] |
Operation Slapstick was the
Planned at short notice, the mission followed an offer by the Italian government to open the ports of Taranto and
The only German forces in the area were elements of the
Background
In May 1943, the
On 3 September 1943, the
During secret surrender negotiations with the Allies in early September, the Italian government offered to open the ports of
Slapstick was in part an operation of deception, to divert German forces away from the main Allied landings at Salerno on the same day, while also attempting to capture Taranto and Brindisi intact.[7] The main value of Taranto was its large port. Its seizure would, with the expected capture of Naples in the west by the Americans, give the Allies supply points on both Italian coasts.[8]
This military operation had a major political role, since the leaders of the government, including King
Taranto
Taranto is the capital city of the Province of Taranto in the region of Apulia and has a large harbor.[9] It includes the two islets of St. Peter and St. Paul, which protect the bay, called the Mar Grande ("Big Sea"), where the commercial port is located.[10] After the unification of Italy, Taranto became the main base of the Italian Navy.[11] The military port was located in another bay, the Mar Piccolo.[10] In November 1940, the Royal Navy attacked the naval base in Taranto, sinking some Italian battleships.[9]
Prelude
German forces
The German High Command fully expected Italy to surrender and, in preparation, had secretly established a new Army group headquarters commanded by Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel at Munich. Rommel would have six divisions transferred from the Eastern Front, two divisions from France that had just been reformed, and two parachute divisions based in Germany in his new command. However, a Russian offensive in the east prevented the release of all the units promised. Adolf Hitler came to the conclusion that, without the backing of the Italian Army, it would be impossible for the Germans to defend the whole of Italy.[12]
In Italy, German Generalfeldmarschall
Commanded by
British forces
Plans were formulated on 6 September to transport the British 1st Airborne Division to Taranto from their base in North Africa.[13] They would take advantage of the Italian surrender to capture the port and establish anti-aircraft defences. What was left of the Italian fleet still using the harbour was expected to have left beforehand.[6] The Allies believed that the division would face only minimal opposition and would be able to overcome any resistance with the limited naval support available, as Taranto was outside the range of Allied fighter aircraft based in Sicily.[20]
Although it had been formed in October 1941, the British 1st Airborne Division, commanded by
There was only sufficient troop transport aircraft to support one division-sized operation, and that was allocated to the
Landing
Before leaving Tunisia, the
To support the British landings early on 9 September,
The first units ashore were the headquarters of the 4th Parachute Brigade and the
After safely landing the first half of the division, the 12th Cruiser Squadron returned to Bizerta to collect the remaining troops, consisting of the 2nd Parachute Brigade, the
Overnight, the 4th Parachute Brigade led the advance inland.[26] By daybreak on 10 September, they had reached Massafra, where they were welcomed by the population. The next town they reached was Mottola, which was still occupied by the Germans. The Germans put up some resistance to the 156th Parachute Battalion's assault, but withdrew soon after. The division's first combat casualties resulted from this action. The wounded were evacuated to Taranto, where the 133rd (Parachute) Field Ambulance had established an 80-bed main dressing station at the Rendinella hospital.[35]
The German paratroop rearguard tried to delay the British advance with several ambushes and roadblocks. At a roadblock beside the town of Castellaneta, Major-General Hopkinton, the 1st Airborne Division's GOC, was hit by a burst of German machine gun fire while observing the 10th Parachute Battalion's attack. He died of his wounds the following day.[36] Hopkinson was replaced as the divisional commander by Brigadier Ernest Down, previously the commander of the 2nd Parachute Brigade.[37]
Within 48 hours of landing at Taranto, the airborne division reached and occupied the port of Brindisi and Bari on the Adriatic coast without opposition since both cities were still under control of the italian royal army.[27][32] On 11 September on the division's left, contact was made with the 1st Canadian Infantry Division, the leading unit of the British Eighth Army which had arrived in the area from Calabria.[38] By the evening of 12 September, the 1st Airborne Division had advanced 20 miles (32 km) inland on foot.[39]
The airborne division's next objective was now the airfield at Gioia del Colle. The Royal Air Force needed the airfield to bring in fighter aircraft from Sicily and support the landings at Salerno, which had not gone as expected.[40] The Germans continued their withdrawal, and Gioia was reached over the night of the 16/17 September, by the 10th and 156th Parachute battalions.[41] The Royal Air Force took over the airfield and 48 hours later, six squadrons were flying from the base in support of Allied operations.[41][42] Between 20 and 24 September, the 1st Airborne Division was ordered to halt and construct defences on the approaches to Taranto, due to concerns that the Germans might launch a counterattack against the overextended unit.[41]
The V Corps headquarters landed at Taranto on 18 September and prepared for the arrival of its two divisions.[43] The first was the British 78th Infantry Division, which started arriving at Bari on 22 September,[44] followed by the 8th Indian Infantry Division at Taranto the next day.[45] On 24 September, the 1st Parachute and 1st Airlanding brigades took over the advance for the airborne division.[42] By 27 September, they and the 78th Division reached Foggia, 125 miles (201 km) from Taranto.[44] From there, the airborne division was withdrawn to Taranto. By November, most of the 1st Airborne Division had left for England.[42]
Aftermath
Operation Slapstick did not provide the diversion General Eisenhower had hoped for. The decision by Heidrich not to oppose the landings was made without reference to Kesselring's headquarters. Heidrich had expected to be confronted by an overwhelming Allied force and had withdrawn his units north, although he endeavoured to delay the Allied advance where possible by ambushes and roadblocks.[32] The German division went on to frustrate the Allied attempt to advance on Rome during the Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944.[17]
Notes
- Footnotes
- ^ Hermann Göring Division.[2]
- Citations
- ^ Cole, pp. 55–56
- ^ Molony, p. 243 (footnote 1).
- ^ Blumenson, p. 23
- ^ Blumenson, pp. 30–31
- ^ Blumenson, p. 26
- ^ a b c d Blumenson, p. 60
- ^ a b c Blumenson, p. 94
- ^ Blumenson, p. 113
- ^ a b Sturtivant, pp. 48–50
- ^ a b Musciano, p. 166
- ^ "History of Taranto". Italia. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ a b Blumenson, p. 79
- ^ a b Cole, p. 51
- ^ Blumenson, p. 82
- ^ Blumenson, p. 83
- ^ Blumenson, p. 86
- ^ a b Mitcham, p. 281
- ^ Micham, pp. 291–292
- ^ Micham, p. 281
- ^ Blumenson, p. 33
- ^ Ferguson, p. 9
- ^ a b Ferguson, p. 11
- ^ Ferguson, p. 13
- ^ a b Blumenson, p. 95
- ^ Tugwell, p. 168
- ^ a b c d e f g Cole, p. 52
- ^ a b c d Chant, p. 254
- ^ Morison, pp. 235–236
- ^ Blumenson, p. 73
- ^ Styling, p. 25
- ^ Morison, p. 256
- ^ a b c d Blumenson, p. 114
- ^ a b Reynolds, p. 37
- ^ Lamb, p. 49
- ^ Cole, p. 53
- ^ Harclerode, p. 262
- ^ Otway, p. 133
- ^ Blumenson, p. 172
- ^ Cole, p. 54
- ^ Cole, pp. 54–55
- ^ a b c Cole, p. 55
- ^ a b c Reynolds, p. 38
- ^ Blumenson, p. 173
- ^ a b Cavendish, p. 17
- ^ Prasad, p. 368
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- Chant, Christopher (1986). The Encyclopaedia of Codenames of World War II. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-7102-0718-2.
- Cole, Howard N (1963). On Wings of Healing: the Story of the Airborne Medical Services 1940–1960. Edinburgh: William Blackwood. OCLC 29847628.
- Ferguson, Gregor (1984). The Paras 1940–84. Volume 1 of Elite Series. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 0-85045-573-1.
- Global Chaos World War II. World War II. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark. 2010. ISBN 978-0-7614-4948-5.
- Harclerode, Peter (2005). Wings of War – Airborne Warfare 1918–1945. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0-304-36730-3.
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- Mitcham, Samuel W (2007). German Order of Battle, Volume 2: 291st–999th Infantry Divisions, Named Infantry Divisions, and Special Divisions in World War II. Stackpole Military History Series. Vol. 2 of German Order of Battle. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3437-0.
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- ISBN 0-252-07039-9.
- Musciano, Walter A (1994). Warbirds of the Sea: A History of Aircraft Carriers & Carrier-based Aircraft. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-88740-583-9.
- Otway, Lieutenant-Colonel T.B.H. (1990). The Second World War 1939–1945 Army – Airborne Forces. London: Imperial War Museum. ISBN 0-901627-57-7.
- Prasad, Bisheshwar (1956). The Campaigns in the Western Theatre Official History of the Indian Armed Forces in the Second World War, 1939–1945. Calcutta: Combined Inter-Services Historical Section. OCLC 164872723.
- Reynolds, David (1998). Paras: An Illustrated History of Britain's Airborne Forces. Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-2059-9.
- Sturtivant, Ray (1990). British Naval Aviation: the Fleet Air Arm 1917–1990. London: Arms and Armour Press Ltd. ISBN 0-85368-938-5.
- Styling, Mark (2008). B-26 Marauder Units of the MTO. Vol. 73 of Osprey Combat Aircraft. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-307-0.
- Tugwell, Maurice (1971). Airborne to Battle: A History of Airborne Warfare, 1918–1971. London: Kimber. ISBN 0-7183-0262-1.
External links