Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

The Invasion of Sicily The first part of the Axis to fall to Allied forces during World War II happened on July 9, 1943 when a little over 2,500 Allies came on a vessel and started one of the largest combined operations of World War II. For thirty-eight days, 500,000 Allied soldiers, sailors, and pilots fought Germans and Italians for control of Hitler's "Fortress Europe." After the victory it served as both a base for the invasion of Italy and as an eleven month training ground for soldiers who eventually landed on the beaches of Normandy. In January 1943, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston S. Churchill met in Morocco to come up with a military plan. The United States had just entered the war with the Army beginning ground operations two months before as part of a joint invasion of North Africa. When the North African campaign looked to be a success they decided it was time to look at what to do next. Since Sicily was both a natural bridge between Africa and Europe and a blockade to the Mediterranean Sea they decided to make it the next target. It would open up sea lanes to the eastern Mediterranean and give the Allies a base in the region. Roosevelt and Churchill hoped occupying Italian national territory would make t