Patton and the Battle for Sicily: The General, The Navy, and Operation Husky

by Flint Whitlock, James D. Sasser (Read by)

Overview

The largest amphibious assault to date came at a crucial moment, and the planning and execution presented many conflicts for the Allies. Despite the success of Operation Torch in North Africa, the United States was still considered not fully tested or trusted by their British partners, and Stalin was clamoring for the Allies to open a second front to take the pressure off his Soviet Union.

Patton's dreams of martial glory and his desire to best his chief Allied rival, General Bernard Montgomery, head of the British Eighth Army, to the ultimate prize—the port of Messina—often clouded his judgment. His primary motivation was to prove to "Monty" and other British generals that the American soldier was as good, if not better, than his British counterpart. Using Patton's letters and diaries, Whitlock reveals the scathing opinions he held of Montgomery and almost everyone else in the Allied hierarchy.

This book chronicles how Husky would prove pivotal for both sides. Whitlock makes the case that Husky caused the downfall of Benito Mussolini and the neutralization of fascist Italy, and opened the second front to help Stalin. The fight for Sicily proved the worth of American soldiers and seamen. Lessons learned from Husky would be integrated into the Operation Overlord plan launched against France's Normandy coast the following year.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798228661448
Publisher:	Tantor
Publication date:	12/02/2025
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 5.70(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Flint Whitlock, a former United States Army officer and Vietnam War veteran, is the award-winning author of seventeen books, the majority dealing with World War II. He has also appeared on the History Channel and in numerous documentaries, leads battlefield tours, and was editor of WWII Quarterly magazine for twelve years. Notable titles include Desperate Valor: Triumph at Anzio (2018), Given Up for Dead: American POWs in the Nazi Concentration Camp at Berga (2005), and The Fighting First: The Untold Story of the Big Red One on D-Day (2004). Whitlock lives in Denver, Colorado.

With a career spanning Broadway, off-Broadway, and television, James D. Sasser is an award-winning writer, director, producer, and narrator. A classically trained singer and actor, he studied voice at Manhattan School of Music, acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and playwriting at NYU-Tisch GMTWP. Work for the stage has ranged from roles such as Sweeney Todd, Pilate in Jesus Christ Superstar, even being a singer for Riverdance on Broadway, and recent television appearances include Succession, Madam Secretary, and more. His voice can be heard in dozens of audiobooks and hundreds of commercials, where he's often a detective, a drawling gunslinger, or a swashbuckling bodice ripper, and often British. Recent titles include the fantasy YA Witches, Boys, And Other Monsters by Gail Blue and the Penguin history Gay Berlin by Robert Beachey. He is the voice of several audiobook hit series, including the Larry Macklin Mysteries by AE Howe and the Anderson Chronicles by Kit Karson, and recently, the new narrator for the critically acclaimed military action Axel Blaze Thrillers by Bill Runner. An accent specialist, James was born in Japan, grew up in Germany and the UK, and has lived in Northern California wine country, London, and Seattle. He's an avid gardener and green space advocate, and no matter where he's worked and traveled, always comes home to NYC.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 14 - ROUGH ROAD TO MESSINA
 
“Dear George…You are doing a grand job.” —Franklin D. Roosevelt
 
Getting to Messina was harder than anyone thought.

For the British, they were stalled between Catania and Messina. For the Americans, they would face three more major battles on the way there: Bloody Ridge, Brolo, and Troina.

On the island’s north shore the retreating enemy—primarily Germany’s recently arrived 29th Panzer Grenadier Division commanded by General der Panzertruppe Walter Fries—had blown bridges and left thousands of mines in its wake to delay the advance of the Americans.[i]

The issue of lack of Allied air support again raised its ugly head.  On 1 August a forty-eight-plane Luftwaffe raid hit Palermo and ships anchored offshore. The destroyer Mayrant (DD 402), which had suffered previous damage, was caught in a four-hour eruption of red-hot debris that came down when a bomb blew up a nearby train loaded with 900 tons of ammunition. One of the president’s sons, Lieutenant Franklin Roosevelt, Jr., was an officer aboard the Mayrant and helped save a wounded sailor’s life.

For several days the enemy continued to pound the Palermo area with air raids—something the Allied air forces did little about. According to naval historian Admiral Samuel Morison, “Adequate air cover was never provided to the ships operating along this coast. Northwest African Tactical Air Command did furnish combat air patrols from its newly occupied Sicilian fields but under conditions that greatly limited its usefulness to the Navy. The Air Force reserved the right to withdraw combat air patrols without warning, and it refused to permit naval vessels to communicate directly with the planes, lest some naval commander attempt to control them.

“Consequently, there could be no coordination between ships and planes in an enemy air attack. The Luftwaffe evidently got on this strange state of affairs, for it adopted the tactic of sending a decoy plane ahead of a strike. The decoy would lead the entire combat air patrol away in pursuit, while the attack, which had been detected by ships’ radar but could not be communicated to friendly planes, struck in. Fortunately the anti-aircraft gunners in Task Force 88 became very expert, through abundant experience; beating off enemy air attacks without benefit of c.a.p. became almost daily routine.” 

Three days later the Luftwaffe paid a return visit to Palermo. Raiders swept in and were greeted by intense A-A fire and driven off—but not before their bombs struck the destroyer USS Shubrick in the forward engine room, killing nine crewmen; eight others suffered burns so severe that they later died. Enemy air forces would continue attacking Palermo sporadically up through 23 August.[ii]

On 4 August Patton received jocular plaudits from the commander-in-chief, President Franklin Roosevelt: “Dear George…You are doing a grand job…It was suggested…that after the war I should make you the Marquis of Mt. Etna. Don’t fall into the crater!”[iii]

Patton also received a gushing cable from Eisenhower congratulating him on his army’s drive thus far: “The Seventh Army has already made a name for itself that will live in American history,” Ike wrote. “Within the next few days it will add immeasurably to the lustre of its fame. I personally assure you that if we speedily finish off the Germans in Sicily, you need have no fear of being left there in the backwater of the war.”[iv]

Ike’s effusive praise raised Patton’s spirits to the zenith and wiped away the earlier self-doubts and the sense that his superior was disappointed in him. If there was a cloud higher than Cloud Nine, Patton certainly felt he had reached it. His mood was further elevated when, the very next day, he received the Oak Leaf Cluster to his Distinguished Service Cross. There were, however, unseen events on the horizon about to knock him from his pedestal.[v]

Messina—Patton’s obsession and the glittering prize that beckoned like a siren’s song—still needed to be taken before the British could get there. That mission Patton gave to his most-trusted unit: Truscott’s 3rd Infantry Division.
______

[i] Birtle, Andrew J. Sicily 1943, 23.

[ii] Morison, Samuel. Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, 192-194.

[iii] Roosevelt, Franklin. Letter to GSP, 4 August 1943, Patton Papers collection, LOC.

[iv] Eisenhower, Dwight. Cable to GSP, 3 August 1943, Patton Papers collection, LOC.

[v] Blumenson, Martin. The Patton Papers, 312.
 

Table of Contents

Introduction
Backstory: The Decision for Sicily

Chapter 1: The Airborne—First to Fight
Chapter 2: Ladbroke: Risky Bet
Chapter 3: Rangers Lead the Way
Chapter 4: Big Red One Arrives
Chapter 5: Here Come the Thunderbirds
Chapter 6: Marnemen Hit the Beach
Chapter 7: D-day at Gela
Chapter 8: D-Plus One: The Crisis
Chapter 9: Disaster in the Sky
Chapter 10: Massacre at Biscari
Chapter 11: Reconnaissance in Force
Chapter 12: Palermo and Beyond
Chapter 13: Rough Road to Messina
Chapter 14: Capturing a Town, Losing a Commander
Chapter 15: A Fall from Grace
Chapter 16: The Slaps Heard Round the World

Sources
Bibliography
 

Editorial Reviews

"Flint Whitlock's new examination of Patton and the Battle for Sicily is an important reminder of Patton's flaws and genius, and a beautifully crafted tale of a great general's relentless drive for glory and victory."—Alex Kershaw, author of New York Times bestsellers Against All Odds and Patton’s Prayer

"George Patton was indisputably a master practitioner of mechanized and maneuver warfare, but he knew a little something about amphibious operations too. In this fascinating book, Flint Whitlock puts us at Patton's elbow as he works closely with his naval and aerial colleagues during one of history's greatest invasions. In that sense, Whitlock introduces us to an overlooked side of one of America's most famous generals. Highly recommended."—John C. McManus, PhD, author of American Courage, American Carnage: The 7th Infantry Regiment's Combat Experience, 1812 Through World War II

“Riveting read of an underappreciated but momentous campaign. Flint Whitlock’s skillful use of first—person accounts takes the readers into the fighting in this fast—paced impactful narrative.”—Lt. Col. John Kelly Morningstar, USA (Ret.) adjunct professor of military history, Georgetown Universityand author of Patton's Way

From the Publisher