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

Operation Husky, the combined American and British air and sea invasion of Sicily in July 1943, was one of World War II’s most critical campaigns with General George S. Patton Jr., inarguably America’s most dynamic, courageous, and controversial commander of World War II, at the center. In this new work, author Flint Whitlock covers the history of Operation Husky as it unfolded, with much of the Allied leadership facing internal conflict.

The largest amphibious assault to date came at a crucial moment, and both the planning and execution presented many conflicts for the Allies. Despite the success of Operation Torch in North Africa, the U.S. 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 all-consuming 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, however, was to prove to “Monty” and other dismissive British generals that the American soldier was as good, if not better, than his British counterpart.

Using Patton’s personal letters and diaries, Whitlock reveals the scathing opinions he held of Montgomery and almost everyone else in the Allied hierarchy (Eisenhower, Marshall, Clark, Bradley, and Alexander, among others)—even Adm. H. Kent Hewitt, USN, whose Eighth Fleet carried Patton’s troops to the beaches and supported them once on shore. In fact, it was the guns from Hewitt’s warships that halted the fierce German and Italian attacks that nearly threw the Americans back into the sea.

From Tunisia to the landing beaches on the south coast of Sicily to the final fight for Messina, this book chronicles how Husky would prove pivotal for both sides. The operation was criticized by some historians as a wasteful effort by the Allies that squandered valuable troops and resources while allowing many of the Italian and German troops to escape in the battle’s final days—an “Axis Dunkirk.” Here, 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. Moreover, the fight for Sicily proved the worth of American soldiers and seamen—as well as combined Army-Navy planning and logistics capabilities. Ultimately, lessons learned from Husky would be integrated into the Operation Overlord plan launched against France’s Normandy coast the following year. 

1146999216
Patton and the Battle for Sicily: The General, The Navy, and Operation Husky

Operation Husky, the combined American and British air and sea invasion of Sicily in July 1943, was one of World War II’s most critical campaigns with General George S. Patton Jr., inarguably America’s most dynamic, courageous, and controversial commander of World War II, at the center. In this new work, author Flint Whitlock covers the history of Operation Husky as it unfolded, with much of the Allied leadership facing internal conflict.

The largest amphibious assault to date came at a crucial moment, and both the planning and execution presented many conflicts for the Allies. Despite the success of Operation Torch in North Africa, the U.S. 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 all-consuming 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, however, was to prove to “Monty” and other dismissive British generals that the American soldier was as good, if not better, than his British counterpart.

Using Patton’s personal letters and diaries, Whitlock reveals the scathing opinions he held of Montgomery and almost everyone else in the Allied hierarchy (Eisenhower, Marshall, Clark, Bradley, and Alexander, among others)—even Adm. H. Kent Hewitt, USN, whose Eighth Fleet carried Patton’s troops to the beaches and supported them once on shore. In fact, it was the guns from Hewitt’s warships that halted the fierce German and Italian attacks that nearly threw the Americans back into the sea.

From Tunisia to the landing beaches on the south coast of Sicily to the final fight for Messina, this book chronicles how Husky would prove pivotal for both sides. The operation was criticized by some historians as a wasteful effort by the Allies that squandered valuable troops and resources while allowing many of the Italian and German troops to escape in the battle’s final days—an “Axis Dunkirk.” Here, 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. Moreover, the fight for Sicily proved the worth of American soldiers and seamen—as well as combined Army-Navy planning and logistics capabilities. Ultimately, lessons learned from Husky would be integrated into the Operation Overlord plan launched against France’s Normandy coast the following year. 

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

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

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

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

by Flint Whitlock

eBookFirst Edition (First Edition)

$29.95 
Available for Pre-Order. This item will be released on November 18, 2025

Available on Compatible NOOK devices, the free NOOK App and in My Digital Library.
WANT A NOOK?  Explore Now

Related collections and offers


Overview

Operation Husky, the combined American and British air and sea invasion of Sicily in July 1943, was one of World War II’s most critical campaigns with General George S. Patton Jr., inarguably America’s most dynamic, courageous, and controversial commander of World War II, at the center. In this new work, author Flint Whitlock covers the history of Operation Husky as it unfolded, with much of the Allied leadership facing internal conflict.

The largest amphibious assault to date came at a crucial moment, and both the planning and execution presented many conflicts for the Allies. Despite the success of Operation Torch in North Africa, the U.S. 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 all-consuming 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, however, was to prove to “Monty” and other dismissive British generals that the American soldier was as good, if not better, than his British counterpart.

Using Patton’s personal letters and diaries, Whitlock reveals the scathing opinions he held of Montgomery and almost everyone else in the Allied hierarchy (Eisenhower, Marshall, Clark, Bradley, and Alexander, among others)—even Adm. H. Kent Hewitt, USN, whose Eighth Fleet carried Patton’s troops to the beaches and supported them once on shore. In fact, it was the guns from Hewitt’s warships that halted the fierce German and Italian attacks that nearly threw the Americans back into the sea.

From Tunisia to the landing beaches on the south coast of Sicily to the final fight for Messina, this book chronicles how Husky would prove pivotal for both sides. The operation was criticized by some historians as a wasteful effort by the Allies that squandered valuable troops and resources while allowing many of the Italian and German troops to escape in the battle’s final days—an “Axis Dunkirk.” Here, 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. Moreover, the fight for Sicily proved the worth of American soldiers and seamen—as well as combined Army-Navy planning and logistics capabilities. Ultimately, 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: 9781612517117
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Publication date: 11/18/2025
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 320

About the Author

Flint Whitlock, a former U.S. 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

Flint Whitlock, a former U.S. 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.

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

 

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews