Allied losses, Husky D-Day, July 10th 1943

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Mechili
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Allied losses, Husky D-Day, July 10th 1943

#1

Post by Mechili » 09 Sep 2020, 15:05

Hello everybody, I apologize if this question has already been asked in the past.

Does anybody have any sources about Allied losses (ground, air and sea) suffered on July 10th, 1943, the invasion of Sicily?
Only D-Day losses, and the total figures, KIA-WIA-MIA and other losses of both Allied armies involved and their air and sea forces.

That figure seems very hard, not to say impossible, to come by in published sources. By doing some simple (fact-based) math I've come to the conclusion that Allied losses on that day were higher than it is usually assumed they were - and the vast majority of the opponents that day were Italians, not Germans. But if anyone has any published or unpublished sources about that issue, I'll be glad to read.

Thank you in advance.

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Re: Allied losses, Husky D-Day, July 10th 1943

#2

Post by OpanaPointer » 09 Sep 2020, 19:41

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Mechili
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Re: Allied losses, Husky D-Day, July 10th 1943

#3

Post by Mechili » 11 Sep 2020, 11:00

Thank you. I knew that source.

There are 132 US Army and 21 US Navy servicemen buried at the Nettuno war cemetery (Italy) who were killed on July 10th, 1943. We know for a fact a number of fallen US servicemen were transported back to the US post-war, to be buried in cemeteries Stateside. We may never know how many, but 300 US KIA is a reasonable guesstimate for Husky D-Day. Adding roughly 700 WIA-MIA and other losses - a cautious, conservative estimate as the well established KIA:WIA/MIA ratio is 1:3 - , the total casualty count is about 1,000 or slightly higher.

The British/Commonwealth 8th Army suffered similar losses. Besides, on D-Day several hundreds of Allied paratroops were taken prisoner, although most were released by friendly troops as the Italians had no time and means to rapidly evacuate them to the continent.

While certainly few if seen against the backdrop of the largest WWII invasion force ever gathered, those casualties compare with the 2,000 inflicted on the Operation Torch invasion force in French North Africa through 74 (instead of 24) hours of combat, which Allied sources refer to as here and there stiff and quite intense. And they are on the same scale as those reportedly suffered by the British/Commonwealth on June 6th, 1944 in Normandy.

gttf
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Re: Allied losses, Husky D-Day, July 10th 1943

#4

Post by gttf » 11 Sep 2020, 13:12

Hello, maybe you know it already, but concerning the naval losses of USNavy you can refer to the "Action Report - Western Naval Task Force" (see http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Adm ... ily-5.html ) in particular Part V, Section IV.
Here the losses are divided in three sub-paragraphs
1. Ships lost
2. Ships damaged
3. Losses of ship-borne landing craft

I suppose the most of the latter occurred during the first day of the Operation Husky, as the damages to LCI/LCT listed in sub-para 2.
Unfortunately, the table does not distinguish between losses to the the enemy action (mainly Italian shore batteries) and losses due to the sea force.
For Royal Navy you can refer to the report by Adm. Cunningham published after the war in London Gazette (see https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/UK/ ... /38895.pdf).

Hope this helps.

Regards

Fabrizio

Mechili
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Re: Allied losses, Husky D-Day, July 10th 1943

#5

Post by Mechili » 17 Sep 2020, 13:11

gttf wrote:
11 Sep 2020, 13:12
Hello, maybe you know it already, but concerning the naval losses of USNavy you can refer to the "Action Report - Western Naval Task Force" (see http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Adm ... ily-5.html ) in particular Part V, Section IV.
Here the losses are divided in three sub-paragraphs
1. Ships lost
2. Ships damaged
3. Losses of ship-borne landing craft

I suppose the most of the latter occurred during the first day of the Operation Husky, as the damages to LCI/LCT listed in sub-para 2.
Unfortunately, the table does not distinguish between losses to the the enemy action (mainly Italian shore batteries) and losses due to the sea force.
For Royal Navy you can refer to the report by Adm. Cunningham published after the war in London Gazette (see https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/UK/ ... /38895.pdf).

Hope this helps.

Regards

Fabrizio
Yes I was aware of that, but thank you anyway.

7th Army landing craft losses and damage as shown in that report confirm that the coastal artillery, mostly slow-firing 149mm guns of late 19th century vintage, did the best it could. BTW some LC labeled as "bombed" "and "stranded" may well have been hit by gunfire also, or instead. It is still officially uncertain what aircraft of which Axis air force sank USS Maddox on July 10th, although the most robust evidence points at Italian planes. Just figure with smaller craft.

As for the London Gazette, hopefully something more reliable, objective and complete is available on the British side of things. Nearly all British/Commonwealth accounts paint a virtually bloodless landing and D-Day operations - a breeze. Yet the chaplain of the Italian 146th Coastal Regiment, which bore the brunt of the 8th Army Acid (northern) assault, after capture counted 105 British graves near the beach. A number that fits in well enough with the total count of British/Commonwealth KIA buried in Sicilian war cemeteries, keeping in mind that the Acid landings were the hardest fought all over the 8th Army assault front (with the exception of the mobile group counterattacks in the Pachino peninsula, Bark sectors).

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Re: Allied losses, Husky D-Day, July 10th 1943

#6

Post by Richard Anderson » 17 Sep 2020, 17:23

American Seventh Army losses on D-Day were initially given as 58 KIA, 199 WIA and sick, and 700 MIA, the last mostly from the 82d A/B Div. D+1 losses were 117 KIA, 455 WIA and sick, and 1,894 MIA, again the last mostly from the 82d. That was later revised to 58 KIA, 205 WIA, 787 MIA on D-Day and 117 KIA, 410 WIA, 1,794 MIA on D+1. Note however the "final" figure for MIA as of 3 September was 1,053, plus 36 captured. See, file:///C:/Users/RICHARD/AppData/Local/Temp/Seventh_Army_in_Sicily.pdf
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Carl Schwamberger
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Re: Allied losses, Husky D-Day, July 10th 1943

#7

Post by Carl Schwamberger » 21 Sep 2020, 20:47

Has anyone done a detailed comparison of this operation and the assault on the Normandy beaches. ie: The density of the men and weapons in the area directly influencing the beaches. The number of aircraft sorties by each side and results? Or number on men, tanks, or whatever landed in the first day?

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