Page 16 - RADC 2016

MILITARY MATTERS
Sicily Battle Field Tour July 25th–29th
Maj Drans eld
Exercise Harrogate Husky was organized by Harrogate Army Foundation College as a permanent staff trip to Sicily to use Op Husky as a case study to enhance our understanding of previous and current operations and British Military doctrine.
The trip was to focus on the historical context of key locations in southern,
central and northern Sicily, explaining the situation faced by Allied commanders at the time of Op Husky in 1943. The Harrogate syndicates then had to formulate and present their own solutions to the problems faced at each location before the actual events were revealed and discussed at the end of each day.
With such a wide range of ranks and cap badges on the trip and spread between the 3 syndicates, it was also a chance to see how these elements complement each other as subject matter experts. It was a chance for all to chip in and produce a better solution to a diverse range of problems given to us as scenarios, rather than drawing only from a speci c set of skills and experiences.
Day 1 started on the southern tip of
the island at Capo Murro di Porco and outlined the planning behind the invasion
of Sicily including the naval and air plans.
A move to the Ponte Grande bridge
allowed a discussion on airborne troops and the dif culty in WWII of communication especially between the American and British troops. Friendly re incidents plagued this invasion.
At this point we were still using gliders to drop troops, much more affected by
weather conditions and at the mercy of the planes towing them to their release point. Of 134 gliders carrying the paratroopers only 12 reached the Ponte Grande bridge target. Thankfully modern air plans have moved
on since this time and our Army Air Corps colleague outlined how a modern invasion would have been executed.
The after action review that evening focused on the beach landings, used
to deliver troops to secure the Port of Syracuse. Lessons learned in 1943 from this invasion contributed the year after to the D-day landings.
Day 2 and we travelled towards the centre of the island where the heat and mountains caused us a few problems as they had
for the ground troops in 1943. The TEWT that afternoon was to plan an assault on
a village at the top of a steep mountain, using the assets that the Allied forces would have had, and then compare this with a modern assault. This involved artillery and air support, the dif culty of resupply in this region and picking out a casevac route and aid post location. The dental team were split between the 3 syndicates and gave ground and combat service support briefs to the other teams.
Day 3 was the nal day and we drove to Messina on the North East coast to discuss the German extraction into Italy, abandoning Sicily, across the 2-mile channel. The Allies had achieved their strategic aims including the fall of Mussolini, leading to the collapse of Italy, but the Germans had produced enough delaying tactics to enable an
amazing withdrawal. With a well-defended, ef cient ferry service the Germans removed all their troops and heavy equipment before giving help to the Italians. This was the end of the Sicilian Campaign and the island had been conquered by the Allied forces in only 38 days.
The whole trip was well documented
and explained and the stands completed
in chronological order. Each morning the history of the sites was explained before an afternoon TEWT and then an evening reveal of what actually occurred. The discussions were always rounded up back at the hotel, with a ‘then versus now’ approach, before travelling out to a meal to sample some local food and wine. Cultural experiences are as important as history!
14 RADC BULLETIN 2016