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From Sicily, the Allies had a wide choice of directions for their next offensive. The two army corps of Montgomery's 8th Army crossed the Strait of Messina and landed on the South of Italy on Sept. 3, 1943. But, despite the weak initial resistance they made
only very slow progress, as the terrain had only two good roads and prevented the deployment of large forces. On the day of the landing, however, the Italian government at last agreed to the Allies' secret terms for a capitulation. It was understood that Italy would be treated mildly. The capitulation was announced on September 8.
The landing at Salerno, just south of Naples, was begun on September 9, by the mixed U.S.-British 5th Army. Transported by 700 ships, 55,000 men made the initial assault, and 115,000 more followed up. At first they were faced only by the German 16th Panzer Division; but Kesselring, though he had only eight weak divisions to defend all southern and central Italy, had had time to plan since the fall of Mussolini and had been expecting a blow there. His coun-terstroke made the success of the Salerno landing insecure for six days, and only by October 1 the 5th Army entered Naples. In October, Kesselring received reinforcements and consolidated the German hold on central and northern Italy. The 5th Army was checked temporarily on the Volturno River, only 20 miles north of Naples, then more lastingly on the Gangliano River, while the 8th Army was held on the Sangro River. Autumn and midwinter passed without the Allies' making any notable impression on the Germans. This changed only in 1944, when the Allies managed to force their way and seize Rome on 4 June. This allowed undertaking the "Operation Overlord", the long-debated invasion of northern France, which took place on June 6, 1944, when 156,000 men were landed on the beaches of Normandy Peninsula: 83,000 British and Canadian troops on the eastern beaches, 73,000 Americans on the western.
By 9:00 AM on D-Day the coastal defenses were generally breached, but the U.S. forces in the westernmost sector of the front still met a very stubborn resistance. But when they had taken the port of Cherbourg on June 26 and proceeded to clear the rest of the Cotentin.
On July 31, 1944, the Americans on the Allies' right, newly supported by the landing of the US 3rd Army under Patton, broke through the German defenses at Avranches, the gateway from Normandy into Brittany. The Americans' wide eastward flanking maneuver after the breakout speedily produced a general collapse of the German position in northern France.
Meanwhile, "Operation Dragoon" was launched on Aug. 15, 1944, when the U.S. 7th Army and the French 1st Army landed on the French Riviera, where there were only four German divisions to oppose them. While the Americans drove first into the Alps to take Grenoble, the French took Marseille on August 23 and then advanced eastward through France up the Rhone Valley, to be rejoined by the Americans north of Lyon early in September. Both armies then moved swiftly northeastward into Alsace.
