0723_01: The Etna Line_Alt - PzC 08 Sicily '43

On the Etna Line, July 23rd 1943: As the battle for Sicily entered its third week, General Hube had a set up a tight defensive line running along the north coast at Santa Agata (also known as the San Fratello Line), south to Adrano, and then to the coast at Catania. Both Allied Armies had been stymied in their drives up the coasts, so now the keys to collapsing the German defenses lay inland, at Troina, for the Americans, and Adrano, in the British sector. Both these locations were at high elevations in the mountainous interior commanding roads leading to Messina, and the fall of either would unhinge the line and lead to the envelopment of the Germans. The Allies were bringing in new Divisions, including the British 78th Division and the US 9th, while the US 3rd Division was to soon relieve the battered 45th. Against this the Germans, while still fielding elements of the 29th Panzer Grenadier Division, were in fact not making any commitment to hold Sicily, only trying to delay the inevitable. [Size large]