Salerno - British Landings v2 - The Matrix Games version of West Front

9 September 1943

Salerno - British Landings 2.0 (reduced axis guns, modified objectives). A vast armada had been sailing from Africa towards Italy with a general heading of Naples - Salerno. Field Marshall Kesslering was well aware of this armada and was preparing for the landings as well as he could without knowing the precise destination. As it became clear to Kesselring that the armada was heading to Salerno, he intensified the preparation of beach defenses on the sweeping crescent moon gulf from Vietri north of Salerno down to Agropoli. On 8 September the allies finalized an armistice with the Italians to coordinate with the landings at Salerno and the germans' fears were realized less than 24 hours prior to the start of Operation Avalanche. The codeword Achse ("Axis") was issued, which called for the immediate disarmament of all Italian troops, including the 222nd Coastal Battalion manning the Salerno beaches. It was a blow to Kesselring's defense plans and also to his faith in the Italian leadership. The betrayal left Kesselring with only the 16th Panzer Division to cover the entire 36 miles of the bay. The British plan called for two infantry divisions to land on 3 beaches with a 7 mile gap separating them from the American landings at Paestum. The 46th Division was to land northern most at Uncle Beach with the objective of seizing Salerno and the mountains above it. They were to land two battalions of the 128th Brigade (1/4 Hampshires, 2 Hampshires) with the 5 Hampshires to follow. The 56th Division was to land 2 brigades side by side on Sugar Beach and Roger Beach. The 169th Brigade would lead with the 2/6 Queens and the 2/7 Queens with the 2/5 Queens to follow. The 167th Brigade would lead with the 8 Royal Fusiliers and 9 Royal Fusiliers to be followed by the 7th Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. Tanks from the Royal Scots Greys would be landed in support if possible. The 56th Division was charged with seizing the critically important Montecorvino Airfield to allow fighter support (mostly British Seafires at first) to operate locally instead of flying from Sicily and aircraft carriers. They were also to press onwards to take the important rail and road junction of Battipaglia and then to push inland to seize the key mountain passage of Ponte Sele. Kesselring had created 8 fortified strongpoints from Agropoli in the south to Salerno in the north. There were 3 Kampfgruppe to cover this area and a fourth made up of the 16th Reconnaisance Battalion to watch the plains north of Salerno. Kampfgruppe Stempel was to bear the brunt of the British landings with armored support from Kampfgruppe von Holtey. 88mm AA guns were strategically placed in the majestic hills overlooking the bay and an unusually generous amount of Luftwaffe air support would fly unchecked in the early stages of the landings. The whole operation began at around 3:15am when British destroyers opened up a bombardment with their 4.7 inch guns and then Landing Craft Rockets (LCR's) laid down some fearsome rocket attacks on the beaches to blow the heavy minefields and soften up enemy resistance. Smoke was very instrumental in getting the troops onto shore under the withering fire they faced. They would pay a heavy price for their progress, but the germans were stretched thin and fought desperately to check the initial advance and hold their commanding positions in the mountains that had a crystal clear view of the entire plain. This was to be a major conflict with both sides desperately fighting to save the day.