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Suggestions wanted: books concerning Sicily


30ot6

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I've recently developed an interest in this particuliar theater of operations, and think it should offer many opportunities for scenarios. Searching around on the web, I can't find anything more than general descriptions of what happened, no detailed accounts. So I'm thinking I need to get some books, but outside of one, have no clue what's good.

Also want advice on the one I mentioned. It is Drop Zone Sicily: Allied Airborne Strike, July 1943 by William Breuer. It it any good?

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There's Carlo D'este's book, which I read a few years ago. It seemed to over a plausible overview....as of course do both the British and American official histories (though the official histories offer more on the logistics as usual)
--Sokal

Yes, that book is named: Bitter Victory, The Battle For Sicily, 1943. So far it is the most detailed. D'este is known for his biography of Patton.

The Battle of Sicily (mentioned by Dorosh) is also very good and I also recommend it.

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30ot6, I am currently working on some Sicily scenarios as time and health permit. There are some good works regarding the actions (some of which have been mentioned, others of which you can find by examining the unit histories for the divisions involved). The hardest thing to find are good maps at a useful scale. Right now, I am using hadn drawn maps from some sources, but I am looking for some good topographical maps at 1:20K scale. I'll let you know if I find them.

Steve

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Stone & Stone

Sicily campaign, July - August 1943

(aka Operation Husky)

Italian campaign, 1943-1945

Blair jr, Clay. Ridgway's Paratroopers. New York: Dial Press, 1985.

Blair jr, Clay. Ridgway's Paratroopers: The American Airborne in World War II. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2002.

Blumenson, Martin. Ballantine?s Illustrated History of WWII, Campaign Book #3. Sicily: Whose Victory. New York: Ballantine, 1968.

Breuer, William B. Drop Zone Sicily: Allied Airborne Strike, July 1943. Novato: Presidio Press, 1997.

Cull, Brian with Nicola Malizia and Frederick Galea. Spitfires over Sicily: The Crucial Role of the Malta Spitfires... London: Grub Street, 2000.

D'Este, Carlo. Patton: A Genius for War. New York: HarperCollins, 1995.

D'Este, Carlo. Bitter Victory: The Battle for Sicily, 1943. New York: Dutton, 1988.

Dupuy, Col. T. N. (ed). Air Interdiction Operations in World War II. Allied Air Interdictin for Operation Husky, May-August 1943. McLean, VA: NOVA Publications, 1971.

Faldella, Emilio. Lo Sbarco e la Difesa della Sicilia. Rome: L'Aniene, 1956.

Forty, George. The Armies of George S. Patton. London: Arms and Armour, 1996.

Garland, Albert N. and Howard McGaw Smyth. United States Army in World War II: Mediterranean Theater of Op.. Sicily and the Surrender of Italy. Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1986.

Hamilton, Nigel. Master of the Battlefield: Monty's War Years, 1942-1944. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1983.

Kesselring, Albert. Memoirs of Field Marshal Kesselring. Novato: Presidio Press, 1989.

Mitcham jr, Samuel W. Battle of Sicily. New York: Orion, 1991.

Molony, C. J. C. History of the Second World War. The Mediterranean and Middle East, vol 5: The Campaign in Sicily, 1943 and the Campaign in Italy.... London: HMSO, 1973.

Montgomery, Bernard. El Alamein to the River Sangro. London: Hutchinson, 1958.

Montgomery, Bernard. El Alamein to the River Sangro and Normandy to the Baltic. New York: St Martins Press, 1974.

Morison, Samuel Eliot. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, vol 9. Sicily-Salerno-Anzio. Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1954.

Munro, Ross. Gauntlet to Overlord: The Story of the Canadian Army. Toronto: Macmillan Canada, 1946.

Nicholson, G.W.L. Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War. The Canadians in Italy. Ottawa: The Queens Printer, 1956.

Pack, S. W. C. Operation Husky: The Allied Invasion of Sicily. New York: Hippocrene, 1977.

Pond, Hugh. Sicily. London: Kimber, 1962.

Sheffield, O. F. The York and Lancaster Regiment, volume 3: 1919-1953. Aldershot: Gale and Polden, 1956.

Steinhoff, Johannes. Messerschmitts over Sicily. Baltimore: Nautical and Aviation Pub, 1987.

Taylor, Jeremy. The Devons: A History of the Devonshire Regiment, 1685-1945. Bristol: White Swan Press, 1951.

Tregaskis, Richard. Invasion Diary. New York: Random House, 1944.

Tregaskis, Richard. Invasion Diary. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, Forthcoming.

Truscott, Lucian. Command Missions. Novato: Presidio Press, 1990.

US Army. United States Army Campaigns of World War II. Sicily. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1993.

US Navy. Sicilian Campaign: 10 July - 17 August 1943. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1993.

Whiting, Charles. Slaughter Over Sicily. London: Leo Cooper, 1992.

Young, Peter. Storm from the Sea. London: Kimber, 1958.

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You are all wonderful. I'll see what the libraries around here have first, and then go on from there.

MrSpkr, I'll contact you if I find anything. Also, I'd love to playtest your scenarios when they are ready. I've made one Sicily scenario so far. It's fictional, based on the action immediately ensuing after the 505th's drop. The idea is that an ad hoc group of paratroopers dropped off target band together and move to attack a seemingly logical nearby objective. Very general, but accounts of the campaign indicate there was a lot of this going on, leaving quite a bit of room for creativity.

The biggest problem is putting together a force that feels truely random; I wish that I could buy single squads and set casualties manually.

30ot6(aka Gardyne)

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