#primosole bridge

[bookloversofbath]

Bitter Victory: The Battle for Sicily 1943 :: Carlo D'Este

[bantarleton]

Reg Curtis, No. 2 Commando, 11th SAS, 1st Parachute Battalion Reg Curtis fought through France and Belgium to Dunkirk as a Grenadier Guardsman before volunteering in 1940 to join No. 2 Commando and become one of Britain’s first paratroopers. He took part in experimental parachute training as a member of the 11th SAS Battalion, later to become the 1st Parachute Battalion, the founding battalion of The Parachute Regiment. In 1942/3 he fought with 1st Para as part of the 1st Parachute Brigade in Tunisia, where they earned the name ‘Red Devils’ from the enemy. He was part of the group who held the Primosole Bridge in Sicily in 1943. He was badly wounded trying to reach the Arnhem Bridge during the Battle of Arnhem in 1944 and after the battle had his right leg amputated. He was one of the few members of the original 1st Parachute Battalion to survive the war and when he passed away in 2016 was the last man standing from the small group who remained close-knit for the rest of their lives and called themselves No. 2 Commando, 11th SAS, 1st Parachute Battalion.

[pinturas-segunda-guerra-mundial]

1943 07 14 Sicily, Primosole bridge - Ken Smith

Abashed the Devils Stood

Sicily, July 14th, 1943. Due to both friendly and enemy anti-aircraft fire, only 295 of the original 1,856 man contingent of the British First Parachute Brigade were able to reach this bridge over the Simeto River. They immediately removed the German demolition charges and set up a defensive perimeter, but theirs was a tiny force to attempt to hold such a key position in the drive on Catania.Coincidentally, at nearby Catania airfield a few hours earlier, the German general Albert Kesselring had watched while a regiment of the German First Parachute Division had made its first drop into Sicily.  Understandably, the Fallschirmjäger reacted violently to the British incursion, and a fierce battle was launched on the morning of July 14th. Despite heavy losses the British Paras held the bridge throughout the day, and at nightfall withdrew to the high ground overlooking Primosole, and there awaited the arrival of British armor. “Abashed the Devils Stood” depicts the beleaguered men of the British First Airborne Division clinging desperately to their toehold on the Simeto River.

[builditblog]

Dry Fit, starting to take on the look of Primosole bridge.

[aviationhistory]

(Overnight) Allied transport aircraft carrying paratroopers from North Africa to Sicily again fly low in darkness over Allied ships and ground forces, and again come under friendly fire. Several are shot down. In Operation Fustian, the British Army's First Parachute Brigade land in gliders and capture the Primosole bridge, but a German parachute battalion that previously had landed nearby drives the British off the bridge by the following evening

[bookloversofbath]

Bitter Victory: The Battle for Sicily 1943 :: Carlo D'Este

Bitter Victory: The Battle for Sicily 1943 :: Carlo D’Este

Bitter Victory: The Battle for Sicily 1943 :: Carlo D’Este soon to be presented for sale on the excellent BookLovers of Bath web site! New York: E. P. Dutton, 1988, Hardback in dust wrapper. Includes: Order of battle; Black & white photographs; Maps; List of sources; Maps to the lining papers; Appendices (14); From the cover: The author of Decision in Normandy has written the first full account…

[builditblog]

Start of a new project, Primosole Bridge, Sicily 1943. Made for 20mm wargames layout, although the model is slightly smaller, to allow for changes in ground scale that are effected by firing and movement within the games rule system. So a visual representation of the bridge, rather than a true scale model.