FLYING FORTRESS BOMBING ENEMY INSTALLATIONS in Sicily. For weeks prior to the invasion of the island, airfields, rail lines, and ports had been under aerial bombardment by Allied planes. Note black antiaircraft bursts.] [Illustration: SICILY RESULT OF AERIAL BOMBARDMENT ON NAPOLA RAILROAD YARD, near Trapani in western Sicily. By the time of invasion the railroad net on the island was crippled and remained so throughout the campaign.] [Illustration] [Illustration: SICILY PARATROOPERS HEADED FOR SICILY. On 9 July 1943 U. S. paratroopers boarded their transports at Kairouan, Tunisia. They were scheduled to land at 2330 on that day, but a forty-mile wind blew the planes from their course, and parachutists were strewn over a large part of southeastern Sicily, but nevertheless aided in retarding the German counterattack against the beachheads. (Douglas C-47.)] [Illustration: SICILY GELA BEACH, SICILY. The invasion of the island took place on 10 July 1943. Gela was the center of the American invasion area which extended from Licata on the west to Scoglitti on the east. The British Army landed in the region between Capo Passero and Syracuse on the east coast of the island. Beach landings in both areas were preceded by airborne assaults. By sunrise, three hours after the first landings, the beaches were under control.] [Illustration: SICILY LICATA BEACHES, LOOKING WESTWARD ALONG THE COAST. The highway in the foreground is the main coastal road. This was the western portion of the U. S. assault area and Licata, located at the foot of the hill in the distance, was occupied by 1130 on D Day.] [Illustration: SICILY SCOGLITTI, in the eastern section of the U. S. invasion area. Troops landed here against little opposition and occupied the important town of Vittoria, a few miles inland, on D Day.] [Illustration: SICILY AN AMERICAN CRUISER SHELLING DEFENSES in the Gela beach area during the early morning of D Day. The naval bombardment, which started at 0345, silenced the few coastal batteries that protected the beaches. Large-scale enemy resistance on the beaches did not materialize during the landings.] [Illustration: SICILY ALLIED SHIPS UNDER AERIAL BOMBARDMENT. At daybreak on D Day enemy air forces launched a series of bombing and strafing attacks on the ships offshore and on the troops along the beaches.] [Illustration: SICILY U. S. AMMUNITION SHIP EXPLODING as result of a direct hit by an enemy bomb during the late afternoon of 11 July 1943. The ship burned throughout the night, furnishing a brilliant beacon for enemy aircraft. The Allies made several attempts to sink the ship, but the water was too shallow.] [Illustration: SICILY