0710_02: Decision at Gela - PzC 08 Sicily '43

Gela, the main US sector, mid-morning on July 10th 1943: In war, plans seldom work in the manner intended, and the experience of the Hermann Goering Division on the 10th July was no exception. At this early stage in the campaign, a division that would shine later in the campaign was still mediocre at best. The divisions tankers and grenadiers were not accustomed to working together, and the leaders of the Hermann Goering demonstrated no understanding of the need for combined arms in terrain that, for the most part, was wholly unsuitable for armored warfare. The events that occurred on the Niscemi Road on the morning of 10 July have been the subject of considerable confusion and contradiction, and offer an excellent example of what is meant by the term 'fog of war'. As the two KG's of the Hermann Goering Division were still struggling to get organized and move southward, an Italian Force from XVI Corps, Mobile Group E, began its advance towards Gela. [Size medium] Designers Note: See the two other scenarios that depict each of these attacks as separate events occurring at the same time.