The Wehrmacht's trail of destruction

13th August 1943: The US Army Engineers must rebuild bridges and roads across Sicily as the Germans retreat - accomplishing some remarkable engineering

American patrol on lookout for German snipers. Sicily, Italy, 1943

A US Army Tank destroyer dug in and firing as artillery, Sicily, August 1943.

On Sicily the Allies were pushing to completely take the island. The U.S. forces under Patton were moving east across the top of the island towards the port of Messina, whilst the British and Canadians, under Montgomery, were moving up to the same objective. The Germans had now moved to a fighting withdrawal, intent upon preserving their forces intact as far as possible and evacuating them to Italy.

American troops crossing a blown out road bed near Gioiosa.

Frequently the Germans, by blowing up a road carved out of the side of a sheer cliff, caused us more trouble than by bridge-blowing. In those instances, it was often impossible to bypass at all, so traffic had to be held up until an emergency bridge could be thrown across the gap.

Large bridges near Randazzo, Sicily, blown out to slow down Allied advance. Slopes of Mt. Etna visible in background, August, 1943.