Onto the Italian mainland

3rd September 1943: Operation Baytown - the invasion of Italy - British and Canadian troops begin a new Allied campaign

British artillery bombards the Italian mainland from Messina in Sicily prior to the initial landings at Reggio

Troops from 2nd Battalion, The Northamptonshire Regiment wait to board landing craft at Catania, Sicily, for the invasion of Italy, 2 September 1943.

short hop across the Strait of Messina was largely unopposed.

Reggio, 3 September 1943 (Operation Baytown): Amphibious DUKWs loaded with men and equipment, enter the water at Messina in Sicily to cross to the Italian mainland.

The British, Canadian and American forces had moved swiftly across the island of Sicily and it now seemed inevitable that they would move onto the Italian mainland. It was a short hop across the Strait of Messina to the nearest shore, a route by which the Germans had successfully extricated most of their men under the noses of the Allies. Another force - of US and British troops- was poised for a further assault once this first foothold had been secured.