THE LIBERATION OF SICILY & ITALY IN WWII, 1943-44

The HUSKY Landings and Initial Fights

• Breakfast, load luggage and check-out of hotel.
• Depart lodgings and drive southwest from Catania into the American landing zone.
• Visit the landing beaches of George Patton’s US 7th Army, with the Ranger Battalions and the 3rd Infantry Division at Licata and Gela. The Sicily invasion was the war’s largest in numbers of men landed on D-Day.
• Walk the Gela streets and waterfront where Colonel Darby and his Rangers hunted German tanks.
• Lunch on your own in Gela.
• In the afternoon visit the 1st Infantry Division’s inland battlesite at Casteluccio di Gela.
• We will visit sites of the American advance inland, including Jim Gavin and the 505th PIR holding the key Ponte Dirillo Bridge and Biazza Ridge. Some of the stiffest fighting for the 82nd Airborne in the entire war! The 45th Infantry Division also saw hard action nearby at Piano Lupo.
• Drive through the mountains to Siracusa in the British and Canadian zone. Siracusa is famed for its millennia of history. A crossroads of empires.
• Walking tour of the Old Town on the island of Ortigia.
• Group Dinner in Old Town.
• Hotel: Five-star Ortea Palace by Autograph Collection.

The British Landings and Ancient Siracusa

• Breakfast.
• Visit British Commando and glider battle sites at Ponte Grande Bridge and on the Maddalena Peninsula as the British and Canadians attempt to gain a foothold.
• Visit the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery at Siracusa.
• In the afternoon, after lunch on your own, we will visit the ancient Greek sites and discuss the battles between Athens and Sparta and others here. “The Archaeological Park of Neapolis, in addition to the Greek Theatre of Syracuse, includes the Altar of Hieron II, a commemorative monument dedicated to Zeus Eleutherios, the Roman Amphitheatre from the 34th Century AD, the most important public work of the time, the Ear of Dionisio from which the route of the large urban quarries starts.”
• Then, it’s off to the val de Noto to visit a winery where olive oil is also produced. Sicilian cuisine requires these two critical ingredients, and we will discover the millennia-old process. Val di Noto, a UNESCO World Heritage site in southeastern Sicily, is a prestigious wine region known for its native grape varieties, particularly Nero d'Avola (red) and Moscato di Noto (white). The region's ideal conditions—limestone soils, a Mediterranean climate, and a history of post-earthquake rebuilding in the Baroque style—create a unique wine tourism experience. You can explore many wineries there, such as Feudo Maccari, Cantina Fausta Mansio, and Tenuta Bastonaca, offering tastings of wines made from these iconic local grapes.
• Social hour followed by dinner on your own in the Old Town with its myriad restaurants.
• Hotel: Ortea Palace.

Primosole, Magical Taormina, & Flight to Naples

• Breakfast and checkout with luggage.
• Drive to central Taormina. We drive north along the British 8th Army route to the strategic Catania Plain, the focus of the British advance. We will discuss the incredible dayslong battlesite at Primosole Bridge, perhaps the toughest British action in the war.
• Afternoon visit to Taormina, the gorgeous cliffside town, renowned for its actors and performers from ancient Greek theater to Hollywood fame. Lunch on your own in town.
• Drive to Catania airport for late afternoon flight to Naples.
• Arrive Naples, meet bus and drive south to the AVALANCHE landing beaches and the town of Pompeii.
• Check-in to lodgings.
• Dinner at the hotel.
• Hotel: MGallery Habita 79.

Operation AVALANCHE, Magna Graecia, & Amalfi

• Breakfast.
• Explore the September 9, 1943, landing beaches of Mark Clark’s US 5th Army, especially the 36th Division at Paestum in Operation AVALANCHE.
• A visit to the ancient Greek ruins of Paestum is followed by lunch at the museum. This Magna Graecia site is one of the oldest, largest and best-preserved in the ancient world. Older than the Parthenon atop Athens’ Acropolis!
• In the afternoon, visit other small-unit battles sites include the Tobacco Factory complex, and the tough fight in the clouds at Altavilla with elements of the 82nd Airborne and 36th IDs.
• Drive to Amalfi, perched above the azure Mediterranean on the gorgeous Amalfi Coast. You will have time to explore the amazing town of Amalfi on your own.
• Drive to Chiunzi Pass, site of an incredible Ranger defense at the rugged Chiunzi Pass in September 1943.
• Social hour followed by dinner on your own in one of the many wonderful restaurants in Pompeii.
• Hotel: MGallery Habita 79.

The Battles at the GUSTAV Line and Cassino

• Breakfast.
• At San Pietro Infine, we will observe the brutal fight against a formidable enemy and equally formidable terrain. The 36th Division sustained many losses but took the town (though totally destroyed and this day a national park). Famed war correspondent Ernie Pyle wrote his most eloquent dispatch about this fight – “The Death of Captain Waskow.” John Huston made an acclaimed war documentary during the battle.
• Our next stop is the Rapido River crossings at Sant Angelo in Theodice. The battle here, to break the stalemate at Cassino, resulted in one of the bloodiest setbacks of the war in Italy. We will have a box lunch along the riverside.
• In the rebuilt city of Cassino, we will discuss the four attacks by Americans, New Zealanders, Indians and finally Poles to capture the high-ground behind.
• We will visit the amazing Abbey of Monte Cassino, one of the most important sites in all Christendom and one that dominates the road to Rome. Its destruction by allied bombing remains one of the most controversial decisions of the entire war.
• We will visit the nearby Polish Cemetery where we can observe the final fight up the forbidding terrain resulting in its capture.
• Drive to Nettuno.
• Check-in to lodgings on the Anzio-Nettuno landings beach.
• Social hour followed by dinner on your own.
• Hotel: Astura Palace.

Operation SHINGLE at Anzio and Nettuno

• Breakfast, load luggage and check out of the hotel.
• In the pre-dawn darkness of January 22, the Ranger Force landed at Anzio and quickly seized the vital port, spearheading the invasion in Operation SHINGLE, an attempt to turn the Germans out of their Gustav Line positions. The main American force landed at nearby Nettuno and we will visit the beach.
• Our next stop is one of the most pivotal actions for the Rangers in WWII. At Cisterna, on January 30th, Darby’s Ranger force faced overwhelming odds and was itself destroyed in a fierce battle that few survived. The remains of the 1st, 3rd and 4th Battalions were dismantled and the survivors sent back stateside to train new Rangers.
• Group lunch in Cisterna.
• Visit the nearby Sicily-Rome American Cemetery where over 7,000 Americans lie in a spectacularly beautiful resting place maintained by the American Battlefields Monuments Commission.
• Check-into our beautiful lodgings in Rome, located directly on the Piazza Navona.
• Social hour with Reflections followed by dinner on your own in Rome.
• Hotel: Five-star Eitch Borromini.

The Liberation of Rome

• Breakfast.
• Walk through central Rome to Via Rasella, site of April 1944 Resistance attack. Discuss the operation and subsequent events.
• Our next stop will be the moving Ardeatine Cave Massacre site and memorial. Italian civilians were brutally murdered here in April 1944 by German SS in retaliation for a partisan ambush in Rome.
• At St Paul’s Gate, we will visit sites of Rome’s June 1944 liberation by the US-Canadian 1st Special Service Force, as well as battles against the Germans by Italians in September 1943. The nearby English or Protestant cemetery includes the graves of Keats, Shelley and others.
• In the afternoon, you will have time to explore Rome with lunch on your own.
• Later in the afternoon, we will visit the vibrant Jewish Quarter with a final group dinner and farewells.
• Hotel: Eitch Borromini.