July 1943 - The Allied Italian Campaign begins. The Texas Expeditionary Force assembles its largest joint task force to date: Task Force Arctic.
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The Naval Task Force was again composed of an escort group, fire support group, and two landing groups, "A" and "B". Landing Group A conducted its landing onto Sicily on 9-10 July, with the 1st Marine Brigade seizing the beachhead, the 1st Infantry Regiment consolidating the gains and seizing an airfield, and the 1st Infantry Division, 3rd Infantry Division, and 7th Armored Division coming ashore later to destroy Axis forces on the island. The two infantry divisions had reorganized over the winter, deactivating their large infantry brigades and adopting a smaller, but extremely agile regimental structure. These three divisions were organized into I Corps, the first corps-level unit since the First World War.
Most of Landing Group "A" returned to North Africa to embark the 2nd Marine Brigade, and the 4th, 9th, and 10th Infantry Divisions. The 4th was a Texas Guard Division, the 9th and 10th formed from the excess infantry regiments of the 1st Infantry Division. They landed onto mainland Italy between 9-16 September, and conducted operations as II Corps.
Between the landings, the 5th Air Force established an airbase on Sicily for its 12th Attack Wing, initially dedicated to supporting I Corps but provided to II Corps in September while its sister corps was consolidating after Sicilian operations ended on 17 August. I Corps would later join II Corps to form a Field Army in Italy for the remainder of the war.
The entire operation stressed the Navy to its limits, as over half the destroyers needed for convoy escort were provided for the Task Force. Thankfully, a new destroyer squadron and two destroyer escort squadrons were available to Atlantic Command to fill the gap.
Destroyer squadrons are also moving away from the mixed ship class formations seen in 1943, but with some mixing tolerated to provide essential technological capabilities to each squadron.
Enjoy the eye candy, and Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it.
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