Editing Operation Avalanche

{{Short description|1943 Allied landings in Italy}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{more footnotes|date=August 2017}}
{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2020}}
{{more citations needed|date=August 2017}}
}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Operation Avalanche
| partof            = the [[Allied invasion of Italy|Invasion of Italy]]
| image             = THE ALLIED LANDINGS IN ITALY SEPTEMBER 1943 REGGIO TARANTO AND SALERNO.jpg
| caption           = British infantry landing on Salerno, September 1943.
| date              = 9–18 September 1943
| place             = [[Salerno]], [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]]
| result            = Allied victory
| combatant1        = {{flagcountry|UK}}<br />{{flagcountry|US|1912}}
| combatant2        = {{flagcountry|Nazi Germany}}
| commander1        = {{flagdeco|US|1912}} [[Mark W. Clark]]
| commander2        = {{flagdeco|Nazi Germany}} [[Heinrich von Vietinghoff|H. von Vietinghoff]]
| strength1         = 170,000 servicemen<ref>{{harvnb|Morris|1993|p=215}}</ref>
| strength2         = 35,000 Germans<ref>Martin Blumenson, ''United States Army in World War 2, Mediterranean Theater of Operations, Salerno to Cassino'' (1969). Washington DC, Government Printing Office, p. 67.</ref>
| casualties1       = {{flag|United Kingdom}}<ref name="Konstam p. 157" /><br />982 killed<br />4,060 wounded<br />2,230 missing<br />'''Royal Navy''':<br />83 killed<br />42 wounded

{{flag|United States}}<ref name="Konstam p. 157" /><br />'''5th Army''':<br />788 killed<br />2,841 wounded<br />1,318 missing<br />'''US Navy''':<br />296 killed<br />422 wounded<br />551 missing

'''Total:'''<br />2,149 killed<br />7,365 wounded<br />4,099 missing
| casualties2       = {{flagicon|Nazi Germany}} [[Nazi Germany|Germany]]<ref name="Konstam p. 157" /><br />840 killed<br />2,002 wounded<br />603 missing
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Italy}}
}}

'''Operation Avalanche''' was the codename for the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] landings near the port of [[Salerno]], executed on 9 September 1943, part of the [[Allied invasion of Italy]] during [[World War II]]. The Italians withdrew from the war the day before the invasion, but the Allies landed in an area defended by German troops. Planned under the name ''Top Hat'', it was supported by the deception plan Operation ''Boardman''.

The landings were carried out by the [[United States Army North|U.S. Fifth Army]], under Lieutenant General [[Mark W. Clark]]. It comprised the [[VI Corps (United States)|U.S. VI Corps]], the [[X Corps (United Kingdom)|British X Corps]], and the [[82nd Airborne Division|U.S. 82nd Airborne Division]], a total of about nine [[division (military)|divisions]]. Its primary objectives were to seize the port of [[Naples]] to ensure resupply, and to cut across to the east coast, trapping the [[Axis powers|Axis]] troops further south.

In order to draw troops away from the landing ground, [[Operation Baytown]] was mounted. This was a landing by the [[Eighth Army (United Kingdom)|British Eighth Army]], under General [[Bernard Montgomery|Sir Bernard Montgomery]], in [[Calabria]] in the 'toe' of Italy, on 3 September. Simultaneous sea landings were made by the [[1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom)|British 1st Airborne Division]] at the port of [[Taranto]] ([[Operation Slapstick]]).
The Salerno landings were carried out without previous naval or aerial bombardment in order to achieve surprise. Surprise was not achieved.

The Germans had established artillery and machine-gun posts and scattered tanks through the landing zones which made progress difficult, but the beach areas were captured. Around 07:00 a concerted counterattack was made by the [[16th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|16th Panzer Division]]. It caused heavy casualties but was beaten off. Both the British and the Americans made slow progress, and still had a {{convert|10|mi|km}} gap between them at the end of day one. They linked up by the end of day two and occupied {{convert|35|–|45|mi|km}} of coastline to a depth of {{convert|6|-|7|mi|km}}.

Over 12–14 September the Germans organized a concerted counterattack by six divisions of motorized troops, hoping to throw the Salerno beachhead into the sea before it could link with the British Eighth Army. Heavy casualties were inflicted, as the Allied troops were too thinly spread to be able to resist concentrated attacks.<ref name="whn" /> The outermost troops were therefore withdrawn in order to reduce the perimeter. The new perimeter was held with the assistance of naval and aerial support, although the German attacks reached almost to the beaches in places.

==Background==
{{More citations needed|section|date=September 2024}}
Following the defeat of the [[Axis powers|Italian Forces and Afrika Korps]] in [[North Africa]], there was disagreement between the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] as to what the next step should be. [[Winston Churchill]], the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|British Prime Minister]], in particular wanted to invade Italy, which he called the "underbelly of Europe" (commonly misquoted as "soft underbelly"). Popular support in Italy for the war was declining, and he believed an invasion would remove Italy, and thus the influence of the Italian Navy (''[[Regia Marina]]'') in the [[Mediterranean Sea]], opening it to Allied traffic. This would make it much easier to supply Allied forces in the [[Middle East]] and [[Far East]], and increase British and American supplies to the [[Soviet Union]]. In addition, it would tie down German forces, keeping them away from the planned Allied invasion of Normandy – codenamed [[Operation Overlord]].

However, General [[George C. Marshall]], the [[Chief of Staff of the United States Army]], and much of the American staff wanted to undertake no operations that might delay the Normandy invasion. When it became clear that Operation Overlord could not be undertaken in 1943, it was agreed forces in North Africa should be used to invade [[Sicily]], with no commitment made to any follow-up operations.

Joint [[Allied Force Headquarters|Allied Forces Headquarters]] (AFHQ) were operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the [[Mediterranean Theater of Operations|Mediterranean theatre]] and it was they who planned and commanded the invasion of Sicily and the Italian mainland.

The [[Allied invasion of Sicily]] in July 1943, codenamed Operation Husky, was highly successful, although many of the Axis forces there were allowed to avoid capture and escape to the mainland. More importantly a [[Fall of the Fascist regime in Italy|coup]] deposed [[Benito Mussolini]] as head of the Italian government, which then began approaching the Allies to make peace. It was believed a quick invasion of Italy might hasten an Italian surrender and produce quick military victories over the German troops that would now be trapped fighting in a hostile country. However, Italian (and more so German) resistance proved relatively strong, and fighting in Italy continued even after the fall of Berlin. In addition, the invasion left the Allies in a position of supplying food and supplies to conquered territory, a burden that would otherwise have fallen on Germany. As well, Italy occupied by a hostile German army would have created additional problems for the German Commander-in-Chief [[Albert Kesselring|Albrecht von Kesselring]].{{sfn|Grigg|1985|p=}}{{Page needed|date=September 2017}}

=== The plan ===
{{More citations needed|section|date=September 2024}}
A diversion operation was designed to support the landings at Salerno, named Operation Boardman. The operation began on June 30, 1943, and ended on August 31, 1943. The plan for the operation was for the [[Abwehr]] to intercept radio transmissions which contained false plans for invasions of [[Sardinia]], [[Corsica]], [[Apulia]], [[Southern France]] or Northwestern Italy, and finally [[Greece]] in that order. Essentially, the plan sought to weaken German and Italian forces in [[Southern Italy|Southern]] and [[Central Italy]] by shifting Axis focus away from those regions. Also part of this operation was the use of dummies previously used in [[Operation Waterfall]]. The dummies were refurbished and set up in [[Cyrenaica]] in a way that would suggest an invasion of the [[Peloponnese]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Boardman {{!}} Operations & Codenames of WWII |url=https://codenames.info/operation/boardman/#:~:text='Boardman'%20was%20the%20Allied%20deception,(July/September%201943). |access-date=2024-12-04 |website=codenames.info}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Souter |first=Gerry |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Ghost_Army/9LWZDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=operation+boardman&pg=PT49&printsec=frontcover |title=The Ghost Army: Conning the Third Reich |last2=Souter |first2=Janet |date=2019-05-20 |publisher=Arcturus Publishing |isbn=978-1-78950-443-9 |language=en}}</ref>

The main landings were scheduled after the success at Sicily for September 9. The main force would land around [[Salerno]] on the western coast in Operation Avalanche. It would consist of the U.S. Fifth Army under Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark, comprising the U.S. VI Corps under Major General [[Ernest J. Dawley]], the X British Corps under Lieutenant-General [[Richard McCreery]], and the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division in reserve, a total of about nine divisions. Its primary objectives were to seize the port of [[Naples]] to ensure resupply, and to cut across to the east coast, trapping [[Axis Powers|Axis]] troops further south. The inclusion of the 82nd Airborne Division as a reserve force was possible only with the cancellation of Operation Giant II. The 1st British Airborne Division would be landed by sea near [[Taranto]], on the "heel" of Italy in [[Operation Slapstick]], as a diversion for Salerno. Their task was to capture the port and several nearby airfields and link with the Eighth Army before pressing north to join the Fifth Army near [[Foggia]].

The plan was deeply flawed. The Fifth Army would be landing on a very broad 35-mile front, using only three assault divisions, and the two corps were widely separated both in distance and by a river. Furthermore, the terrain was highly favorable to the defender. A [[United States Army Ranger|U.S. Army Ranger]] force under Colonel [[William Orlando Darby]] consisting of three  Ranger [[battalion]]s and two [[Commandos (United Kingdom)|British Commando]] units was tasked with holding the mountain passes leading to [[Naples]], but no plan existed for linking the Ranger force with X Corps' follow-up units.{{Citation needed|reason=none of this was listed in the Grigg book, because Grigg focused on politics, not tactics|date=June 2024}} Finally, Clark ordered that no naval preparatory bombardment take place, concerned that surprise would be lost and reinforcements summoned if a bombardment was made.{{sfn|Hickey|Smith|1984|p=31}}

Approximately eight German divisions were positioned to cover possible landing sites, including the [[Hermann Goering Division]], 26th and 16th ''[[Panzer]]'', the 15th and 29th ''Panzergrenadier'', and the 1st and 2nd ''[[Fallschirmjäger (World War II)|Fallschirmjäger]]''.

== Order of battle ==
{{Further|Operation Avalanche naval order of battle}}
{{Further|Allied invasion of Italy order of battle}}

=== Allied ===
{{multiple image
 | direction = horizontal
 | width     = 120
 | header    = Naval and ground force commanders for Operation ''Avalanche''
 | image1    = H._Kent_Hewitt_Adm_USN.svg
 | caption1  = Vice Adm. H. Kent Hewitt, USN
 | image2    = Mark_Clark_cutout.jpg
 | caption2  = Lt. Gen. Mark W. Clark, USA
}}
{{multiple image
 | direction = horizontal
 | width     = 100
 | header    = Clark's corps commanders
 | image1    = New_Eighth_Army_Commander_at_Tac_Eighth_Army_Headquarters,_Italy,_1_October_1944_TR2378.jpg
 | caption1  = Lt. Gen. Richard L. McCreery, BA
 | image2    = Ernest_Dawley_1.jpg
 | caption2  = Maj. Gen. Ernest J. Dawley, USA
}}

'''Allied Landing Forces'''<ref>Morison 1954, pp. 391–394</ref>
: Embarked in Task Force 80: Western Naval Task Force
:: Vice Admiral [[H. Kent Hewitt]], USN
::: [[Image:United States Army North CSIB.svg|22px]] [[United States Army North|US Fifth Army]] (Lieutenant General [[Mark W. Clark|Mark Wayne Clark]], USA)
::::[[Image:X Corps.png|14px]] [[X Corps (United Kingdom)|British X Corps]] (Lt. Gen. [[Richard McCreery|Richard L. McCreery]], BA)
::::[[Image:US VI Corps SSI.png|14px]] [[VI Corps (United States)|US VI Corps]] (Maj. Gen. [[Ernest J. Dawley]], USA)

'''Northern Landing Area''' (South of Salerno)
: Embarked in Task Force 85: Northern Landing Force
:: Commodore G.N. Oliver, RN
::: [[Image:X Corps.png|20px]] [[X Corps (United Kingdom)|British X Corps]] (Lieutenant General '''[[Richard McCreery]],''' BA)
::::* [[46th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|46th Infantry Division]] (Maj.-Gen. [[John Hawkesworth (British Army officer)|John Hawkesworth]])
::::* [[56th (London) Infantry Division]] (Maj.-Gen. [[Douglas Graham (British Army officer)|Douglas Graham]])
::::* [[7th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)|7th Armoured Division]] (Maj.-Gen. [[George Erskine]])
::::* 3 [[United States Army Rangers|US Ranger]] Battalions (Lt. Col. [[William Orlando Darby|William O. Darby]], USA)
::::* 2 [[British Commandos|Commando]] Forces (Brig. [[Robert Laycock]])

'''Southern Landing Area''' (Paestum)
: Embarked in Task Force 81: Southern Landing Force
:: Rear Admiral [[John L. Hall Jr.]], USN
::: [[Image:US VI Corps SSI.png|20px]] [[VI Corps (United States)|US VI Corps]] (Major General [[Ernest J. Dawley]], USA)
::::* [[36th Infantry Division (United States)|36th Infantry Division]] (Maj. Gen. [[Fred L. Walker]], USA)
::::* [[45th Infantry Division (United States)|45th Infantry Division]] (Maj. Gen. [[Troy H. Middleton]], USA)

=== Axis ===
{{multiple image
 | direction = horizontal
 | width     = 140
 | header    = Army group and army commanders
 | image1    = Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R93434,_Albert_Kesselring.jpg
 | caption1  = Fld. Mrshl. Albert Kesselring
 | image2    = Heinrich_von_Vietinghoff.jpg
 | caption2  = GdPT Heinrich von Vietinghoff
}}

'''Army Group C'''<ref>Konstam 2013, p. 25</ref><br />
[[Generalfeldmarschall]] [[Albert Kesselring]]

:[[10th Army (Wehrmacht)|Tenth Army]]
:General [[Heinrich von Vietinghoff]]

::[[XIV Panzer Corps]]
::General der Panzertruppen [[Hermann Balck]]
:::''Deployed along coast from north to south of Naples:''
::* [[15th Panzergrenadier Division (Wehrmacht)|15th Panzergrenadier Division]] (Generalleutnant [[Eberhard Rodt]])
::* [[Fallschirm-Panzer Division 1 Hermann Göring|Panzer Division ''Hermann Göring'']] (Generalmajor [[Wilhelm Schmalz]])
::* [[16th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)|16th Panzer Division]] (Generalleutnant [[Rudolf Sieckenius]]){{efn|Absorbed the initial Allied assault}}

::[[LXXVI Panzer Corps]]
::General der Panzertruppen [[Traugott Herr]]
:::''Deployed in Calabria and Apulia:''
::* [[26th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)|26th Panzer Division]] (Generalleutnant [[Smilo Freiherr von Lüttwitz]])
::* [[3rd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|3rd Panzergrenadier Division]] (Generalleutnant [[Fritz-Hubert Gräser]])
::* [[29th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|29th Panzergrenadier Division]] (Generalleutnant [[Walter Fries]])

== Landings ==
[[File:Mark w clark 1943.jpg|thumb|US General [[Mark Wayne Clark]] on board [[USS Ancon (AGC-4)|USS ''Ancon'']] during the landings at Salerno, Italy, 12 September 1943.]]
{{unreferenced section|date=September 2020}}
{{More citations needed|section|date=September 2024}}
At Salerno the decision had been taken to assault without previous naval or aerial bombardment, in order to secure surprise. Tactical surprise was not achieved, as the naval commanders had predicted. As the first wave approached the shore at Paestum a loudspeaker from the landing area proclaimed in English, "Come on in and give up. We have you covered." The troops attacked nonetheless.

The Germans had established artillery and machine-gun posts and scattered tanks through the landing zones which made progress difficult, but the beach areas were successfully taken. Around 07:00 a concerted counterattack was made by the 16th Panzer division. It caused heavy casualties, but was beaten off with naval gunfire support. Both the British and the Americans made slow progress, and still had a 10-mile gap between them at the end of day one. They linked up by the end of day two and occupied 35–45 miles of coast line to a depth of six or seven miles.

General Montgomery had predicted ''Baytown'' would be a waste of effort because it assumed the Germans would give battle in Calabria; if they failed to do so, the diversion would not work. He was proved correct. After Baytown, the Eighth Army marched {{convert|300|mi|km}} north to the Salerno area against no opposition other than engineer obstacles.

During September 12–14 the Germans organized a concerted counterattack with six divisions of motorised troops, hoping to throw the Salerno beachhead into the sea before it could link with the British 8th Army. Heavy casualties were inflicted, as the Allied troops were too thinly spread to be able to resist concentrated attacks. The outermost troops were therefore withdrawn in order to reduce the perimeter. The new perimeter was held with the assistance of 4,000 paratroopers from the 82nd and [[509th Parachute Infantry Battalion|509th PIB]] who air dropped near the hot spots, from strong naval gunfire support, and from well-served Fifth Army artillery. The German attacks reached almost to the beaches but ultimately failed. The heavy gunfire of Allied battleships practically immobilised counterattacking German units with their sheer firepower, forcing the Germans to halt their counteroffensive and regroup.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Benbow |first=Tim |date=22 June 2022 |title=Battleships, D-Day, and naval strategy |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09683445211022765 |journal=[[War in History]] |language=en |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=684–703 |doi=10.1177/09683445211022765 |s2cid=237902151 |issn=0968-3445 |access-date=13 September 2023|doi-access=free }}</ref>

[[Mark W. Clark|General Clark]] was awarded the [[Distinguished Service Cross (United States)|Distinguished Service Cross]], the second-highest US award for valor in combat, for his front-line leadership during this crisis. He was frequently seen in the most forward positions encouraging the troops. However, in the estimate of historian [[Carlo D'Este]], both Clark and Harold Alexander bore responsibility for the Salerno landings being a near-disaster.{{sfn|D'Este|1991|pp=48-49}}

[[File:USS Savannah (CL-42) is hit by a German guided bomb, off Salerno, 11 September 1943.jpg|thumb|{{USS|Savannah|CL-42|6}} being struck by a German guided bomb off Salerno, 197 crewmen died in the attack and another 15 were injured<ref name="DANFS">{{cite web | url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/savannah-iv.html | title=Savannah (CL-42) iv | publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command | date=4 June 2015 | access-date=19 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303202922/http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/savannah-iv.html |archive-date=3 March 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
The Salerno battle was also the site of a mutiny by about 600 men of the British 10th Corps, who on September 16 refused assignment to new units as replacements. They had previously understood that they would be returning to their own units from which they had been separated during the fighting in the [[North African Campaign]], mainly because they had been wounded. Eventually the Corps commander, McCreery, persuaded most of the men to follow their orders. The [[Non-commissioned officer|NCOs]] who led the mutiny were sentenced to death, but were eventually allowed to rejoin units and the sentence was not carried out.

=== German strategy changes ===
[[File:ItalyDefenseLinesSouthofRome1943 4.jpg|thumb|Map of the [[Winter Line|German prepared defensive lines south of Rome]].]]
{{unreferenced section|date=September 2020}}
{{More citations needed|section|date=September 2024}}


The German 10th Army had come very close to overwhelming the Salerno beachhead. The Allies had been fortunate that at this time [[Adolf Hitler]] had sided with the view of his Army Group commander in Northern Italy, Field Marshall [[Erwin Rommel]], and decided that defending Italy south of Rome was not a strategic priority. As a result, the Army Group Commander in southern Italy, [[Albert Kesselring|Field Marshall Albert Kesselring]] had been forbidden to call upon reserves from the northern Army Group. The subsequent success of the German 10th Army's defensive campaign in inflicting very heavy casualties on both U.S. 5th and British 8th Armies and Kesselring's strategic arguments that the Allies should be kept as far away from Germany as possible led Hitler to change his mind in October at which point he withdrew Rommel to oversee the build-up of defenses in northern France and gave Kesselring command of the whole of Italy with a remit to keep Rome in German hands for the longest time possible.

==Aftermath ==
=== Casualties ===
General Clark in his book ''Calculated Risk'' reports that the X Corps suffered 531 killed in action, 1,915 wounded and 1,561 missing, while the VI Corps had 225 killed, 853 wounded and 589 missing.<ref name="Konstam p. 157">{{harvnb|Konstam|2007|p=157}}</ref> Clark also stated that most of the missing from both corps subsequently returned to the front lines. After a week long battle, the combined Allied losses were heavy, with 2,349 killed, 7,366 wounded and 4,100 missing.<ref name="whn">{{cite web|url=https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/2019/01/09/crushing-counterattack-at-salerno/|title= Crushing counterattack at Salerno|first=Arnold|last=Bloomberg|work=Warfare History Net|date= 24 December 2022}}</ref>

German losses numbered 840 killed, 2,002 wounded and 603 missing.<ref name="Konstam p. 157" />Most of these losses were inflicted by Allied naval support fire and field guns.<ref name="whn" />

=== Further Allied advances ===
{{unreferenced section|date=September 2020}}
{{More citations needed|section|date=September 2024}}
[[File:Salerno fight 6.gif|thumb|US [[Jeep]] and an M10 Tank Destroyer destroyed in Salerno.]]
With the Salerno beachhead secure, the 5th Army could begin to attack northwest towards Naples. The 8th Army had been making quick progress from the "toe" in the face of German engineer delaying actions{{clarify|date=February 2018}} and linked with the 1st Airborne Division on the Adriatic coast. It united the left of its front with the 5th Army's right on 16 September, and advancing up the Adriatic coast captured the airfields near [[Foggia]] on 27 September. Foggia was a major Allied objective because the large airfield complex there would give the Allied air forces the ability to strike new targets in France, Germany and the Balkans. The 5th Army captured [[Naples]] on 1 October, and reached the line of the [[Volturno]] River on October 6. This provided a natural barrier, securing Naples, the Campanian Plain and the vital airfields on it from counterattack. Meanwhile, on the Adriatic coast, the British 8th Army had advanced to a line from [[Campobasso]] to [[Larino]] and [[Termoli]] on the Biferno river.

Thus, by early October, the whole of southern Italy was in Allied hands, and the Allied armies now stood facing the [[Volturno Line]], the first of a series of prepared defensive lines running across Italy from which the Germans chose to fight delaying actions, giving ground slowly and buying time to complete their preparation of the [[Winter Line]], their strongest defensive line south of Rome. The next stage of the [[Italian Campaign (World War II)|Italian Campaign]] became for the Allied armies a grinding and attritional slog against skillful, determined and well prepared defenses in terrain and weather conditions which favoured defense and hampered the Allied advantages in mechanised equipment and air superiority. It took until mid-January 1944 to fight through the Volturno, [[Barbara Line|Barbara]] and [[Bernhardt Line|Bernhardt]] lines to reach the '''Gustav Line''', the backbone of the Winter Line defenses, setting the scene for the four [[Battle of Monte Cassino|Battles of Monte Cassino]] which took place between January and May 1944.

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
=== Print ===
* {{cite book
  | last  = D'Este
  | first = Carlo
  | title = Fatal Decision: Anzio and the Battle for Rome
  | year  = 1991
  | publisher = HarperPerennial
 | isbn  = 0-06-092148-X
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last  = Grigg
  | first = John
  | title = 1943: The Victory that Never Was
  | year  = 1985
  | publisher = Kensington Publishing Corporation
 | isbn  = 0-8217-1596-8
  }}
*{{cite book |last= Holland |first= James |year= 2023 |title= The Savage Storm: the Battle for Italy 1943 |location= London |publisher= Transworld |type= Paperback |isbn= 9781787636682}}
* {{cite book
  | last       = Konstam
  | first      = Angus
  | author-link = Angus Konstam
  | title      = Salerno 1943: The Allied Invasion of Italy
  | year       = 2007
  | publisher  = [[Pen and Sword Books]]
  | isbn       = 978-1-84415-517-0
  }} <small>– Total pages: 192 </small>
* {{cite book
  | last       = Konstam
  | first      = Angus
  | author-link = Angus Konstam
  | title      = Salerno 1943: The Allies invade southern Italy
  | year       = 2013
  | publisher  = [[Osprey Publishing]]
  | isbn       = 978-1-78096-249-8}} <small>– Total pages: 96 </small>
* {{cite book
  | last      = Morison
  | first     = Samuel Eliot
  | title     = Sicily – Salerno – Anzio, January 1943–June 1944
  | series    = History of United States Naval Operations in World War II
  | volume    = IX
  | year      = 1954
  | publisher = Little, Brown and Co.
  | location  = Boston
  | isbn      = 0-7858-1310-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Morris|first=Eric|title=La guerra inutile. La campagna d'Italia 1943–45|publisher=Longanesi|year=1993|location=Milan|isbn=978-88-304-1154-8}}
* {{cite book
  | last         = Muhm
  | first        = Gerhard
  | title        = Linea Gotica avanposto dei Balcani
  | chapter      = La Tattica tedesca nella Campagna d'Italia
  | editor-last  = Montemaggi
  | editor-first = Amedeo
  | edition      = Civitas
  | location     = Roma
  | year         = 1993
  | language     = it
  }}
* {{cite book
	| last1 = Hickey
	| first1 = Des 
    | last2 = Smith
	| first2 = Gus
	| title = Operation Avalanche: the Salerno landings, 1943 
	| publisher = McGraw-Hill
    | year = 1984
	| isbn = 0-07-028682-5
}}
·Salerno Remembered by Geoffrey Curtis. Published by The Queen's Royal Surrey Regimental Association 1988 ISBN 0 7110 1901 0

== Filmography ==
* [[A Walk in the Sun (1945 film)]], directed by [[Lewis Milestone]], US

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avalanche, Operation}}
[[Category:Battles of World War II involving the United States]]

[[Category:Invasions by the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War II operations and battles of the Italian Campaign]]
[[Category:Naval battles and operations of World War II involving the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Invasions by Canada]]
[[Category:Invasions by the United States]]
[[Category:Military history of Salerno]]
[[Category:Military history of Campania]]
[[Category:Airborne operations of World War II]]