7th Bn Royal Marines - Operation Husky - River Dittaino

Unit/ Formation: Royal Marines

Location: Sicily

Period/ Conflict: World War II

Year: 1943

Date/s: 20 July 1943

7th Battalion Royal Marines, which began the campaign commanding a beach area, then as one of the first units into Catania.

7th Battalion RM conducted a 75 Mile yomp into Sicily to support 51st Highland Division, a compass march toward the enemy on the River Dittaino.

The battalion under command 51st Highland Division (51(H) Div) were warned off for an assault operation across the River Dittaino on the morning of 20 July, with little time to prepare.

Operation Husky

7th Bn was to be on the left of the Division, filling a gap between them and 231 Bde. The mission of the battalion was to protect the left flank of 51st (H) Div, establish a bridgehead over the Dittaino River, road and railway in the vicinity of Muglia station, and be prepared to advance to Catenanuova on orders.

Muglia station today (Google)

7th Bn’s crossing place was code-named Leopard, one of three crossings to be attacked that night, the others being Jaguar and Lion to the south east. The battalion was told to expect little opposition, maybe a platoon or two of Italians.

The operation was not a success. In his book “Haste to the Battle”, a record of the final months of 7thBn RM and the formation and operations of 48 RM Commando, General Moulton makes the point that “there is little doubt that the 7th Battalion was committed to battle with little chance of success, (and) for no very adequate reason”.

The intelligence picture provided by HQ 51(H) Div was weak and compounded by the reports from the forward troops of 153 Bde overlooking the Dittaino. Contrary observations by the battalion officers on the afternoon of 19 July were dismissed by the Intelligence Staff of HQ 51(H) Div.

The consequent lack of artillery and armoured support is therefore perhaps understandable, but also a significant contributory factor to the failure of the 7th Bn assault. The battalion suffered 74 casualties of which 14 were killed. [1]

Related Royal Marines 'Dits':

• 7th Ballalion RM - 31st Beach Brick - Operation Husky

• John Field - RM People "We thought we were immortal.” Operation Husky

• Amphibious Lessons Learned - Operation Husky 10 July 1943

  
  

References/ Further Reading:

[1] Extracts from text by George Gelder Royal Marine Historian