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WWII On This Day: July 11

What happened on July 11 during World War II? This date brings together 4 events from 1943, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1943
Troops of the British 51st Highland Division unload stores and vehicles from landing craft on the Sicily coast on 10 July 1943.
Lt C. H. Parnall / Royal Navy / Imperial War Museums A 17916 · UK Government public domain
Operation Husky: The Invasion of Sicily

German and Italian attacks threaten the American line at Gela

German and Italian troops pressed the shallow American bridgehead near Gela during 10–11 July. Infantry of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division fought alongside newly landed armour and artillery as Axis tanks approached the coast. U.S. naval warships answered calls for gunfire against moving targets and assembly areas, reinforcing defenders who had only a narrow strip of ground between the beaches and the attacking formations. The counterattack was checked, and Axis units withdrew inland.

Continue in Operation Husky: The Invasion of Sicily →
The ammunition ship SS Robert Rowan explodes off Gela after an air attack on 11 July 1943.
The ammunition ship SS Robert Rowan explodes off Gela after an air attack on 11 July 1943. U.S. Army wartime photograph / NARA 531165 · U.S. government public domain Source
Operation Husky: The Invasion of Sicily

The SS Robert Rowan explodes during air attacks off Gela

German aircraft attacked shipping supplying the Gela beachhead on 11 July. The ammunition ship SS Robert Rowan was hit, caught fire and exploded in the roadstead after personnel abandoned her. The loss occurred while landing craft and supply ships were still delivering the vehicles and ammunition needed to maintain the beachhead. The photographed explosion records a continuing threat to the naval support system offshore.

Continue in Operation Husky: The Invasion of Sicily →
Soldiers of 6th Durham Light Infantry meet an American paratrooper at Avola on 11 July 1943.
Soldiers of 6th Durham Light Infantry meet an American paratrooper at Avola on 11 July 1943. Sgt Travis / No. 2 Army Film & Photographic Unit / IWM NA 4614 · UK Government public domain Source
Operation Husky: The Invasion of Sicily

British troops meet American paratroopers at Avola

British infantry advancing inland from the southeastern beaches met scattered American paratroopers at Avola on 11 July. Their encounter illustrated how widely airborne units had been dispersed from the intended assembly areas. By linking isolated detachments with units moving from the coast, Allied commanders could begin restoring communications and moving the battle toward the roads north of Syracuse.

Continue in Operation Husky: The Invasion of Sicily →
A Tiger tank of the SS panzer corps during the battle of Kursk, July 1943.
Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Zschaeckel-206-35 · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE · Source
Battle of Kursk 1943

Both sides prepare to attack on the same ground

On 11 July II SS Panzer Corps prepared to continue the advance toward Prokhorovka while Voronezh Front organised a major counterattack by 5th Guards Tank Army and supporting formations. The battlefield west and southwest of the settlement already contained Soviet anti-tank works, an anti-tank ditch, railway embankments and German positions taken during the preceding advance. Rotmistrov's army had reached the sector after a rapid concentration from the Steppe Front. Its attack plan aimed to strike the German armoured force before the penetration could widen, while Hoth still expected to improve…

Continue in Battle of Kursk 1943 →