Invasion of Elba
Encyclopedia
The Invasion of Elba, codenamed Operation Brassard, was part of the Italian Campaign
in the Second World War
.
The invasion was carried out by Free French Forces
supported by British
and American
ships and aircraft. It came as a complete surprise to the German
garrison although it had been reinforced for just such a possibility. The defenders resisted for two days before being given permission to withdraw to the mainland.
15th Army Group—under the command of General
Sir Harold Alexander
—captured Rome
on 4 June 1944 and forced the German 14th and 10th Armies to withdraw into Northern Italy. This success was followed by orders for the invasion of southern France
, Operation Dragoon
. The 15th Army Group were asked to supply the majority of the troops for the landings. This reduced the U.S. 5th Army to five divisions
. The whole of the 15th Army Group now only consisted of 18 divisions, and the reduction in strength put on hold any plans Alexander had of reaching the Gothic Line
by August 1944.
One operation they could still carry out was the invasion of Elba (Operation Brassard), which had initially been scheduled for 25 May, at the same time as Operation Diadem
. The landings had then been postponed because of the shortage of support aircraft and to allow the inexperienced French troops more time for training. The objectives of the invasion were to prevent the Germans using the island as a forward outpost and to provide a gun position for Allied artillery
to interdict
traffic on the Piombino
canal. It is not known if the Germans were aware of the Allied plans, but Adolf Hitler
"attached great importance to holding Elba as long as possible." On 12 June, the German commander in Italy—Field Marshal Albert Kesselring
—was informed that "Elba must be defended to the last man and the last cartridge." On 14 June, German reinforcements started to arrive on Elba from Pianosa
. The decision to reinforce Elba was not known to the Allies who believed the naval activity between the island and the mainland was in fact an evacuation.
Thomas Hope Troubridge
of the Royal Navy
. He was in command of Force N, which would be responsible for landing the assault division. The division chosen for the assault was the French 9th Colonial Infantry Division, comprising the 4th and 13th Regiments Senegalese Tirailleurs
, the Bataillion de Choc Commando, a Moroccan Goumier battalion and 200 mule
s. Because of the shallow waters large naval and transport ships could not be used. The only naval gunfire support would be provided by Landing Craft "Hedgehogs" and the "Insect"-class
gunboat
s and .
The naval force would be formed into three groups:
In the briefing immediately prior to the landing, Troubridge said he expected the shore batteries to have been taken out by aerial bombardment and the commandos. He also said the garrison only consisted of about 800 men. Mostly of Polish or other non-German nationalities who were unlikely to put up much resistance.
and Bastia
. To preserve the surprise, there was no pre-invasion bombing until the night of 16/17 June, when 26 Vickers Wellington
s bombed Portoferraio and Porto Longone. The 270 ships of the invasion fleet arrived off Elba just after midnight on 17 June, when ships from Group 1 disembarked 87 men from the Bataillion de Choc Commando in rubber dinghys 0.5 mi (0.434487041036717 nmi; 0.80467 km) offshore of Cape Enfola. The naval group then started laying a smokescreen to create a diversion. At 03:15, three other boats started laying smoke north of Portoferraio. With the German gun batteries engaging a retreating PT boat, four others made toward Portoferraio to simulate landing craft approaching, firing salvos of rockets and dropping dummies overboard to give the impression of troops wading ashore.
In the south, the main invasion force was approaching the island when, at 03:38, a signal flare
was fired and the Germans opened fire on the landing craft. The Royal Navy Commandos of Able 1 and Oboe 3 Commando with Able 2 in reserve landed at 03:50. They approached the beach toward their objective: the heavily-armed German flak ship Köln, which was berthed at Marina di Campo and had a commanding view of both beaches. This made its capture or destruction vital to the landings. The A1 Commando were assigned the task of capturing the ship, while O3 Commando would defend the jetty from any attack by German reinforcements. The two landing craft of the Royal Navy Commandos entered the bay of Marina di Campo and made for the flak ship. They came under heavy fire before one landing craft was hit and ran aground; the landing craft managed to get alongside the flak ship before also being hit by gunfire. The men of A commando quickly captured Köln while O Commando secured the jetty. Both commandos now waited for the French to secure the village.
The LCVP
s carrying the French division beached right on time to be met by heavy machine gun
and 88 mm (3.46 in) fire. By 07:00, the German defences in the hills above Kodak Amber beach had forced the incoming landing craft to lay smoke and withdraw. The heavy defensive fire forced the follow-up waves of landing craft to divert to Kodak Green beach, which caused some congestion on the beachhead. Delays and German gunfire kept some landing craft off shore until 14:00.
The Royal Navy Commandos—unaware of the diversion to the other beach—had to wait some hours before the French cleared the village and reached them. It was during this time that the Royal Navy Commandos suffered their greatest losses. The commandos were under continuous artillery and small arms fire, which is believed to have set off two demolition charges on the jetty, blowing a 30 ft (9.1 m) hole in the concrete structure. The force of the explosions killed almost all the commandos and their prisoners. It also set fire to Köln and exploded the ammunition stowed on board.
Within two hours of the landings, French commandos had reached the crest of the 1300 ft (396.2 m) Monte Tambone Ridge overlooking the landing areas. Portoferraio was taken by the 9th Division on 18 June, and the island was largely secured by the following day. Fighting in the hills between the Germans and the Senegalese colonial infantry was vicious, with the Senegalese employing flamethrower
s to clear entrenched German troops.
On 19 June, the German commander asked for permission to evacuate what was left of his forces. By the evening on 20 June, they had successfully evacuated 400 men to the mainland.
had made the continued occupation of the island by the Germans untenable.
The Germans defended Elba with two infantry battalions, fortified coastal areas, and several coastal artillery batteries totalling some 60 guns of medium and heavy calibre. In the fighting for the island, the Germans lost 500 dead, with another 1,995 becoming prisoners of war. French losses were 252 killed or missing, and 635 men wounded, while the British lost 38 killed and nine wounded. General de Tassigny went on to command the French 1st Army in the invasion of southern France. This force fought through Europe to the Austrian border by the end of the war.
Italian Campaign (World War II)
The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. Joint Allied Forces Headquarters AFHQ was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre, and it planned and commanded the...
in the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
The invasion was carried out by Free French Forces
Free French Forces
The Free French Forces were French partisans in World War II who decided to continue fighting against the forces of the Axis powers after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation and, in the case of Vichy France, collaboration with the Germans.-Definition:In many sources, Free...
supported by British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
ships and aircraft. It came as a complete surprise to the German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
garrison although it had been reinforced for just such a possibility. The defenders resisted for two days before being given permission to withdraw to the mainland.
Background
The AlliedAllies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
15th Army Group—under the command of General
General (United Kingdom)
General is currently the highest peace-time rank in the British Army and Royal Marines. It is subordinate to the Army rank of Field Marshal, has a NATO-code of OF-9, and is a four-star rank....
Sir Harold Alexander
Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis
Field Marshal Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis was a British military commander and field marshal of Anglo-Irish descent who served with distinction in both world wars and, afterwards, as Governor General of Canada, the 17th since Canadian...
—captured Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
on 4 June 1944 and forced the German 14th and 10th Armies to withdraw into Northern Italy. This success was followed by orders for the invasion of southern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Operation Dragoon
Operation Dragoon
Operation Dragoon was the Allied invasion of southern France on August 15, 1944, during World War II. The invasion was initiated via a parachute drop by the 1st Airborne Task Force, followed by an amphibious assault by elements of the U.S. Seventh Army, followed a day later by a force made up...
. The 15th Army Group were asked to supply the majority of the troops for the landings. This reduced the U.S. 5th Army to five divisions
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
. The whole of the 15th Army Group now only consisted of 18 divisions, and the reduction in strength put on hold any plans Alexander had of reaching the Gothic Line
Gothic Line
The Gothic Line formed Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's last major line of defence in the final stages of World War II along the summits of the Apennines during the fighting retreat of German forces in Italy against the Allied Armies in Italy commanded by General Sir Harold Alexander.Adolf Hitler...
by August 1944.
One operation they could still carry out was the invasion of Elba (Operation Brassard), which had initially been scheduled for 25 May, at the same time as Operation Diadem
Operation Diadem
Operation Diadem, also referred to as the Fourth Battle of Monte Cassino was an offensive operation undertaken by the Allies in May 1944, as part of the Italian Campaign. It was launched at 2300 Hours on 11 May 1944 to break the German defenses on the western half of the Winter Line and open up...
. The landings had then been postponed because of the shortage of support aircraft and to allow the inexperienced French troops more time for training. The objectives of the invasion were to prevent the Germans using the island as a forward outpost and to provide a gun position for Allied artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
to interdict
Interdiction
Interdiction is a military term that refers to the act of delaying, disrupting, or destroying enemy forces or supplies en route to the battle area. A distinction is often made between strategic and tactical interdiction...
traffic on the Piombino
Piombino
Piombino is an Italian town and comune of circa 35,000 inhabitants in the province of Livorno . It lies on the border between the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea, in front of Elba Island and at the northern side of Maremma.-Overview:...
canal. It is not known if the Germans were aware of the Allied plans, but Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
"attached great importance to holding Elba as long as possible." On 12 June, the German commander in Italy—Field Marshal Albert Kesselring
Albert Kesselring
Albert Kesselring was a German Luftwaffe Generalfeldmarschall during World War II. In a military career that spanned both World Wars, Kesselring became one of Nazi Germany's most skilful commanders, being one of 27 soldiers awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords...
—was informed that "Elba must be defended to the last man and the last cartridge." On 14 June, German reinforcements started to arrive on Elba from Pianosa
Pianosa
The small island of Pianosa , about in area, forms part of Italy's Tuscan Archipelago. Its name comes from the Italian pianura . Its highest point stands above sea level. Pianosa is part of the Elba island municipality. On clear days, Elbans see Pianosa as a dark blue line over the lighter blue sea...
. The decision to reinforce Elba was not known to the Allies who believed the naval activity between the island and the mainland was in fact an evacuation.
Planning
The naval commander for the operation was Rear-AdmiralRear Admiral (Royal Navy)
Rear Admiral is a flag officer rank of the British Royal Navy. It is immediately superior to Commodore and is subordinate to Vice Admiral. It is a two-star rank and has a NATO ranking code of OF-7....
Thomas Hope Troubridge
Thomas Hope Troubridge
Vice Admiral Sir Thomas Hope Troubridge KCB DSO & Bar was a Royal navy officer who went on to become Fifth Sea Lord.-Naval career:...
of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. He was in command of Force N, which would be responsible for landing the assault division. The division chosen for the assault was the French 9th Colonial Infantry Division, comprising the 4th and 13th Regiments Senegalese Tirailleurs
Senegalese Tirailleurs
The Senegalese Tirailleurs were a corps of colonial infantry in the French Army recruited from Senegal,French West Africa and throughout west, central and east Africa, the main province of the French colonial empire...
, the Bataillion de Choc Commando, a Moroccan Goumier battalion and 200 mule
Mule
A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny...
s. Because of the shallow waters large naval and transport ships could not be used. The only naval gunfire support would be provided by Landing Craft "Hedgehogs" and the "Insect"-class
Insect class gunboat
The Insect class patrol boats were a class of small, but well-armed Royal Navy ships designed for use in shallow rivers or inshore. They were intended for use on the Danube...
gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
s and .
The naval force would be formed into three groups:
- Group 1 comprised Motor Torpedo BoatMotor Torpedo BoatMotor Torpedo Boat was the name given to fast torpedo boats by the Royal Navy, and the Royal Canadian Navy.The capitalised term is generally used for the Royal Navy boats and abbreviated to "MTB"...
s and PT boatPT boatPT Boats were a variety of motor torpedo boat , a small, fast vessel used by the United States Navy in World War II to attack larger surface ships. The PT boat squadrons were nicknamed "the mosquito fleet". The Japanese called them "Devil Boats".The original pre–World War I torpedo boats were...
s. They would initially create diversions and land the French Commandos on the northern side of the island. Their objective would be the gun batteries located there. - Group 2 would comprise five Landing craft infantryLanding Craft InfantryThe Landing craft, Infantry or LCI were several classes of sea-going amphibious assault ships of the Second World War utilized to land large numbers of infantry directly onto beaches. They were developed in response to a British request for a vessel capable of carrying and landing substantially...
and eight Motor LaunchMotor LaunchA Motor Launch is a small military vessel in British navy service. It was designed for harbour defence and submarine chasing or for armed high speed air-sea rescue....
es each towing a Landing Craft AssaultLanding Craft AssaultThe Landing Craft Assault was a British landing craft used extensively in World War II. Its primary purpose was to ferry troops from transport ships to attack enemy-held shores. The craft derived from a prototype designed by John I. Thornycroft Ltd. During the war it was manufactured throughout...
. Their objective was four beaches on the south coast. - Group 3 comprised the main force, in nine Landing Craft Infantry, four Landing Ship Tank, three Motor Launches towing Landing Craft Support (Medium). The main landings would be on two beaches codenamed Kodak Amber and Kodak Green at 04:00. They would be followed at 04:30 by another 28 Landing craft infantry and after dawn by 40 Landing craft tankLanding craft tankThe Landing Craft, Tank was an amphibious assault ship for landing tanks on beachheads. They were initially developed by the British Royal Navy and later by the United States Navy during World War II in a series of versions. Initially known as the "Tank Landing Craft" by the British, they later...
, bringing in heavier equipment.
In the briefing immediately prior to the landing, Troubridge said he expected the shore batteries to have been taken out by aerial bombardment and the commandos. He also said the garrison only consisted of about 800 men. Mostly of Polish or other non-German nationalities who were unlikely to put up much resistance.
Invasion
On 16 June, the day before the invasion, German reconnaissance aircraft spotted two flotillas of invasion ships, but thought they were just the normal naval convoys between NaplesNaples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
and Bastia
Bastia
Bastia is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It is also the second-largest city in Corsica after Ajaccio and the capital of the department....
. To preserve the surprise, there was no pre-invasion bombing until the night of 16/17 June, when 26 Vickers Wellington
Vickers Wellington
The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a...
s bombed Portoferraio and Porto Longone. The 270 ships of the invasion fleet arrived off Elba just after midnight on 17 June, when ships from Group 1 disembarked 87 men from the Bataillion de Choc Commando in rubber dinghys 0.5 mi (0.434487041036717 nmi; 0.80467 km) offshore of Cape Enfola. The naval group then started laying a smokescreen to create a diversion. At 03:15, three other boats started laying smoke north of Portoferraio. With the German gun batteries engaging a retreating PT boat, four others made toward Portoferraio to simulate landing craft approaching, firing salvos of rockets and dropping dummies overboard to give the impression of troops wading ashore.
In the south, the main invasion force was approaching the island when, at 03:38, a signal flare
Flare (pyrotechnic)
A flare, also sometimes called a fusee, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a brilliant light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for signalling, illumination, or defensive countermeasures in civilian and military applications...
was fired and the Germans opened fire on the landing craft. The Royal Navy Commandos of Able 1 and Oboe 3 Commando with Able 2 in reserve landed at 03:50. They approached the beach toward their objective: the heavily-armed German flak ship Köln, which was berthed at Marina di Campo and had a commanding view of both beaches. This made its capture or destruction vital to the landings. The A1 Commando were assigned the task of capturing the ship, while O3 Commando would defend the jetty from any attack by German reinforcements. The two landing craft of the Royal Navy Commandos entered the bay of Marina di Campo and made for the flak ship. They came under heavy fire before one landing craft was hit and ran aground; the landing craft managed to get alongside the flak ship before also being hit by gunfire. The men of A commando quickly captured Köln while O Commando secured the jetty. Both commandos now waited for the French to secure the village.
The LCVP
LCVP
The Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel or Higgins boat was a landing craft used extensively in amphibious landings in World War II. The craft was designed by Andrew Higgins of Louisiana, United States, based on boats made for operating in swamps and marshes...
s carrying the French division beached right on time to be met by heavy machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
and 88 mm (3.46 in) fire. By 07:00, the German defences in the hills above Kodak Amber beach had forced the incoming landing craft to lay smoke and withdraw. The heavy defensive fire forced the follow-up waves of landing craft to divert to Kodak Green beach, which caused some congestion on the beachhead. Delays and German gunfire kept some landing craft off shore until 14:00.
Within two hours of the landings, French commandos had reached the crest of the 1300 ft (396.2 m) Monte Tambone Ridge overlooking the landing areas. Portoferraio was taken by the 9th Division on 18 June, and the island was largely secured by the following day. Fighting in the hills between the Germans and the Senegalese colonial infantry was vicious, with the Senegalese employing flamethrower
Flamethrower
A flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to project a long controllable stream of fire.Some flamethrowers project a stream of ignited flammable liquid; some project a long gas flame. Most military flamethrowers use liquids, but commercial flamethrowers tend to use high-pressure propane and...
s to clear entrenched German troops.
On 19 June, the German commander asked for permission to evacuate what was left of his forces. By the evening on 20 June, they had successfully evacuated 400 men to the mainland.
Aftermath
The invasion of Elba was of doubtful necessity. The advance of the U.S. 5th Army past GrossetoGrosseto
Grosseto is a city and comune in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the Province of Grosseto. The city lies 14 km from the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Maremma, at the centre of an alluvial plain, on the Ombrone river....
had made the continued occupation of the island by the Germans untenable.
The Germans defended Elba with two infantry battalions, fortified coastal areas, and several coastal artillery batteries totalling some 60 guns of medium and heavy calibre. In the fighting for the island, the Germans lost 500 dead, with another 1,995 becoming prisoners of war. French losses were 252 killed or missing, and 635 men wounded, while the British lost 38 killed and nine wounded. General de Tassigny went on to command the French 1st Army in the invasion of southern France. This force fought through Europe to the Austrian border by the end of the war.