Day 2

A busy day touring Sicily from Palermo, south to the landing beaches and then east to Syracuse.

On the road from Palermo on the north coast of Sicily to the landing beaches on the south coast. We are following the axis of advance of the 45th Infantry Division in reverse. After Montgomery decided to expand the zone of the British thrust, the 45th, now without assignment, pivoted around the rear of the U.S. First Infantry Division and moved northward to the outskirts of Palermo between the 1st and 3rd Divisions.

Modern highways and bridges allowed us to follow the 17 day advance of the 45th in about 3 hours.

Beautiful and rugged central Sicily. Perhaps an infantryman in 1943 might have had a different opinion.

North of Licata, we stop to view the ruins of a bridge over the Scalzo River destroyed by the retreating Germans in 1943.
It is said that not a single bridge remained standing in Sicily.

The beaches around the port of Licata, Sicily were the sites of the 3rd Infantry Division invasion on the western flank of the U.S. zone. This marker denotes Green Beach, where the 3rd Ranger Battalion and the 2nd Battalion, 15th Infantry began the liberation of Sicily in the early morning of 10 July 1943. The rest of the 3rd Division landed on similar beaches east and west of the port of Licata and moved on the city from three sides.

	On the road from Palermo on the north coast of Sicily to the landing beaches on the south coast. We are following the axis of advance of the 45th Infantry Division in reverse. After Montgomery decided to expand the zone of the British thrust, the 45th, now without assignment, pivoted around the rear of the U.S. First Infantry Division and moved northward to the outskirts of Palermo between the 1st and 3rd Divisions.
	Modern highways and bridges allowed us to follow the 17 day advance of the 45th in about 3 hours.
	Beautiful and rugged central Sicily. Perhaps an infantryman in 1943 might have had a different opinion.
	North of Licata, we stop to view the ruins of a bridge over the Scalzo River destroyed by the retreating Germans in 1943.
	It is said that not a single bridge remained standing in Sicily.
	The beaches around the port of Licata, Sicily were the sites of the 3rd Infantry Division invasion on the western flank of the U.S. zone. This marker denotes Green Beach, where the 3rd Ranger Battalion and the 2nd Battalion, 15th Infantry began the liberation of Sicily in the early morning of 10 July 1943. The rest of the 3rd Division landed on similar beaches east and west of the port of Licata and moved on the city from three sides.