Looking south toward Gela which is about 1 mile away. The landing beach is marked by the oil refinery built upon it after the war. The terrain is flat and slopes gently to the sea - perfect for a massive tank maneuver. American land and sea artillery support held off the attackers along the main axis but the tanks attacking the flanks were stopped by the individual effort of infantrymen of the First Division and the 82nd Airborne.
	The Piano Lupo ridgeline marking the right flank of the counterattack. Here the 16th Infantry Regiment stopped the Panzer columns with small arms and improvised explosives. Just beyond it, Ponte Dirilo where an effort "above and beyond" by an improvised force of scattered 82 Airborne Division troopers stopped another Panzer column cold.
	The site of Ponte Olivo Airfield a main target of the invasion force.
	Beyond Ponte Olivo the Piano Lupo ridgeline.
	A Panzer commander's view of Gela. American artillery made this a rather unhealthy place for German tankers, post-war photos show both sides of Highway 117 littered with destroyed German tanks and guns. The oil refinery was built on the beach where Patton himself landed with the 1st ID.
	The Piano Lupo just south of Priolo, looking northeast. A massive armored thrust by the Hermann Goering Division moved down this valley from Niscemi with the intention of throwing the "Big Red One" back to the sea which is less than two miles behind me. I am standing on the front line where the 16th Infantry Regiment dug in and stopped the column - ending the possiblity of Axis victory in Sicily.