Operation Avalanche

A new Royalist government under Marshal Badoglio then engaged in secret negotiations to switch Italy from the Axis to the UN camp. It was agreed that Italy’s September 8, 1943 surrender announcement would coincide with major landings by the British 8th Army at Taranto (Operation Slapstick) and the British reinforced American 5th Army at Salerno (Operation Avalanche).

As a diversion, other units of the 8th Army crossed the Strait of Messina, which separates Sicily from the Italian mainland, at Reggio on September 3 (Operation Baytown). Batswana combat and support troops participated in all three of these landings.