On August 13 American troops captured Randazzo. To the south, British and Canadian troops forced the Germans from the slopes of Mt. Etna. Axis forces flooded toward Messina. On the night of August 15-16 Montgomery tried an amphibious landing of his own, putting elements of his commando and armored units ashore at Scaletta, just eight miles from Messina.

Subscribe Today

• Did you enjoy our article?
• Read more in American History magazine
• Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!!!
 

Patton ordered a third "leap-frog" operation for that same night, but by then American troops were moving so fast that they had already passed the scheduled landing site by the time the ship borne force arrived. Around 10:00 p.m. on August 16 elements of Truscott's 3rd Division entered bomb-scarred Messina. Patton immediately notified Eisenhower and Alexander, and called Bradley to tell him "we would enter Messina in the morning at 1000 hours."

Early the next morning as the last of the Axis troops slipped off the island, Patton met Truscott, Keyes, and a host of reporters on a hill outside town. "What in hell are you all standing around for?" he bellowed. Bradley remained conspicuously absent. "This is a great disappointment to me," Patton later wrote, "as I had telephoned him, and he certainly deserved the pleasure of entering the town." But Bradley wanted no part of Patton's pomp and ceremony. Minutes later, a procession of army vehicles led by Patton's command car roared into Messina, chased all the way by exploding shells fired by Axis guns on the Italian mainland.

After fighting their way over mined roads and around blown-up bridges in the early-morning hours, Lieutenant Colonel J.M.T.F. Churchill's British commandos reached the city only to find the Americans already there. At about 10:30 a.m., Patton pulled into the city square just as a squadron of Brigadier J.C. Currie's British 4th Armored tanks rumbled into town. Both Churchill and Currie had brought along a set of bagpipes to celebrate beating the Americans into town. "I think the general was quite sore that we had got there first . . . ." Patton wrote. Currie climbed out of his Sherman tank to shake hands with a glowing Patton. "It was a jolly good race," Currie said with a smile. "I congratulate you."

Patton's victorious, hell-for-leather drive on Messina restored some luster to an otherwise badly managed campaign. Rather than firmly coordinating the moves of Seventh and Eighth Armies, Alexander had vacillated, first backing down to Montgomery and then allowing, almost forcing, Patton to set his own course. Poor decisions, such as the reassignment of Highway 124 to Montgomery (and poor air cover over the Messina Straits), ultimately cost time, and allowed Axis ships and ferries to evacuate roughly 60,000 Italian soldiers, 40,000 Germans, 10,000 vehicles, and 17,000 tons of equipment from the island–all of which would soon be used against the Allies in Italy.

The race had significant, if less tangible, repercussions for Patton and American fighting men. The fast-moving Seventh Army had proved itself the equal of Eighth Army and set a new standard in mobile warfare. The Americans, Montgomery admitted after the war, had "proved themselves to be first-class troops. It took time; but they did it more quickly than we did."

Patton was entirely satisfied with his own performance. "Of course, had I not been interfered with on the 13th of July by a full change of plan," he wrote to his wife, "I would have taken Messina in ten days, but then I would have had to turn back to get Palermo, so it all came out O.K." Although Alexander would continue to rate British troops above the Americans, Patton had effectively exorcised the demons of Kasserine Pass.

Yet the Sicilian campaign almost ended Patton's 34-year army career. Reports of the two slapping incidents made their way to Eisenhower and, even worse, a small group of reporters. Eisenhower was furious. He ordered Patton to apologize to the soldiers involved and warned him that such behavior "will not be tolerated in this theater no matter who the offender may be." Meanwhile he asked the reporters to refrain from publishing the story for the good of the Allied cause. Patton was his best general and would be needed again. They agreed.

Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to