Eagles over Husky: The Allied Air Forces and the Sicilian Campaign, 14 May to 17 August 1943

Alexander Fitzgerald Black has an MA in Military History from the University of New Brunswick and another MA in Public History from the University of Western Ontario. He presently works as a historian with the Juno Beach Centre Association and is interested in researching the Canadian military history in general, particularly air power in the Second World War, with a special focus on the Mediterranean. In 2014 he published "Eagles over Husky: The Allied Air Forces and the Sicilian Campaign, 14 May to 17 August 1943." He will share the findings of his book in this podcast .

As part of the Canadian Active Service Force (CASF), The Royal Canadian Regiment sailed overseas in December 1939 and trained in England until late June 1943 for a mission they did not know until boarding ships for the Mediterranean Sea. On route, more precisely close to destination, they found out they were to land in Sicily, as part of a large amphibious operation named Operation HUSKY. Army commanders relied heavily on tactical air power to destroy Axis forces in Sicily. The airmen of the Allied air forces - the Eagles over HUSKY - played a crucial role in the assault. The Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica provided a significant part of the Axis force meant to defend the island of Sicily and throw the Allies back into the sea. The Allied air forces foiled this effort and inflicted losses on a German Air Force badly needed on other fronts. Raids on mainland Italian railway transport crippled Axis resupply efforts. The same strikes brought pressure on the Italian state to denounce Fascism and join the Allied side. The result was a strategic victory which forced Nazi Germany to stand alone in defence of southern Europe.