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Invasion of Elba
The invasion of Elba, codenamed Operation Brassard, was part of the Italian campaign during the Second World War. The invasion was carried out from 17 to 19 June 1944 by Free French Forces supported by British and American ships and aircraft. According to the testimony of captured Germans, Allied activity had been observed on Corsica, thus the defenders were aware of the impending invasion 24 hours in advance. They resisted for two days before being given permission to withdraw to the mainland.
The Island of Elba is 6.2 mi (10 km) from the Italian mainland, opposite the coastal town of Piombino in Tuscany. The island is the third largest Italian island after Sicily and Sardinia and the largest of the Tuscan Archipelago. The island is 19 mi (30 km) long and varies from 11 mi (18 km) wide at the east and west ends to 2.5 mi (4 km) in the middle, The island is dry and mountainous, Monte Capanne, the highest point at 3,343 ft (1,019 m), is in the west and the coast has steep cliffs with deep semicircular bays. The population, about 30,000 in 1939, consisted of 12,000 people living in Portoferraio, the main harbour and 3,000 at Marciana, both on the north shore, the rest living in the sparsely populated interior.
When the armistice was announced on 8 September, the defence of the Tuscan coast near Elba was the responsibility of the II Corpo d'Amata (II Corps, Lieutenant-General Vittorio Sogno to 4 September 1943 then Lieutenant-General Gervasio Bitossi to 9 September) with its headquarters at Florence. The 215ª Divisione Costiera, had been formed on 1 August, with three regiments to defend the coast from Cecina and Orbetello and the Tuscan Archipelago. The 108th Reggimento Costiero (Colonnello Nicola De Stefanis) garrisoned the island with four fusilier battalions and two machine-gun battalions. There were four groups of artillery and one anti-aircraft battery on the island and nine navy coastal batteries. The military commander of the island, Generale di Brigata Achilles Gilardi, had a garrison of 8,300 men comprising 6,300 army and 2,000 navy personnel with about fifty Germans, mostly radar operators.
After the Allied invasions of Sicily, and the mainland, the Germans decided to evacuate the 90th Panzergrenadier Division from Sardinia and the Sturmbrigade Reichsführer-SS from Corsica, along with four fortress battalions and naval and air units on the islands, lest they be trapped by the Allies. Some Italian military units defected to the Allies and others, like a battalion of the 184th Infantry Division "Nembo" stayed loyal to the Axis; control of Elba was necessary for the evacuations. On 9 September, Gilardi was ordered "to act with force against acts of force committed by the Germans". The Italian Navy directed all ships in Tyrrhenian ports to sail to prevent them from falling into German hands, many of the ships heading for Portoferraio, including seven corvettes, 11 torpedo boats, four submarines and many smaller ships. Late on 9 September, Germans began to commandeer ships in Piombino, disarming the crews and Italian soldiers nearby; an Italian coastal battery opened fire, forcing the Germans to release the men and return the ships.
On the morning of 10 September, amidst the confusion, Italian army gunners mistook four Italian submarine chasers entering the Golfo di Procchio for Germans ships and opened fire on them. The ships withdrew and made for Piombino in bad weather. At noon, ships were seen approaching Portoferraio from the north-east. The corvettes Folaga, Ape and Cormorano sailed and engaged five German armed lighters, forcing them to turn back. In the afternoon reports were received from Piombino that many German ships had assembled in the harbour, including two torpedo boats, a minesweeper and twelve lighters and that the Germans were landing troops to cut the roads near the port. In the evening, the Italian authorities at Piombino requested help from the ships in Portoferraio but Ammiraglio Amedeo Nomis di Pollone, reported that nothing could be done until dawn.
On 11 September, Gilardi was ordered to negotiate with German commanders but refused, claiming that the order was contrary to the proclamation by the King. German aircraft flew over the island dropping leaflets which denounced the Badoglio government and gave an ultimatum Gilardi to surrender before 4:00 p. m. or the garrison would be annihilated by bombing; troops that fought on would be treated as terrorists and shot. The navy had ordered all its ships to sail for Palermo in Sicily and those seaworthy in Portoferraio complied. During the night, the German occupied Piombino on the mainland; on the night of 12/13 September, the coastal guns on Elba batteries fired on small boats approaching south of Porto Longone (now Porto Azzurro) on the east coast, that turned back. More approaches were attempted on the nights of 13/14, 14/15 September. Early on 15 September, a staff officer from II Corpo di Armata, with two German officers landed at Scoglietto, near Portoferraio, with a letter ordering Gilardi to surrender, which he rejected. The Germans tried to land on the islet of Palmaiola, at the north-eastern extremity of Elba but were forced back by the coastal artillery at Cannelle on Giglio Island. On 16 September, ten Luftwaffe bombers attacked Portoferraio, causing about 100 military and civilian deaths, with 150 injuries, far beyond the medical facilities on the island to cope. There was much damage and the anti-aircraft battery at Le Grotte, across the bay from Portoferraio, was damaged. Gilardi tried to open negotiations but a German invasion force was on the way from Livorno.
Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 52 (Ju 52) aircraft of II. Gruppe/Transportgeschwader 1 were ready for Unternehmen Goldfasan (Operation Golden Pheasant) at Ciampino airfield near Rome. Early on 17 September, the Ju52s flew about 600 paratroopers from III. Bataillon Fallschirmjäger Regiment 7 (3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment 7, Major Friedrich Hübner) and at 8:30 a.m., the paratroopers dropped in the open, across the bay from Portoferraio. I. Bataillon, Panzergrenadier-Regiment 200 (3rd Battalion, Mechanised Infantry Regiment 200, Oberstleutnant Heinrich von Behr) arrived from Livorno in ferries and landed at Portoferraio. The Italians offered no resistance and the Germans soon captured the garrison and took over the artillery batteries and barracks.
Behr demanded the surrender of arms, artillery and vehicles along with the coastal guns (some of which were spiked by their crews). The paratroopers quickly departed the island, the infantry remaining while reinforcements arrived. The Germans pressured the Italian prisoners to sign a declaration agreeing to remain in military service, volunteer for labour service or be deported to internment camps in Germany. Gilardi prevaricated until 3 October then returned the declarations, in which only two of his officers agreed to remain in the army. The Germans began making arrests and on 7 October accused Gilardi of sabotage, arresting him and 250 army and 50 naval officers. From Piombino, they were deported to prison camps in occupied Poland.
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Invasion of Elba AI simulator
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Invasion of Elba
The invasion of Elba, codenamed Operation Brassard, was part of the Italian campaign during the Second World War. The invasion was carried out from 17 to 19 June 1944 by Free French Forces supported by British and American ships and aircraft. According to the testimony of captured Germans, Allied activity had been observed on Corsica, thus the defenders were aware of the impending invasion 24 hours in advance. They resisted for two days before being given permission to withdraw to the mainland.
The Island of Elba is 6.2 mi (10 km) from the Italian mainland, opposite the coastal town of Piombino in Tuscany. The island is the third largest Italian island after Sicily and Sardinia and the largest of the Tuscan Archipelago. The island is 19 mi (30 km) long and varies from 11 mi (18 km) wide at the east and west ends to 2.5 mi (4 km) in the middle, The island is dry and mountainous, Monte Capanne, the highest point at 3,343 ft (1,019 m), is in the west and the coast has steep cliffs with deep semicircular bays. The population, about 30,000 in 1939, consisted of 12,000 people living in Portoferraio, the main harbour and 3,000 at Marciana, both on the north shore, the rest living in the sparsely populated interior.
When the armistice was announced on 8 September, the defence of the Tuscan coast near Elba was the responsibility of the II Corpo d'Amata (II Corps, Lieutenant-General Vittorio Sogno to 4 September 1943 then Lieutenant-General Gervasio Bitossi to 9 September) with its headquarters at Florence. The 215ª Divisione Costiera, had been formed on 1 August, with three regiments to defend the coast from Cecina and Orbetello and the Tuscan Archipelago. The 108th Reggimento Costiero (Colonnello Nicola De Stefanis) garrisoned the island with four fusilier battalions and two machine-gun battalions. There were four groups of artillery and one anti-aircraft battery on the island and nine navy coastal batteries. The military commander of the island, Generale di Brigata Achilles Gilardi, had a garrison of 8,300 men comprising 6,300 army and 2,000 navy personnel with about fifty Germans, mostly radar operators.
After the Allied invasions of Sicily, and the mainland, the Germans decided to evacuate the 90th Panzergrenadier Division from Sardinia and the Sturmbrigade Reichsführer-SS from Corsica, along with four fortress battalions and naval and air units on the islands, lest they be trapped by the Allies. Some Italian military units defected to the Allies and others, like a battalion of the 184th Infantry Division "Nembo" stayed loyal to the Axis; control of Elba was necessary for the evacuations. On 9 September, Gilardi was ordered "to act with force against acts of force committed by the Germans". The Italian Navy directed all ships in Tyrrhenian ports to sail to prevent them from falling into German hands, many of the ships heading for Portoferraio, including seven corvettes, 11 torpedo boats, four submarines and many smaller ships. Late on 9 September, Germans began to commandeer ships in Piombino, disarming the crews and Italian soldiers nearby; an Italian coastal battery opened fire, forcing the Germans to release the men and return the ships.
On the morning of 10 September, amidst the confusion, Italian army gunners mistook four Italian submarine chasers entering the Golfo di Procchio for Germans ships and opened fire on them. The ships withdrew and made for Piombino in bad weather. At noon, ships were seen approaching Portoferraio from the north-east. The corvettes Folaga, Ape and Cormorano sailed and engaged five German armed lighters, forcing them to turn back. In the afternoon reports were received from Piombino that many German ships had assembled in the harbour, including two torpedo boats, a minesweeper and twelve lighters and that the Germans were landing troops to cut the roads near the port. In the evening, the Italian authorities at Piombino requested help from the ships in Portoferraio but Ammiraglio Amedeo Nomis di Pollone, reported that nothing could be done until dawn.
On 11 September, Gilardi was ordered to negotiate with German commanders but refused, claiming that the order was contrary to the proclamation by the King. German aircraft flew over the island dropping leaflets which denounced the Badoglio government and gave an ultimatum Gilardi to surrender before 4:00 p. m. or the garrison would be annihilated by bombing; troops that fought on would be treated as terrorists and shot. The navy had ordered all its ships to sail for Palermo in Sicily and those seaworthy in Portoferraio complied. During the night, the German occupied Piombino on the mainland; on the night of 12/13 September, the coastal guns on Elba batteries fired on small boats approaching south of Porto Longone (now Porto Azzurro) on the east coast, that turned back. More approaches were attempted on the nights of 13/14, 14/15 September. Early on 15 September, a staff officer from II Corpo di Armata, with two German officers landed at Scoglietto, near Portoferraio, with a letter ordering Gilardi to surrender, which he rejected. The Germans tried to land on the islet of Palmaiola, at the north-eastern extremity of Elba but were forced back by the coastal artillery at Cannelle on Giglio Island. On 16 September, ten Luftwaffe bombers attacked Portoferraio, causing about 100 military and civilian deaths, with 150 injuries, far beyond the medical facilities on the island to cope. There was much damage and the anti-aircraft battery at Le Grotte, across the bay from Portoferraio, was damaged. Gilardi tried to open negotiations but a German invasion force was on the way from Livorno.
Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 52 (Ju 52) aircraft of II. Gruppe/Transportgeschwader 1 were ready for Unternehmen Goldfasan (Operation Golden Pheasant) at Ciampino airfield near Rome. Early on 17 September, the Ju52s flew about 600 paratroopers from III. Bataillon Fallschirmjäger Regiment 7 (3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment 7, Major Friedrich Hübner) and at 8:30 a.m., the paratroopers dropped in the open, across the bay from Portoferraio. I. Bataillon, Panzergrenadier-Regiment 200 (3rd Battalion, Mechanised Infantry Regiment 200, Oberstleutnant Heinrich von Behr) arrived from Livorno in ferries and landed at Portoferraio. The Italians offered no resistance and the Germans soon captured the garrison and took over the artillery batteries and barracks.
Behr demanded the surrender of arms, artillery and vehicles along with the coastal guns (some of which were spiked by their crews). The paratroopers quickly departed the island, the infantry remaining while reinforcements arrived. The Germans pressured the Italian prisoners to sign a declaration agreeing to remain in military service, volunteer for labour service or be deported to internment camps in Germany. Gilardi prevaricated until 3 October then returned the declarations, in which only two of his officers agreed to remain in the army. The Germans began making arrests and on 7 October accused Gilardi of sabotage, arresting him and 250 army and 50 naval officers. From Piombino, they were deported to prison camps in occupied Poland.