Battle of Regalbuto 1943 Talk

Battle of Regalbuto 1943 Talk

There will be a talk on Thursday 27th February at The Army Reserve Centre, Poundbury Road, Dorchester DT1 1TA at 6.30 pm. The talk will be given by Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) James Porter. Entrance costs £5 and wine is on sale at £2 per glass. Proceeds go to The Keep Military Museum, Dorchester. Further details from [email protected]

The talk explores the planning behind the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943, the massive invasion operation (which paved the way for D-Day Normandy less than a year later), the disastrous airborne forces operations and the dogged ground fighting which led to victory in Sicily - albeit allowing the Germans to carry out a successful evacuation across the Straits of Messina into Italy. 

Central to the talk is the daring battalion night attack by the 2nd Battalion of The Devonshire Regiment at Regalbuto, near Mount Etna. The British advance had been held up by ferocious German resistance on a ridge outside the town of Regalbuto which constituted a vital part of the German defence line in front of Mount Etna. The DEVONS' night attack took the German defence completely by surprise and although heavily counter-attacked, the battalion succeeded in capturing the ridge after which the Germans abandoned Regalbuto. The speaker has a particular interest in this battle because his father took part in it and was wounded in the hand-to-hand fighting which took place during the German counter-attack.