1943 – Operation Avalanche

The World War 2 the Allied landing on mainland Italy took place on 3 September, 1943. This operation followed the successful invasion of Sicily.



The World War 2 the Allied landing on mainland Italy took place on 3 September, 1943. This operation followed the successful invasion of Sicily.

The main invasion force landed around Salerno on Italy’s western coast in Operation Avalanche, while two supporting operations took place in Calabria (Operation Baytown) and Taranto (Operation Slapstick).

RFA support for this operation was provided by RFA Derwentdale (1) which had been fitted out as an LSG with 4 gantry crane extensions these travelled the Main deck on rails and  could lower the 15 LCM (1’s) carried over the side in a 30 minute period.

During the Operation RFA Derwentdale (1) was damaged by enemy bombing and had to be towed to Malta and onwards to the UK for repairs