On 3 September Montgomery's Eighth Army landed on the toe of Italy directly opposite Messina, and Italy surrendered on 8 September. The main landing of Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark's U.S. Fifth Army, with the British X Corps under Lieutenant-General Richard McCreery under command, took place at Salerno on 9 September. The landings were fiercely opposed by the Germans who had brought up six divisions during the delay between the capture of Sicily and the invasion of in Italy, and at one point consideration was given to an evacuation. A third landing, Operation Slapstick at Taranto on the heel of Italy, was carried out by the British 1st Airborne Division, landing not by air but by sea. One consequence of the Eighth Army's landing on the toe of Italy was that they were now away from the main landings at Salerno, and in no position to offer any assistance. It was not until 16 September that forward patrols from the Eighth Army made contact with the U.S. 36th Infantry Division. 16 September is also notable for the Salerno Mutiny by about 600 men of the 50th (Northumbrian) and 51st (Highland) Infantry Divisions. They had sailed from Tripoli, on the understanding that they were to join the rest of their units, which were then based in Sicily. Instead, once aboard ship, they were told that they were being taken to Salerno, to join the British 46th Infantry Division. Naples was reached on 1 October 1943 by the 1st King's Dragoon Guards, and the U.S. Fifth Army, which now consisted of five American and three British divisions, reached the line of the Volturno River on 6 October. This provided a natural defensive barrier, which secured Naples, the Campanian Plain and the vital airfields on it from a German counterattack. Meanwhile, on the Adriatic coast, the Eighth Army had advanced to a line from Campobasso to Larino and Termoli on the Biferno river, but by the end of the year were still short of the Italian capital of Rome.