On 10 July Berney-Ficklin's 5th Division landed on the Italian island of Sicily as part of the Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily. They were amongst the first British troops to land in Europe for more than three years. Before the day was over his division had captured Syracuse, with Augusta falling soon days later. Thereafter the division, aiming for Messina, who had faced only light resistance from the Italian Army, faced stiffening opposition from the Germans, in particular from the Hermann Göring Division in the Plain of Catania. Before the campaign was over, however, on 3 August Berney-Ficklin was relieved of his command and replaced as GOC by Major General Gerard Bucknall, a protégé of Montgomery's who was two years younger, and returned to England. Despite being a popular GOC, his performance in Sicily had impressed neither Montgomery or Dempsey, thus ending Berney-Ficklin's long association with the division. Ironically Bucknall, who commanded the 5th Division in the early stages of the Italian Campaign before being promoted to the command of XXX Corps in the Normandy Campaign, would himself be relieved of his command exactly a year later, for much the same reason as Berney-Ficklin was relieved. On 5 August Berney-Ficklin, for his services in Persia and Iraq, was mentioned in despatches.