Hitler's final testament appointed Doenitz as President of the German Reich. He was sentenced to ten years imprisonment at the Nuremberg Trials and released from Spandau in 1956. 1940- april 1945. The Royal Naval Commandos , by S. H. Kipling. Relative strength on the eve of the battle.
Allied forces invade Sicily, Italy.
Sicily and Italy 1943-1945 Sicily was invaded on 10 July 1943 and by August had been completely captured. The Allies moved on to invade Italy in September and gained their first foothold on the continental mainland since 1940. German forces occupied the peninsula when Italy agreed to an armistice. The Allied advance was slow and costly and hindered not only by very strong defences but also by the withdrawal of resources in preparation for the landings in northern France. The landings at Anzio in January 1944, intended to clear the path to Rome, faced heavy German counter-attack, and the effort to clear Cassino on the way to Rome took five months of bitter fighting.