Battle of Troina The Battle of Troina took place between 31 July and 6 August 1943 , a part of the Allied invasion of Sicily during World War II . Forces of the US II Corps , part of the US Seventh Army , engaged in fierce fighting around the town of Troina in the central portion of Sicily along the Caronie Mountains . The battle focused around the numerous hills and mountains surrounding Troina which the Germans had heavily fortified and used as bases for direct and indirect fire . Background . On 29 July 1943 , after 20 days of combat , it was clear to both the Allied and German high commands that Sicily was lost and 80 , 000 - 100 , 000 American and British troops would break through the German and Italian Etna Line . The US 7th Army commander , Lieutenant General George S . Patton Jr , had ordered the US 1st and 9th Infantry Divisions to be moved into the valley to attack the city of Troina . Generals Omar Bradley ( the commander of US II Corps ) and Patton ordered the two divisions be pulled out of the line once Troina fell . Troina was considered one of the main anchors of the Etna Line . It was defended by the 15th Panzer Grenadier Division commanded by Generalleutnant Eberhard Rodt and four battalions of General di Divisione Giacomo Romano ' s 28 Infantry Division Aosta . The Axis forces , in deep trenches , had a clear view of the oncoming Allied soldiers , who had little cover . The battle . The Battle of Troina began on 31 July , when the Germans repelled an advance by the 39th Infantry Regiment , a 9th Infantry Division formation temporarily attached to the 1st Division . This setback forced Bradley and Major General Terry de la Mesa Allen ( the commander of the 1st Infantry Division ) , to orchestrate a massive assault . Over the next six days the men of the 1st Infantry Division , together with elements of the 9th Division , a French Moroccan infantry battalion , 165 artillery pieces ( divided among 9 battalions of 105 - mm howitzers , 6 battalions of 155 - mm howitzers , and 1 battalion of 155 - mm " Long Tom " guns ) , and numerous Allied aircraft , were locked in combat with Troina ' s tenacious defenders . Control of key hilltop positions changed hands often , with the Germans and Italians launching more than two dozen counterattacks during the week - long battle . During one Italian counterattack , Lieutenant - Colonel Giuseppe Gianquinto ' s 1st Battalion , 5th Regiment of the ' Aosta ' managed to take 40 American prisoners . The experience of Colonel John Bowen ' s 26th Infantry Regiment was fairly typical of the action around Troina . The 26th ' s assignment was to outflank Troina by seizing Monte Basilio two miles north of the town . From here , the regiment would be positioned to cut the Axis line of retreat . Bowen moved his soldiers forward on 2 August supported by the fire of 1 battalion of 155 - mm howitzers , 4 battalions of 105 - mm howitzers and 4 " Long Tom " batteries . Despite this weighty arsenal , German artillery fire and difficult terrain limited the regiment ' s advance to half a mile . The next morning one of the regiment ' s battalions lost its bearings in the hilly terrain and wandered around ineffectually for the remainder of the day . A second battalion reached Monte Basilio with relatively little difficulty , only to be pounded by Axis artillery fire directed from neighboring hills . The 115th Panzergrenadier Regiment launched a failed offensive to retake the mountains ; they were repelled by machine gun fire . For the next two days the men on Monte Basilio were pinned down by artillery fire . Determined to hold Troina for as long as possible , the Germans reacted strongly to the threat the 26th Regiment posed to their line of communications . Axis pressure practically cut off the men on Monte Basilio from the rest of the 1st Division , and attempts to resupply them from the air were only partially successful . By 5 August food and ammunition were low and casualties had greatly depleted the regiment , with one company mustering only seventeen men effective for duty . It was at this point that the German infantry attacked again , touching off another round of furious fighting . During the battle , Pvt . James W . Reese moved his mortar squad to a position from which he could effectively engage the advancing German infantry . The squad maintained a steady fire on the attackers until it began to run out of ammunition . With only three mortar rounds left , Reese ordered his crew to the rear while he advanced to a new position and knocked out a German machine gun with the last rounds . He then shouldered a rifle and continued to engage the enemy until he was killed by a barrage of hostile fire . Through the efforts of men like Reese , the 26th Infantry held its position . The United States recognized Reese ' s heroism posthumously by awarding him the Medal of Honor . The Germans evacuated Troina later that night . Hard pressed by American forces throughout the Troina sector and unable to dislodge the 26th Regiment from its position threatening his line of retreat , General Hube withdrew the badly damaged 15th Panzer Grenadier Division toward Randazzo . As the 9th Infantry Division took up the pursuit , the 1st Division retired for a well - deserved rest . While the 1st Infantry Division battled for possession of Troina , General Truscott ' s 3rd Division encountered opposition at San Fratello , the northern end of the Etna Line . Here the 29th Panzer Grenadier Division along with the Italian 26th Assietta Infantry Division , that had been allocated the most exposed section of the line , had entrenched itself on a ridge overlooking the coastal highway . Truscott made repeated attempts to crack the San Fratello position beginning on 3 August , but failed to gain much ground . The strength of the German position prompted him to try to outflank it by an amphibious end run . On the night of 7 – 8 August , while the 3rd Battalion , 15th Infantry Regiment , and 3rd Battalion , 30th Infantry Regiment , seized a key hill along the San Fratello Line , Lieutenant Colonel Lyle Bernard led the 2nd Battalion , 30th Infantry Regiment , reinforced by two batteries from the 58th Armored Field Artillery Battalion , a platoon of medium tanks , and a platoon of combat engineers , in an amphibious landing at Sant ' Agata , a few miles behind San Fratello . The amphibious assault force achieved complete surprise and quickly blocked the coastal highway . Unfortunately , the Germans had selected that night to withdraw from San Fratello , without advising the Italian defenders . and most of their troops had already retired past Bernard ' s position by the time the Americans arrived . Nevertheless , the 3rd Infantry Division ' s combined land and sea offensive took over 1 , 000 prisoners Aftermath . Allied pressure had broken the Etna Line , but there would be no lightning exploitation of the victory . Taking maximum advantage of the constricting terrain and armed with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of mines , General Hube withdrew his XIV Panzer Corps in orderly phases toward Messina . Patton made a second bid to trap the 29th Panzer Grenadier Division on 11 August , when he sent Colonel Bernard on another amphibious end run , this time at Brolo . Once again Bernard ' s men achieved complete surprise , but they soon came under heavy pressure as the German units trapped by the landing tried to batter their way out . Bernard ' s group proved too small to keep the Germans bottled up , and by the time Truscott linked up with the landing force , the bulk of the 29th Panzer Grenadier Division had escaped .