For weeks the Germans had noted allied landing boats piling up in Mediteranean harbors, had nervously trumpeted their findings to the world. Then distinguished visitors began arriving in Italy for front-row seats—Prime Minister Winston Churchill, U.S. Navy Secretary James Forrestal, Undersecretary of War Robert P. Patterson, Supply Chief Lieut. General Brehon Somervell, General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, Supreme Allied Commander in the Mediterranean, announced he had moved his headquarters to Italy from North Africa.
Four days before the landings, some of the German suspense was lifted. Allied air fleets began an unmistakable preparation...
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