United Kingdom[3]982 killed4,060 wounded2,230 missingRoyal Navy:83 killed42 wounded United States[3]5th Army:788 killed2,841 wounded1,318 missingUS Navy:296 killed422 wounded551 missing Invasion of Italy Winter Line Gothic Line 1945 Spring Offensive Operation Avalanche was the codename for the Allied landings near the port of Salerno, executed on 9 September 1943, part of the Allied invasion of Italy during World War II.

The Italians withdrew from the war the day before the invasion, but the Allies landed in an area defended by German troops.

Its primary objectives were to seize the port of Naples to ensure resupply, and to cut across to the east coast, trapping the Axis troops further south.

The Germans had established artillery and machine-gun posts and scattered tanks through the landing zones which made progress difficult, but the beach areas were captured.

Over 12–14 September the Germans organized a concerted counterattack by six divisions of motorized troops, hoping to throw the Salerno beachhead into the sea before it could link with the British Eighth Army.

Following the defeat of the Italian Forces and Afrika Korps in North Africa, there was disagreement between the Allies as to what the next step should be.

In addition, it would tie down German forces, keeping them away from the planned Allied invasion of Normandy – codenamed Operation Overlord.

The Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943, codenamed Operation Husky, was highly successful, although many of the Axis forces there were allowed to avoid capture and escape to the mainland.

More importantly a coup deposed Benito Mussolini as head of the Italian government, which then began approaching the Allies to make peace.

Essentially, the plan sought to weaken German and Italian forces in Southern and Central Italy by shifting Axis focus away from those regions.

Its primary objectives were to seize the port of Naples to ensure resupply, and to cut across to the east coast, trapping Axis troops further south.

The 1st British Airborne Division would be landed by sea near Taranto, on the "heel" of Italy in Operation Slapstick, as a diversion for Salerno.

The Germans had established artillery and machine-gun posts and scattered tanks through the landing zones which made progress difficult, but the beach areas were successfully taken.

General Montgomery had predicted Baytown would be a waste of effort because it assumed the Germans would give battle in Calabria; if they failed to do so, the diversion would not work.

After Baytown, the Eighth Army marched 300 miles (480 km) north to the Salerno area against no opposition other than engineer obstacles.

During September 12–14 the Germans organized a concerted counterattack with six divisions of motorised troops, hoping to throw the Salerno beachhead into the sea before it could link with the British 8th Army.

The new perimeter was held with the assistance of 4,000 paratroopers from the 82nd and 509th PIB who air dropped near the hot spots, from strong naval gunfire support, and from well-served Fifth Army artillery.

The Salerno battle was also the site of a mutiny by about 600 men of the British 10th Corps, who on September 16 refused assignment to new units as replacements.

The subsequent success of the German 10th Army's defensive campaign in inflicting very heavy casualties on both U.S. 5th and British 8th Armies and Kesselring's strategic arguments that the Allies should be kept as far away from Germany as possible led Hitler to change his mind in October at which point he withdrew Rommel to oversee the build-up of defenses in northern France and gave Kesselring command of the whole of Italy with a remit to keep Rome in German hands for the longest time possible.

The 8th Army had been making quick progress from the "toe" in the face of German engineer delaying actions[clarification needed] and linked with the 1st Airborne Division on the Adriatic coast.