[1] Montgomery had objected to Baytown as ineffective, preferring to prioritise Operation Avalanche, but followed orders and prepared to carry it out anyway.

[2] The German commander, Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring, and his staff did not believe the Calabria landing was the main Allied attack, which they expected at Salerno, or possibly north of Naples, or even near Rome.

A single German regiment was left at the southernmost tip of Italy to support the Italian 211th Coastal Division.

[3] Italian troops on the coast, belonging to the coastal divisions, were poorly equipped, demoralized by the political situation and the massive Allied bombardment; they offered no resistance to the landing.

An exception was the 185th Infantry Regiment "Nembo" which was attached to the 211th Coastal Division,[6] had provided more determined resistance on the Aspromonte massif, but was eventually overcome on 8 September 1943.