Mediterranean sea, southwest coast of Sicily island. It was the early morning of 10 July 1943 when the first landing craft dropped their ramps at Gela and the first units of US Rangers set their boots on Italian soil. Together with the British and Canadian units that had landed further east, the Western Allies launched an unprecedented landing operation to push open the gate to Fortress Europe. The night before, on 9 July, American and British airborne troops had already dropped into enemy territory behind the planned beach landing zones to occupy important positions. This was to prevent or delay timely counterattacks by Italian and German troops on the day of the landing. This operation, called Husky, was the beginning of the end of the Italian army as an ally of the German Wehrmacht. It was the additional front, long demanded by Stalin, and thus brought the necessary relief of the Eastern Front.