Italy’s D-Days

THIS weekend is the anniversary of the Salerno landings in Italy. Everyone remembers D-Day in Normandy, but nowadays Operation Avalanche is rarely mentioned.

Italy had three D-Days — Sicily, Salerno and Anzio, which should not be forgotten. The Salerno landings in September 1943, in which I participated while serving with the Royal Signals, was hard-fought, and at one point we were poised to evacuate.

The lessons learned from Operation Torch in Africa and the Italian landings helped the successful planning of the Normandy landings.

F. G. SMITH, Long Eaton, Notts.