AN AMERICAN CRUISER SHELLING DEFENSES in the Gela beach area during the early morning of D Day. The naval bombardment, which started at 0345, silenced the few coastal batteries that protected the beaches. Large-scale enemy resistance on the beaches did not materialize during the landings.
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ALLIED SHIPS UNDER AERIAL BOMBARDMENT. At daybreak on D Day enemy air forces launched a series of bombing and strafing attacks on the ships offshore and on the troops along the beaches.
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U. S. AMMUNITION SHIP EXPLODING as result of a direct hit by an enemy bomb during the late afternoon of 11 July 1943. The ship burned throughout the night, furnishing a brilliant beacon for enemy aircraft. The Allies made several attempts to sink the ship, but the water was too shallow.
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