Today In History:  11 July  [1943]   --  United States Army paratroopers from North Africa jump into Sicily.

On the night of the 11th-12th July the U.S. Army Air Forces' 52nd Troop Carrier Wing flies United States Army paratroopers from North Africa for a parachute landing in Sicily.
Carrying men of the 82nd Airborne Division’s 504th Regimental Combat Team, the 144 transport aircraft flew in darkness at low level over Allied ships offshore and Allied troops on the front line, arriving during an Axis bombing attack, and both the ships and troops ashore mistakenly open fire on them. Twenty-three of the aircraft are shot down, with the loss of 100 lives.

PHOTO: Two USAAF C-47A Skytrains from the 81st Troop Carrier Squadron, loaded with paratroopers on their way for the invasion of southern France (Operation Dragoon).

Photo Attribution:  Public Domain  via Wikimedia.