The 34th Degree

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It was the stormy, moonless night of July 9, 1943, when American and British forces landed on Sicily, catching the Germans and Italians by surprise. Within seventy-two hours, more than five hundred thousand troops touched shore. It would be a matter of weeks before Italy surrendered to the Allies and declared war on her former ally Germany.

As a result, fierce fighting broke out among the German and Italian garrisons on the Greek islands in September. The German commandant of Cefalonia declared open season on Italians when he told his troops: “Hunters! The next twenty-four hours are yours.” Four thousand Italians were shot that day. On Corfu, the fighting was especially heated, and the Italians and Germans clashed with such fury that a violent fire broke out and swept the island.

As for Corfu’s former Italian commandant, Buzzini, he was no longer stationed on the island, having shrewdly managed to get himself and Sergeant Racini demoted by means of appearing incompetent. He was waiting on the beaches of Sicily the night the Allies landed, smug in the confidence that he knew something the Fuhrer didn’t.

Thus, when U.S. Army second lieutenant Billy Hayfield’s landing craft touched shore, the dumbfounded Texan was greeted by one of the most unusual sights of World War II as Buzzini and other so-called defenders of Sicily helped his unit unload.