Operation Avalanche fighting in Italy continued even after the fall of Berlin. In addition, the invasion left the Allies in a position of supplying food and supplies to conquered territory, a burden which would otherwise have fallen on Germany. As well, Italy occupied by a hostile German army would have created additional problems for the German Commander-in-Chief Albrecht von Kesselring. The main landings were scheduled one week later, 9 September 1943. The main force would land around Salerno on the western coast in "Operation Avalanche". It would consist of the US Fifth Army under General Mark W. Clark, comprising the U.S. VI
Operation Flagpole (World War II) force supported it. As a result of the meetings, Clark secured the agreement of the French. On October 24, Clark's mission returned to "Seraph" after some inadvertent delays, and later met a seaplane that flew them back to Gibraltar, arriving back in London on October 25. Operation Flagpole was followed by Operation Kingpin, in which Général Giraud, code-named "Kingpin", was released from French "Zone libre" confinement and brought to Gibraltar . Operation Flagpole (World War II) Operation Flagpole was part of the run-up to Operation Torch, the planned Allied invasion of North Africa during World War II. It involved arranging