133rd (Parachute) Field Ambulance involved in was Operation Slapstick, a landing at the port of Taranto during the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943. Slapstick was in part a deception operation, to divert German forces away from the main Allied landings at Salerno (Operation Avalanche), which would be taking place on the same day and also an attempt to seize intact the ports of Taranto and Brindisi. The main advantage of Tranato was its large port. Positioned on the eastern side of the country, together with the expected capture of Naples in the west by the Americans, it would give the Allies two
Allied Force Headquarters in command of AFHQ until January 1944, overseeing the Allied invasion of Sicily (with the codename of Operation Husky), which began on 10 July 1943 and the Allied invasion of the Italian mainland (codenamed Operation Baytown and Operation Avalanche), on 3 September 1943. Eisenhower then a full general, returned to the United Kingdom in December to assume command of the Allied forces assembling for Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy, scheduled for the spring of 1944. He was succeeded by General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson. Wilson's title became Supreme Commander, Mediterranean Theater of Operations. Wilson was in command for