 of Sicily. In these pictures you will see the naval side of the great Allied operation. This was just part of the biggest invasion armada in history, plowing its way across the Mediterranean. An armada made up of scores of different classes of vessels totaling over 2,000 ships in all. Transport, landing craft, escort cruisers, destroyers, small vessels, all of them protected by a strong force of battleships and aircraft carriers. Island of Sambra, near the north-easterly tip of Tunisia. Passing Cape Bonn itself. Only a short time ago a quarter of a million of the enemy surrendered not far from here. At last, after weeks of painstaking planning, the invasion is on. The first leg of the advance into occupied Europe. A destroyer comes alongside to transfer a military expert who's been brought out with urgent information. He's slung across while the ship steamed their course of speed. A nice piece of work, but I dare say he was glad when it was over. Before the ships of the armada, life on the surface went on much as usual. Actually of course, every man in every ship was keyed up to the last degree. Attack by enemy aircraft was expected at every moment, but a strong reception awaited any hostile planes that might allude the RAF and the fleet aircraft. Then suddenly, in a matter of a few hours, the wind rose to Gale Force. To the big ships it mattered little, but it was another thing for the smaller vessels and the landing craft, if this weather kept up. After weeks of the most meticulous calculations, and it's hard to imagine the extraordinary amount of detail involved in such an operation as this, was it all to go for nothing, simply owing to a freak of weather? How were the men to get ashore in such a swell and in such a wind? Hope and gloom alternated in the mind of every man there, as suddenly as it had arisen, the wind fell away. The miracle had happened. While on the shores of the North African mainland, there were scenes of intense activity. After months of arduous training, British and American paratroops were to have their baptism of fire. Whole fleets of aircraft stood ready to carry their tough passengers to where they do the most damage, behind the enemy lines in Sicily. There they would destroy bridges, power stations, defense points, eventually linking up with the Allied forces landed from the Great Armada, appointment in Sicily, thunderous duel between the great guns of the Allied warships and the Axis coast defenses. Years of intensive training and patient waiting now reached a climax. Now they would end the spearhead of this invasion of Axis territory. On those Sicilian beaches in the face of strong enemy opposition were landed as well as the Canadians, men of the United States forces, the 8th Army, and a host of other British and Dominion fighting men, all under the command of General Alexander. They did assure others had the pleasure of landing in ducks, their amphibious half landing craft, half lorry. It was quite a job keeping the camera steady, coming ashore in one. Thus, the Allied invasion operations began from the beaches of the Axis Sicilian stronghold, operations which are now nearing completion, which resulted in the downfall of Benito Mussolini and which will go forward until Italy and then Germany lay down their arms with unconditional surrender.