There are numerous small traces of Operation Husky, but the 1943 campaign does not have the deep historical resonance of other events in Sicily’s long history. The “Museo Storico dello Sbarco in Sicilia 1943” in Catania is the only museum dedicated to the campaign. It is a modern facility opened by the regional government in 2000 and containing many displays and exhibitions in the contemporary style with associated films and information displays. Several of the battlefield sites have small plaques or memorials, but they are not especially obvious in most cases. Monuments can be found dotted around the island in small numbers, predominantly commemorating incidents involving the Allied forces. There are hundreds of the distinctive dome-shaped Italian bunkers still surviving on Sicily, especially along the coast. The naval strongholds and ports such as Syracuse, Augusta, Palermo, and Messina have a profusion of these, though many have become overgrown since the war or absorbed into new construction. In view of the relative lack of memorials and museums, a useful guide is the ever-dependable “After the Battle” magazine, which devoted an issue to Operation Husky (Number 77, 1992). A few artifacts have survived outside Sicily. The Ordnance Museum at Aberdeen Proving Ground for many years displayed three vehicles captured on Sicily, a Renault R-35 of 5a compagnia, 102o Battalione carri, a Semovente 47/37 from an unidentified battalion, and a Semovente 90/53 from 10o Raggruppamento Semoventi.
There are numerous memorials to the 1943 campaign scattered around Sicily. Here, Lt. Cdr. Joaquin Correia from the US Naval Air Station Sigonella and Dr Giuseppe Abbate from the Gela Kiwanis Club take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the memorial at Ponte Dirillo on July 9, 2009, the 66th anniversary of the invasion. This memorial is located at the base of the Biazza ridge; the photo of the Ponte Dirillo defenses shown earlier in this book are still located in the hills above. (US Navy)