The fall of the Lamba Doria coastal battery

The "Lamba Doria" coastal battery was built in the Maddalena peninsula, near Capo Murro di Porco (Syracuse), in the late 1930s. It had an important role in the Augusta-Siracusa fortress, as it was armed with three 152 mm naval guns, whose firing range allowed them to keep the entire the Gulf of Noto under control. The battery also included three fixed emplacements of 20 mm "Oerlikon" anti-aircraft machine guns.

The commander of the Lamba Doria battery in 1943 was MILMART Major Antonino Pandolfo, from Syracuse; the battery was manned by a mix of artillerymen and personnel from the MILMART (Coastal Artillery Militia, a branch of the MVSN – better known as Blackshirts – tasked with manning coastal batteries).

As part of the British plan for the landing in the Syracuse area, a SAS unit was tasked with attacking and disabling the Lamba Doria battery. The unit included 250 men commanded by Major Mayne, who sailed on July 7 from Port Said on board the ship Ulster Monarch, landed on the Sicilian coast and climbed the rocky face of Capo Murro di Porco.

At 02,15 on July 10 the special troops of Major Mayne, after killing the sentries along the perimeter, attacked the battery. The outnumbered personnel of the battery resisted and fought with rifles and hand grenades till about 4,00/4,30, when the survivors surrendered and were taken prisoner and transferred to the prison camp set up by the British in Cassibile.

The British sappers blew up the 152 mm naval guns; once they captured this battery, the British could easily control the Gulf of Noto and complete the mass landing of personnel and equipment on the beaches.

Some members of the battery personnel were questioned, between 1944 and 1945, by the enquiry commission tasked with investigating the fall of the Augusta-Syracusa fortress:

MILMART Lance Corporal Paolino Carmelo, born in Pozzallo in 1914, was a rangefinder operator, and as such he was in the Fire Direction Center when the attack took place:

"At about 21.30 hours the air raid alarm was given, at about 22.00 hours the battery and neighboring areas were illuminated by the launch of many flares, the anti-aircraft batteries had opened fire against enemy aircraft, which flew at low altitude over our battery; our 20 mm machine guns were firing with rapid fire, hitting some of the planes. At about 23, the Commander of the battery, Pandolfo Antonino, who also was in the Fire Direction Center, gave orders for a possible attack of paratroopers, and then started to load his submachine rifle; at this point he accidentally pulled the trigger and fired a burst that hit me, as I was in front of him. I was hit by three bullets, two in the left leg, one of them passing through the leg and exiting, whereas the other remained in the leg; the third bullet hit me in the left arm and is still inside. After this, the medical lieutenant of the Southern Group was called, and gave me first aid.

At about 1.00 the British attacked the Lamba Doria, which defended itself with the available means; at approximately 4.30 the battery was overwhelmed; at approximately 5.30 the British, after blowing up the naval guns, took away all the prisoners with them and left in the battery all the wounded, myself included. Other wounded who remained in the battery were Spataro Rosario, Montes Agusto, Inturri Paolo, Sebastiano Garofalo.

In the evening two British officers had the most seriously wounded loaded on two trucks and transported to the hospital in Syracuse. I remained in battery, and I later reached Syracuse by myself, where I was treated by a civilian doctor."

Corpsman Sebastiano Bottaro, born in Syracuse in 1919, was also in Fire Direction Center during the British attack; he reported that the men in the FDC fought the attackers with Carcano rifles and hand grenades and then, "At about 4 o'clock the enemy forces received reinforcements, captured the battery and took prisoner the personnel. We left many dead and wounded on the ground, and were led to the POW Camp in Cassibile. After two days, by eluding the vigilance of the guards, I managed to escape from the camp and took refuge in Syracuse in my own home."

Artillery Corporal Gaspare Midolo, born in Syracuse in 1913, stated that "We defended the Fire Direction Center along with other Legionaries, and at approximately 4 the battery fell to the British.

The British having blown up the naval guns, lined us up and brought us to the POW Camp in Cassibile. We left on the ground about 7 dead and a dozen wounded, including some serious.

After a ten day stay at the camp (I was to be shipped to Africa) I took advantage of the lack of surveillance on a side of the camp and I managed to escape and take refuge in my own home, taking back up my occupation as a mechanic".

The attack of the British forces at the Lamba Doria coastal battery was probably the first fight on Sicilian soil during Operation Husky. The fall of this battery had a deleterious effect in the decisions of the commanders of the other batteries in the Maddalena Peninsula, as they decided to abandon the positions without a fight, as it happened in the nearby Emmanuele Russo Battery.