<P> By 8 September, Kesselring had concentrated Heinrich von Vietinghoff's 10th Army, ready to make a rapid response to any Allied landing . In Calabria, Herr's LXXVI Panzer Corps had two divisions concentrated in the Castrovillari area . Its third division, 1st Parachute Division (1 . Fallschirmjäger - Division), was deployed toward Taranto . The rearguard in the toe was BattleGroup von Usedom, comprising a single battalion (1 / 67th Panzergrenadier Regiment) with detachments of artillery and engineers . Meanwhile, Hube's XIV Panzer Corps was positioned to face possible landings from the sea with 16th Panzer Division in the Gulf of Salerno, the Hermann Göring Division near Naples and the 15th Panzergrenadier Division to the north in the Gulf of Gaeta . </P> <P> On 8 September (before the main invasion), the surrender of Italy to the Allies was announced, first by General Eisenhower, then in the Badoglio Proclamation by the Italian government . Italian units ceased combat and the Navy sailed to Allied ports to surrender . The German forces in Italy were prepared for this and implemented Operation Achse to disarm Italian units and occupy important defensive positions . </P> <P> Operation Slapstick commenced on 9 September . The first echelon of the British 1st Airborne Division arrived on four British cruisers, a U.S. cruiser, and the British fast minelayer HMS Abdiel . The Italian battleships Andrea Doria and Caio Duilio with two cruisers passed by, en route to surrender in Malta . There were no Germans in Taranto and so disembarkation was unopposed . The only casualties occurred when Abdiel, at anchor, struck a mine and sank in minutes, with 168 killed and 126 injured . On 11 September, as patrols were sent further afield, there were some sharp encounters with elements of the German 1st Parachute Division . But 1st Parachute could do little but skirmish and fall back because most of its strength was attached to the 26th Panzer and Herman Göring Divisions at Salerno . Major - General George Frederick Hopkinson, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the British 1st Airborne Division, was mortally wounded in one of these actions . By 11 September the ports of Bari and Brindisi, still under Italian control, were occupied . </P> <P> Operation Avalanche--the main invasion at Salerno by the American Fifth Army under Lieutenant General Mark Clark--began on 9 September 1943, and in order to secure surprise, it was decided to assault without preliminary naval or aerial bombardment . However, as Admiral Henry Hewitt, the amphibious force commander, had predicted, tactical surprise was not achieved . As the first wave of Major General Fred Walker's U.S. 36th Infantry Division approached the Paestum shore at 03: 30 a loudspeaker from the landing area proclaimed in English: "Come on in and give up . We have you covered ." The Allied troops attacked nonetheless . </P>

W italian port the site of allied landings in ww11