Video: 'Allied Forces Enter Messina - 1943 | Today In History | 17 Aug 17'

(Tuesday, August 17, 1943, at about 10:00 a.m. Central European Summer Time; during the Allied invasion of Sicily, part of the Italian Campaign of World War II) — The U.S. 7th Army, commanded by General George S. Patton, one of the most revered, skilled and yet controversial figures in American military lore, secured the liberation of Sicily, reaching the port city of Messina this morning just hours before the British 8th Army, led by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.

The fall of Messina marked the end of the Sicily Campaign and set the stage for the invasion and liberation of the European mainland in World War II.

Video: '208 - Sicily Liberated; Italy in the Firing Line - WW2 - August 20, 1943' (race for Messina at 2:58)

Italy’s fascist dictator Benito Mussolini suffered his humiliating downfall and arrest in Rome during the Allied effort to seize the Mediterranean island.

Mussolini was deposed and arrested on July 25, when he was voted out of office, then dismissed and arrested by King Victor Emmanuel III, as it became clear the war was lost for Italy.

Video: 'The World at War: Tough Old Gut: Italy - November 1942-June 1944 (13 of 26)' (Aug. 17, 1943, at 14:23)

The Allies’ invasion of Sicily on July 9, 1943, included the largest amphibious landing force in history until that time.

It was a proving ground for the epic D-Day invasion of mainland France to follow in 1944.

The Allies landed 150,000 troops in Sicily over three days, in a Herculean military and industrial effort supported by 3,000 ships and more than 4,000 aircraft.