Serving in the battalion, William took part in multiple campaigns; the first of which was the Sicily campaign. The Allied invasion of Sicily from July 10, 1943 to August 17 of the same year was the first step in the eventual invasion of Italy before moving further towards Nazi Germany and was a massive success. The invasion, called operation HUSKY, composed of an airborne and amphibious invasion of Sicily, followed by the 6-week-long campaign, and signaled the start of the Italian campaign.
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After Sicily, William and the 83rd Chemical Battalion moved onto Italy on September 9, 1943 in the Naples-Foggia Campaign, another massive success. The invasion was called operation AVALANCHE and composed of an amphibious landing in Naples and the seizing of Naples’ ports and Foggia’s airstrips, which would be greatly beneficial to the allied war effort.
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After the completion of the invasion on January 21, 1944, and pushing deeper into Italy, the battalion took part in the Anzio campaign starting on January 22, 1944, which was the invasion of Italian cities Anzio and Nettuno. This campaign, which composed of an amphibious landing at Anzio and heavy fighting, was more taxing than the campaigns before, but still ended in an allied victory on June 5, 1944.
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Soon after, William fought in what was to become his final campaign, the Rome-Arno campaign, a battle to take the Italian city of Rome. Though the allies swiftly took Rome, the axis defensive line along the nearby Arno river proved nearly insurmountable by allied forces. Though the campaign lasted until September 9, 1944, William made his last stand on January 26, 1944, when William sank with the YMR 207 in the Tyrrhenian Sea (North of Africa and near Anzio, Italy; exact coordinates being 41o 15l 40II N 12o 34I 10II E).
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