tiny bridgehead on the far side of the wadi was achieved by daybreak. Two more nights of heavy fighting failed to expand the bridgehead and communications with the forward troops broke down; the division was permitted to retire on 23 March as Eighth Army carried out a 'left hook' and broke through elsewhere. The Axis forces retreated to Wadi Akarit. Again, 50th (N) Division was ordered to breach the wadi position on 5/6 April. This time the preliminary operations were 'silent', without artillery preparation; the reinforced divisional guns opened up at 04.15, firing concentrations and barrages, with 300 rounds per gun available. This time the assault went well, and by 09.35 the division's infantry were pressing on towards their final objectives. When 50th (N) Division was withdrawn from the line and relieved by the recently arrived 56th (London) Infantry Division, 65th (8th London) Fd Rgt transferred to the London division on 22 April and remained with it until the end of the war. The inexperienced division was scheduled to take part in the Allied invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky), but as soon as it arrived it was thrown into the last stages of the Tunisian Campaign, because Gen Montgomery did not want an untried division in Husky. Given the task of capturing Tarhuna during the night of 28/29 April, it succeeded but was driven off the position the following morning. Montgomery realised that the division needed time to learn battlecraft. It went into action again during the final advance on Tunis (Operation Vulcan), moving north to meet 6th Armoured Division of First Army coming south, whose leading troops were able to spot for X Corps' guns via 56th (L) Division's wireless net. Salerno to Anzio Because of Montgomery's doubts, 56th (L) Division was not in fact used in Operation Husky. Instead it moved back to Tripoli in Libya for further training, and then put to sea on 1 September for the invasion of mainland Italy, landing at Salerno on 9 September (Operation Avalanche). H-Hour was at 03.30, the division's leading infantry landing craft touched down at 03.35 covered by naval gunfire, and 65th Fd Rgt's guns were all in action at 18.00. Over the next few days the division fought its way forward to extend the beachhead against strong German counter-attacks, and the divisional artillery was heavily engaged in defensive fire (DF) tasks. X Corps began its advance out of