hour, taking the final at a pace of . They also performed bayonet and land mine drills, obstacle course training and other exercises. Murphy was promoted to private first class on 7 May. After the 13 May surrender of the Axis forces in French Tunisia, the division was put in charge of the prisoners. They returned to Algeria on 15 May for "Operation Copycat", training exercises in preparation for the assault landing in Sicily. Italy Sicily The 3rd Infantry Division, as part of the U. S. Seventh Army under the command of Lieutenant General George S. Patton, sailed from Tunisia on 7 July,1943, for the Allied invasion of Sicily, landing at Licata on 10 July. Murphy was promoted to the rank of corporal on 15 July. Company B later took part in fighting around Canicattì, during which Murphy killed two fleeing Italian officers. They arrived in Palermo on 20 July, and Murphy was sidelined by illness for a week. Allied capture of the transit port of Messina was crucial to taking Sicily from the Axis. En route there, Company B was assigned to a hillside location protecting a machine-gun emplacement, while the rest of the 3rd Infantry Division fought at San Fratello. The Axis began their evacuation of Messina on 27 July. Although the 3rd Infantry Division's 7th Infantry Regiment secured the port on 17 August, the Axis had already completed their evacuation hours before. During the fighting in Sicily, Murphy became realistic about military duty: "I have seen war as it actually is, and I do not like it. But I will go on fighting." Mainland invasion With Sicily secured from Axis forces, Supreme Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower made the decision to invade Italy in early September 1943. As part of the Salerno landings, the 3rd Infantry Division came ashore at Battipaglia. One of the early skirmishes recounted by author Don Graham involved Murphy, his best friend Lattie Tipton (referred to as "Brandon" in Murphy's book To Hell and Back) and an unnamed soldier in their unit as they traveled along the Volturno River. The trio were near a bridge when the third soldier was killed by German machine-gun fire. Tipton tossed hand grenades in the direction of the fire and Murphy responded with a Thompson submachine gun, killing five German soldiers. Allied forces entered Naples on 1 October. The 3rd Division took part in the Allied assault