July 11 marks the midpoint of the Battle of Gela, the opening amphibious engagement in the American campaign of the Allied Invasion of Sicily during World War II.
The first deployment of troops disembarked along the beaches surrounding the Gela Pier on July 10, located on the eastern side of the south coast of Sicily, where they were met by the Italian XVIII Coastal Brigade. The Italian brigade incorporated the German and Italian tanks of the Hermann Göring and Livorno Division, as well as air-divisions of the German Luftwaffe and Italian Regia Aeronautica units, which focused on bombarding American positions as Allied forces drew closer to the Italian beaches. 
Following the initial invasion, on July 11 — 78-years-ago today — a second wave of American troops began flowing into Italian territory, where the first American tanks successfully made it ashore at 2 a.m. that morning.
While waves of soldiers attempted to disembark from their amphibious vehicles onto the shores surrounding the Gela Pier on the second day, the armored units of both the Hermann Göring and Livorno Divisions began a coordinated bombardment on Allied positions, with the German and Italian forces, respectively, shelling two key points of passage the Americans were using to gain access to the nearby town of Gela from the Sicilian beaches.
Initially, the the 3rd Battalion of the 26th Infantry Regiment began a retreat back to the beaches, which were protected by US destroyers representing the 16 infantry. The retreat continued until the naval destroyer could lay down covering fire to delay the German battalion from progressing further onto American positions, which could have stalled the invasion.
Once gaining their bearings, the American forces armed every man on the beach, including those not serving combat roles to form a firing line along the dunes, from which German tanks were positioned 2,200 yards away. 
Simultaneously, infantry and armored divisions from the American side began an all out assault on German and Italian divisions. Destroyers laid down naval gunfire support, mowing through German and Italian infantry, while armored divisions began wiping out their German and Italian counterparts, and airborne and ground infantry units began decimating Panzergrenadiers and Livorno Divisions stretched across the battlefield.
While the Axis bombardment of anchored ships off the coast continued, the Allied assault stopped the ground advancement of Axis forces and allowed Allied troops to fully unload its invasion force onto the Sicilian beaches. Albeit later than planned, forces were nearly fully unloaded onto the beaches by the early hours of July 12, and around the same time Allies had captured the Ponte Olivio airfield, slowing down Axis bombing missions, which began to dwindle as the hours passed. Adding insult to injury, General George S. Patton established an Allied headquarters on the Sicilian shore following the successful engagement.
As soon as it was deemed safe, the American Air Force's Twelfth Air Force 27th Fighter Bomber Group landed North American A-36 Apaches at Ponte Olivio, which provide ground support to the invasion forces for the remainder of the Allied invasion.
While it is often an overlooked engagement, the Battle of Gela laid the groundwork for subsequent invasions and Allied progression into German-occupied territory across Europe. During the engagement, US forces found a great necessity for the use of naval artillery support and found issues coordinating air support during these amphibious assaults, which they made note of and developed best practices towards future engagements, which could be argued as a turning point for American tactics in World War II.