After some hard fighting, including the 2nd Devons at Regalbuto amongst the foothills of Mount Etna, the Germans were driven from Sicily and the Allies prepared to invade Italy. Despite the success of the relatively brief campaign, the brigade sustained almost 600 casualties, with the 1st Hampshires losing over 300 men, the 1st Dorsets 189 and the 2nd Devons 113. The campaign ended in mid-August and the 231st Brigade was withdrawn for a short rest to prepare for the next operation. The 231st Brigade's second assault landing was at Porto San Venere on 7 September 1943, when the Allies invaded Italy. They were now experienced amphibious assault troops. After this, the 231st Brigade became an integral part of the veteran 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division and was recalled to England with the division, to prepare for the Allied invasion of Normandy, scheduled for the spring of 1944. In February 1944 Brigadier Sir A. B. G. Stanier assumed command of the brigade. Gold Beach was the codename for the centre invasion beach during the Allied invasion of Normandy, 6 June 1944 or D-Day. It lay between Omaha Beach and Juno Beach, was 8 km wide and divided into four sectors. From west to east they were How, Item, Jig, and King. This was the hardest and costliest of the 231st Brigade's three assault landings and the Battle of Normandy exacted a heavy toll on the brigade. The task of invading Gold Beach was given to the 50th Infantry Division and the 8th Armoured Brigade. The beach was assaulted in multiple brigades of the 50th Infantry Division; on the West was the 231st Infantry Brigade, followed by the 56th Brigade, attached to this was a regiment of DD tanks from Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry, the infantry assault battalions that attacked in the west were; the 1st Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, and the 1st Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment. On the east the 69th Brigade, followed by 151st Brigade, again a regiment of DD tanks was attached, they were from the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards. Their primary objective was to seize the town of Bayeux, the Caen-Bayeux road, and the port of Arromanches with the secondary objectives being to make contact with the Americans landing at Omaha Beach to the West and the Canadians landing at Juno Beach to the East. The 716th Static Infantry Division commanded by Generalleutnant Wilhelm Richter, and elements of the 352nd Infantry Division commanded by Generalleutnant Dietrich Kraiss, defended the Channel coast for the Germans.