Renamed Terranova di Sicilia, in 1927 the city was renamed Gela.
In World War II, during the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943, the U.S. 1st Infantry Division, with the 82nd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, landed on the beaches during the initial assault on 9 July 1943. The Allied forces repelled an Italian and German armored counterattack at Gela. Several advanced landing airfields were built by the U.S. Army Engineers in the area around the city which was used by the Twelfth Air Force during the Italian Campaign.