Anzio
22 January – 5 June 1944
WW2 - Battle of Anzio
Following the landings at Salerno the Allies advanced over the Volturno and Garigliano rivers in the autumn of 1943, also taking Naples. The Germans meanwhile had constructed the Gustav Line defences from coast to coast across Italy and Allied forces faltered against this at Cassino.
The Facts
- Date: 22 January – 5 June 1944
- Location: Anzio and Nettuno
| Countries Involved | |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom United States Canada |
Germany Italian Social Republic |
| Countries Commanders | |
| Harold Alexander Mark W. Clark John P. Lucas Lucian K. Truscott |
Albert Kesselring Eberhard von Mackensen |
| Number of Casualties | |
| Around 43,000 | Around 40,000 |
Battle result: Allied victory
A plan was made to bypass the Gustav Line with Operation Shingle, the landings at Anzio on 22nd January 1944. A joint American-British force was put ashore with orders to advance on Rome. However, the American commander Major General John P. Lucas, was over-cautious and Allied troops were quickly contained at Anzio by the Germans. What was meant to be a rapid advance turned into a five-month siege and in the end the breakout at Cassino in May 1944 saved Anzio when it should have been the other way round. The fighting at Anzio was very much like the First World War, with British troops holding massive dry river beds called The Wadis in systems of foxholes and even trenches.
Operation Shingle - US troops landing in Anzio
