bigpigeon.us webpage WWII-Germany > The MTO > Italy > Battle of Anzio, © 2023 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 16 May 2022.
The lengthy Battle of Anzio resulted from a poorly-implemented plan to bypass the Gustav Line via a large amphibious landing south of Rome.
The lengthy Battle of Anzio resulted from a poorly-implemented plan to bypass the Gustav Line via a large amphibious landing south of Rome.
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The Setting:
On the accompanying map, Rome is located on the upper left and Cassino, the key point in the German Gustav Line, on the lower right. A successful landing in the Anzio area, on the lower left, might force a German withdrawal from the Gustav Line. |
Rome Area Roadmap - Anzio (bottom left) & Cassino (bottom right)
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- On 22 January 1944, Allied forces began landing on the beaches near Anzio and Nettuno south of Rome.
- The landing by US and British forces, comprising the US Fifth Army's VI Corps, achieved surprise and initially the Anzio operation appeared promising.
- However, the German army soon contained the Anzio Beachhead. Throughout its lifetime, the entire Anzio Beachhead was subject to German artillery fire.
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In mid-February, a German counterattack regained a portion of the beachhead.
In May, a breakout north from the Anzio Beachhead followed the Operation Diadem breakout of the Gustav Line in the Cassino area. |
Anzio Beachhead - mid-February
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After the Anzio breakout, the three American divisions shown on the above map (3rd Infantry, 36th Infantry - Texas, and 45th Infantry - Oklahoma) were withdrawn from combat to prepare for their next mission. On August 15, they formed the nucleus of the American Seventh Army, which along with the French First Army landed on the southern coast of France.
Sources for Big Pigeon's The MTO > Italy > Battle of Anzio webpage:
Pottawattamie Area WW II Dead - The MTO > Italy > The Battle of Anzio:
† Hansen, Matthias Peter, SN 39-839-172, US Army, Humboldt Co., CA
- Anzio, 22 January-24 May 1944 (The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II, The U.S. Army Center of Military History, Clayton D. Laurie, illustrated brochure, CMH 72-19) - https://history.army.mil/html/books/072/72-19/CMH_Pub_72-19.pdf.
- Salerno to Cassino (scalable maps) (United States Army in World War II, Mediterranean Theater of Operations series, Martin Blumenson, 1993, CMH #6-3) - http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-MTO-Salerno/index.html#index.
Pottawattamie Area WW II Dead - The MTO > Italy > The Battle of Anzio:
- Taken from the bigpigeon.us WWII Roster module.
† Hansen, Matthias Peter, SN 39-839-172, US Army, Humboldt Co., CA
- 30th Inf. Regt., 3rd Inf. Div., VI Corps, Fifth Army; KIA 31 Jan 1944 Anzio Beachhead, Lazio, Italy; The MTO > Italy > Battle of Anzio.
- Battery C, 437 Anti-Aircraft Bn. (Automatic Weapons), VI Corps, Fifth Army; DOW 15 May 1944 Anzio Beachhead, Lazio, Italy; The MTO > Italy > Battle of Anzio.
- Co. K, 168th Inf. Regt., transferred to Antitank Co., 133rd Inf. Regt., both 34th Inf. Div. VI Corps, Fifth Army; KIA 22 May 1944 Anzio Beachhead, Lazio, Italy; The MTO > Italy > Battle of Anzio.
- US Army Nursing Corps, 95th Evacuation Hosp., Anzio; KIA 7 Feb 1944 Anzio Beachhead, Lazio, Italy, shrapnel ruptured femoral artery; German plane jettisoned ordnance over the Anzio Beachhead hospital complex, 28 died; The MTO > Italy > Battle of Anzio.
- Co. 6, 2nd Regt., First Special Service Force (a joint US-Canadian special operations brigade known as the Devil's Brigade), VI Corps, Fifth Army; DOW 18 Feb 1944 Anzio Beachhead, Lazio, Italy; The MTO > Italy > Battle of Anzio.
- 7th Inf. Regt., 3rd Inf. Div., VI Corps, Fifth Army; KIA 31 Jan 1944 Anzio Beachhead, Lazio, Italy; The MTO > Italy > Battle of Anzio.
- Co. H, 179th Inf. Regt., 45th Inf. Div., VI Corps, Fifth Army; DOW 30 May 1944 near Campoleone, S of Rome, Lazio, Italy; Anzio Beachhead Breakout - The MTO > Italy > Battle of Anzio.
- Battery C., 171st FA Bn., 45th Inf. Div., VI Corps, Fifth Army; KIA 28 Mar 1944 Anzio Beachhead, Lazio, Italy; The MTO > Italy > Battle of Anzio.