Rome 5 Jun '44
Rome - 5 Jun '44
bigpigeon.us webpage WWII-Germany  > The MTO > Italy > Cassino to Rome, © 2023 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 16 May 2022.
In late May 1944, the German defenses in the Monte Cassino area of the Gustav Line and around the Anzio Beachhead collapsed and the Allies were able to resume their drive northward through southern Italy.
Cassino to Rome Overview
In the second part of May 1944, the Allies finally broke through both the Gustav Line and the Anzio Beachhead in southern Italy.
  • Allied forces from the Gustav line advanced west and then northwest. 
  • Anzio Beachhead units advanced north and then northwest.

Before reaching Rome, Allied forces had to push aside two German armies and pass through two secondary German defensive lines, the Hitler Line and the Caesar Line, shown on the accompanying map.
Order of Battle Overview, 10 May 1945
Italian Front Order of Battle Overview - 10 May 1944
The Operation Diadem Map
The accompanying  map shows the Gustav Line breakout during Operation Diadem, from May 11 to May 23. Note that in the Fifth Army sector, US and French forces have already penetrated the Hitler Line.

Operation Diadem is also called the 4th Battle of Monte Cassino, since the key part of the operation was the struggle between Polish and German troops on Monte Cassino.

​Any additional information on the Operation Diadem phase of the Italian Campaign will be in the webpage Italy > Cassino/the Gustav Line.
Advance Past the Gustav Line
Advance Past the Gustav Line
The Anzio Beachhead Breakout
The accompanying map shows progress during the first three days of the VI Corps breakout from the Anzio Beachhead. Units from left to right are the 45th Infantry Division, 1st Armored Division, 3rd Infantry Division, and the US/Canadian 1st Special Services Force.

Note Velletri near the top of the map. North of Velletri is the Velletri Gap, which will provide a route northward to Highway 6 between the Alban Hills to the west and the Lepini Mountains to the east. 
Breakout from Anzio - the First Three Days
Breakout from Anzio - the First Three Days
I will add other segments as I find suitable maps for the period May 24-30.
The Liberation of Rome
In early June, Germany declared Rome an open city, and German forces withdrew without damaging the city, allowing the US Fifth Army to begin entering Rome on 4 June.

In what I believe was one of the most consequential US military blunders of WW II, the Fifth Army  commander, General Mark Clark, chose to direct his forces northwest toward Rome rather than north to cut off retreating German forces.
The Liberation of Rome, 31 May - 4 Jun 1944
The Liberation of Rome, 31 May - 4 Jun 1944
Sources for Big Pigeon's The MTO > Italy > Cassino to Rome webpage:
  • Cassino to the Alps (scalable maps) (United States Army in World War II, Mediterranean Theater of Operations series, Ernest F. Fisher Jr., 1989, CMH #6-4) - http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-MTO-Cassino/index.html.
  • The webpage header image Rome 5 Jun '44 is courtesy of the World War II Museum in New Orleans, LA. It shows General Mark Clark, who commanded the US 5th Army in Italy, in Rome just after liberation.
  • The Order of Battle Overview, 10 May 1944 map is courtesy of the New Zealand website, http://tothosewhoserved.org/nz/army/nzarmy08/chapter01.html. On this date, New Zealand forces were part of the British X/10th Corps northeast of Cassino.
  • The Operation Diadem - Advance Past the Gustav Line and Liberation of Rome maps by Gene Thorp are taken from Rick Atkinson's The Day of Battle.
  • The Breakout from Anzio - the First Three Days map is courtesy of battlearchives.com.

Pottawattamie Area WW II Dead - The MTO > Italy > Cassino to Rome webpage:
  • Taken from the bigpigeon.us WWII Roster module.​​
​02-02 - The MTO > Italy > Cassino to Rome: (seven dead, updated 4 Oct 2023)
  • II Corps is coming from the Gustav Line, VI Corps from the Anzio Beachhead.
† Anderson, William Riley, SN 37-483-559, US Army, Pott. Co.
  • Co. F, 350th Inf. Regt., 88th Inf. Div., II Corps, Fifth Army; WIA 28 May 1944 near Roccagorca, SE of Rome, Lazio, Italy, DOW 28 May 1944; The MTO > Italy > Cassino to Rome.
† Deffenbaugh, Lyle Joseph, SN 0-288-505, US Army, Pott. Co. & Douglas Co., NE
  • C.O. 1st Bn., 6th Armored Inf. Regt., 1st Armored Div., VI Corps, Fifth Army; KIA 28 May 1944 near Artena, SE of Rome, Lazio, Italy; shell hit 1st Bn. command post; The MTO > Italy > Cassino to Rome.
† ​Good, John Harold, SN 37-483-656, US Army, Davis & Cass Cos.
  • 168th Inf. Regt., 34th Inf. Div., VI Corps, Fifth Army; KIA 29 May 1944 near Villa Crocetta, SE of Rome, Lazio, Italy; Anzio Beachhead breakout - The MTO > Italy > Cassino to Rome.
† Hickman, Richard Donald, SN 17-004-268, US Army, Fremont Co.
  • ​Co. G., 15th Inf. Regt., 3rd Inf. Div., VI Corps , Fifth Army; KIA 27 May 1944, Valletri Gap, near Valletri, SE of Rome, between Alban Hills & Lepini Mountains, Lazio, Italy; The MTO > Italy > Cassino to Rome; BNR.
† Kroman, Albert Harold, SN 0-1-169-605, US Army, Shelby Co.
  • unit unknown (Artillery OCS graduate, Ft. Sill, OK); KIA 3 Jun 1944 approaching Rome, Lazio, Italy; The MTO > Italy > Cassino to Rome.
† ​​Morrow, Lynn Adolph, SN 37-042-647, US Army, Cherokee Co.
  • Co. I, 168th Inf. Regt., 34th Inf. Div.; KIA 30 May 1944 Italy; The MTO > Italy > Cassino to Rome.
† Summers, Vernon Myron, SN 39-278-439, US Army, Shelby Co. & Riverside Co., CA
  • 751th Tank Bn., attached to 3rd Inf. Div., VI Corps, Fifth Army; KIA 4 Jun 1944 outskirts of Rome, Lazio, Italy; ​The MTO > Italy > Cassino to Rome.