Drive on Rome

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Cassino/Anzio to Rome pages:  Breakthrough & Breakout Drive on Rome OrBat, May '44
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Rome, 4 Jun '44

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 WWII, 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

█ Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead - WWII Germany > The MTO > Cassino/Anzio to Rome > The Drive on Rome

Access full individual records through bigpigeon.us > WWII Dead > Roster Records.

02-02 - WWII Germany > The MTO > Cassino/Anzio to Rome > The Drive on Rome: (11 dead, updated 7 Nov 2025)

II Corps came from the Gustav Line as part of Operation Diadem, VI Corps from the Anzio Beachhead.
Operation Diadem deaths before 26 May 1944 are in Cassino/Anzio to Rome > Breakthrough & Breakout.

† 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.
WWII Germany > The MTO > Cassino/Anzio to Rome > The Drive on 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 Battalion command post.
WWII Germany > The MTO > Cassino/Anzio to Rome > The Drive on Rome

† Ewoldt, Gilbert John, SN 37-663-729, US Army, Crawford Co.

133rd Inf. Regt., 34th Inf. Div., VI Corps, Fifth Army; KIA 2 Jun 1944 near Rome, Italy after breakout from Anzio Beachhead.
WWII Germany > The MTO > Cassino/Anzio to Rome > The Drive on 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.
WWII Germany > The MTO > Cassino/Anzio to Rome > The Drive on 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; BNR.
Military Note: 3rd Inf. Div. was transferred to II Corps on 29 May 1944.
WWII Germany > The MTO > Cassino/Anzio to Rome > The Drive on Rome

† 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.
WWII Germany > The MTO > Cassino/Anzio to Rome > The Drive on Rome

† Morrow, Lynn Adolph, SN 37-042-647, US Army, Cherokee Co.

Co. I, 168th Inf. Regt., VI Corps, 34th Inf. Div., Fifth Army; KIA 30 May 1944 near Villa Crocetta, Lazio, Italy.
WWII Germany > The MTO > Cassino/Anzio to Rome > Drive on Rome

† Reinig, Walter Henry, SN 37-035-972, US Army, Shelby Co.

7th Inf. Regt., 3rd Inf. Div., VI Corps, Fifth Army; KIA 31 Jan 1944 Anzio Beachhead, Lazio, Italy.
WWII Germany > The MTO > Cassino/Anzio to Rome > The Drive on Rome

† Rethmeier, William F. "Jack", SN 37-663-816, US Army, Crawford Co.

Co. H, 179th Inf. Regt., 45th Inf. Div., VI Corps, Fifth Army; DOW 30 May 1944 near Campoleone, Lazio, Italy.
WWII Germany > The MTO > Cassino/Anzio to Rome > The Drive on Rome

† Summers, Vernon Myron, SN 39-278-439, US Army, Shelby Co. & Riverside Co., CA

751th Tank Bn., attached to 3rd Inf. Div., II Corps, Fifth Army; KIA 4 Jun 1944 outskirts of Rome, Lazio, Italy.
WWII Germany > The MTO > Cassino/Anzio to Rome > The Drive on Rome

† Thoreen, William F., SN 37-074-553, US Army, Pott. Co.

Battery C., 171st FA Bn., 45th Inf. Div., VI Corps, Fifth Army; KIA 28 Mar 1944 near Carana, Lazio, Italy.
WWII Germany > The MTO > Cassino/Anzio to Rome > The Drive on Rome

█ Sources for Big Pigeon's WWII Germany > The MTO > Naples to Rome > Cassino #4 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.

██ Sources for Big Pigeon's WWII Germany > The MTO > Cassino to Rome webpage ██

(Needs editing and distribution to subpages as it was copied from the old Naples to Rome webpage)

The Naples to Rome Background map, https://www.londonirishrifles.com/index.php/regimental-history/significant-events-from-our-history/garigliano-river-january-1944/

The Italian Campaign - The German Defensive Lines map - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_Line#/media/File:ItalyDefenseLinesSouthofRome1943_4.jpg.

Wikipedia's campaign webpages:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Anzio
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Monte_Cassino - the four battles of Monte Cassino
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Diadem - fourth Battle of Monte Cassino

US Army Center for Military History campaign brochures for WWII campaigns in Italy:

Anzio 1944, https://history.army.mil/brochures/anzio/72-19.htm

US Army Center for Military History histories of WWII in Italy:

Salerno to Cassino, https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-MTO-Salerno/index.html
Cassino to the Alps, https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-MTO-Cassino/index.html#index

Italian campaign maps:

Other maps:

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Atlas_of_the_World_Battle_Fronts_in_Semimonthly_Phases_to_August_15_1945

Other sources:

https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/1agzlz7/benedictine_abbey_in_monte_cassino_italy/#lightbox

(Needs editing and distribution to subpages as it was copied from the old Cassino 4 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.