History of Anzio

[kYuKi]

Anzio and Nettuno are also notable as sites of an Allied forces landing and the ensuing Battle of Anzio during World War II. The Commonwealth Anzio War Cemetery and Beach Head War Cemetery are located here.
American forces (5th Army) were surrounded by Germans in the caves of Pozzoli in February 1944 for a week, suffering heavy casualties. A movie based on the events called Anzio (1968, directed by Edward Dmytryk) was made, starring Robert Mitchum and based on a book by Wynford Vaughan-Thomas.

On 18 February 1944, the British light cruiser Penelope was struck by two torpedoes off the coast of Anzio and sunk with a loss of 417 crew.
In the same region Eric Fletcher Waters lost his life in battle. His son, Roger Waters, become the lead singer of progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In his honour and remembrance Roger Waters recorded the song "The Fletcher Memorial Home", which is the maiden name of Eric Waters' mother. (Also see "When the Tigers Broke Free".)

Wow, Pink Floyd and a movie. Never knew that.

 

[Veelo]

 

[chili dude96]

My great uncle says that one of my grandfather's missions was bombing during the Battle of Anzio. I can't find any records to authenticate that, but then again, we don't have a list of all of his missions so its very well possible.

 

[stewie574]

I had a stock photo of the Day of Defeat version of Anzio as my computer background for some time. My dad walked by, saw it, and said "that's Anzio, isn't it?" He's never played the game or anything like that.

Very informative kYuKi!

 

[ST0RMY]

As none of you may know; I am quite the historiographer. One of my favorite quotes I just Googled by the author of my all-time favorite book Brave New World wrote:

"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history."

-Aldous Huxley

Anzio turned out to be a very important battlefield not necessarily because of its location but instead because of the utter failure that ensued largely because of the inept leadership of Major General Lucas during Operation Shingle.

Below are some extracts from the Wikipedia article about Operation Shingle I found extremely interesting and relevant.

When Truscott's 3rd Division was first selected for the operation, he pointed out to Clark that the position was a death trap and there would be no survivors. Agreeing, Clark canceled the operation, but Prime Minister Churchill revived it. Apparently the two allies had different concepts: the Americans viewed such a landing as another distraction from Cassino, but if they could not break through at Cassino, the men at Anzio would be trapped. Churchill and the British high command envisioned an outflanking movement ending with the capture of Rome.Mediterranean Theatre commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower, leaving to take command of Operation Overlord, left the decision up to Churchill with a warning about German unpredictability. Both sides finally agreed that the troops could not remain at Anzio, but Lucas received somewhat equivocal orders. He was to lead the Fifth Army's U.S. VI Corps in a surprise landing in the Anzio/Nettuno area, and make a rapid advance into the Alban Hills to cut German communications and "threaten the rear of the German XIV Panzer Corps" under General Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin. It was hoped that this threat would draw Germany's forces away from the Cassino area and facilitate an Allied breakthrough there. No one saw the point of taking the Alban Hills, nor was Churchill's idea of a flanking movement expressed.

Although controversy continues regarding what might have happened had Lucas been more aggressive from the start, most commentators agree that the initial Anzio plan was flawed, questioning whether the initial landing of just over two infantry divisions with no supporting armour had had the strength to achieve the objective of cutting Route 6 and then holding off the inevitable counterattacks which would come as Kesselring re-deployed his forces.

What is clear is that because of Clark's change of plan, Operation Diadem (during which U.S. 5th and British 8th Armies sustained 44,000 casualties) failed in its objective of destroying the German 10th Army and condemned the Allies to a further year of brutal combat notably around the Gothic Line from August 1944 to May 1945. The greatest irony was that if the VI Corps main effort had continued on the Valmontone axis on May 26 and the days following, Clark could undoubtedly have reached Rome more quickly than he was able to do by the route northwest from Cisterna. The VI Corps also could have cut Highway 6 and put far greater pressure on the Tenth Army than it did.

Here are some picture of Anzio, anything look familiar?

The best for last:

 

[Mini]

very cool

 

[kYuKi]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9b9UhFe6Eg[/ame]