The attack was commanded by American Major General John P. Lucas. By the following day, the Allied front lines were beginning to falter near Campoleone, with several units becoming surrounded by German troops. This may have been caused by Clark's lack of faith in the plan which he believed required at least two corps or a full army. At 0545 hours on 23 May, 1,500 Allied artillery pieces bombarded German lines for 40 minutes, thus commencing a new Allied attempt at breaking out of the Anzio beachhead. Having established a beachhead with relative ease, rather than advancing toward Rome to potentially force the Germans to divert forces from the Gustav Line or advancing toward Gustav Line itself to link up with the Allied forces in the Cassino area, Lucas chose to remain in place in order to strengthen the beachhead against a possible German counterattack. As part of this, he was instructed to devise two plans. The first, Operation Buffalo, called for an attack to cut Route 6 at Valmontone to aid in trapping the German Tenth Army, while the other, Operation Turtle, was for an advance through Campoleone and Albano towards Rome. German Field Marshal Albert Kesselring ordered a counterattack against the Allied beachhead at Anzio, Italy. By June 2, the German line collapsed and Kesselring was ordered to retreat north of Rome. Two Italian motor torpedo boats attacked the Allied beachhead at Anzio, Italy before dawn, causing no damage and losing one boat. While Alexander initially considered a large operation that would land five divisions near Anzio, this was abandoned due to a lack of troops and landing craft. Mark Clark replaced John Lucas with Lucian Truscott at Anzio, Italy. Allied forces overran the German Caesar C Line south of Rome, Italy; Adolf Hitler ordered Albert Kesselring that the Italian capital would be abandoned. Your IP address will be tracked even if you remain anonymous. Major General John Lucas ordered a counterattack from the Anzio beachhead in Italy, which was repulsed by the Germans which had intercepted Allied radio communications and had prepared for this attack. The Battle of the Caves. Exploiting the slowed American attack, Kesselring moved parts of four divisions into the Velletri Gap to stall the advance. Battle of Anzio, (22 January–5 June 1944), World War II event on the coast of Italy, south of Rome. The third major German offensive was launched at Anzio, Italy, which would again fail to dislodge the Allies. Also on this day, after seven German divisions successfully withdraw along Route 6 in Italy, Albert Kesselring allowed his troops in the Velletri gap to slowly fall back. The British 1st Infantry Division landed north of Anzio. Italian motor torpedo boats sank British landing ship LST-305 off Anzio, Italy. Allied forces attacked out of the Anzio, Italy beachhead, advancing toward Cisterna and Campoleone, but none of the two forces would be able to capture the objectives; during the process, an entire US Army Ranger battalion was destroyed. Yet Anzio was to turn into one of the bloodiest battles fought in Western Europe by the Allies in World War Two. Operation Shingle; Part of the Winter Line and the battle for Rome of the Italian Campaign of World War II: While the attack towards Valmontone would continue, it would be much weakened. Approved despite some resistance, the landings moved forward in January 1944. Then he wanted to attack Rome. During this time, Kesselring constructed the Caesar C defensive line between the beachhead and Rome. German losses were around 5,000 killed, 30,500 wounded/missing, and 4,500 captured. In several days of heavy fighting, they succeeded in pushing the British back. Though criticized, Churchill relentlessly defended the Anzio operation claiming that though it failed to achieve its tactical goals, it succeeded in holding German forces in Italy and preventing their redeployment to Northwest Europe on the eve of the Normandy invasion. First, it is aiming to offer interesting By early February Mackensen's force totaled over 100,000 men facing Lucas' 76,400. American forces led by Clark entered the city three days later (Map). WW2DB site administrators reserve the right to moderate, censor, and/or remove any comment. The Anzio campaign became a costly stalemate in itself, but one that successfully tied up some 130,000 men of the German Fourteenth Army and weakened enemy defences on the Gustav Line. Coming ashore, Allied forces initially met little resistance and began moving inland. Kennedy Hickman is a historian, museum director, and curator who specializes in military and naval history. While the British pinned Mackensen's men at Via Anziate, American forces finally took Cisterna on May 25. Italian motor torpedo boats attacked the Allied beachhead at Anzio, Italy before dawn, engaging in brief combat. In the fighting that resulted, the attack on Cisterna was repulsed, with the Rangers taking heavy losses. The Battle of Anzio commenced on January 22, 1944 and concluded with the fall of Rome on June 5. Though surprised by the Allies' actions, Kesselring had made contingency plans for landings at several locations. The Germans made progress at Anzio, Italy, but were finally beaten back by artillery and naval gunfire. Frustrated with Lucas' performance, Clark replaced him with Truscott on February 22. Major General John Lucas was selected as the commander of what was to be named Operation Shingle. The battle would be the fighting that resulted after the Allies conducted an amphibious landing in the area of Anzio known as Operation Shingle. He has appeared on The History Channel as a featured expert. In the area, US troops captured Cori. In his headquarters 50 miles to the north in Rome, Albert Kesselring studied dispatches and reports from Anzio that evening and noted how fast the battle was consuming arms and assault units. The Germans had to split the 45th Infantry Division in two. Allied troops captured Ponte Sant'Angelo and Castelforte, Italy. To speed up the advance, Winston Churchill ordered the British commanders to present a plan for a two-division amphibious assault at Anzio, Italy behind the Gustav Line. Truscott had doubts about this order, as he believed that if given more time he could have taken Valmontone and inflict very heavy casualties on the defending Germans, but he would obey his new orders. Although Truscott was entrusted to launch the all-out offensive that Lucas failed to do, such an attack would not take place until many weeks later. Holding out, the troops at Anzio were reinforced and later played a key role in the Allied breakout at Cassino and the capture of Rome. Despite of Lucas' initial lack of aggressiveness, however, he would be the one to attack first, launching a two-prong attack on 30 Jan; US 3rd Division advanced toward Cisterna and then the Alban Hills beyond, while British 1st Division advanced toward Campoleone; both would fail to achieve their objectives. Nearby, the Italian motor torpedo boat base at Terracina was evacuated. The last gasps of the German offensive were blocked on February 20. The Commonwealth Anzio War Cemetery and Beach Head War Cemetery are located here.. Americans stopped a German counter attack at Anzio, Italy. Note: We hope that visitor conversations at WW2DB will be constructive and thought-provoking. site is two fold. Harold Alexander visited the Allied beachhead at Anzio, Italy and was dissatisfied with the commanding officer Major General John Lucas. US 3rd Division captured Cisterna, Italy after house-to-house fighting, nearly wiping out 362nd Infantry Division in the process; nearby, US 1st Armored Division engaged German Herman Göring Division at Valmontone while US Fifth Army troops linked up with the Anzio contingent. He wanted to get around German forces on the Winter Line. Elsewhere, the British gained ground up the Via Anziate but failed to take the town. Clark's final orders to Lucas did not reflect this urgency and gave him flexibility regarding the timing of the advance. Lucas felt that it was an extremely risky undertaking; he feared that the force assigned to him was not large enough, and thought that the invasion "has a strong odor of Gallipoli". On February 3, the Germans attacked the Allied lines with a focus on the Via Anziate salient. Three Italian motor torpedo boats attacked the Allied beachhead at Anzio, Italy before dawn, causing no damage and losing two boats. While Alexander selected Buffalo, Clark was adamant that US forces be the first to enter Rome and lobbied for Turtle. ww2dbaseBy mid-May 1944, Allied strength at the Anzio beachhead reached 150,000 men (two British divisions and five US divisions). URL consultato il 24 marzo 2020 (archiviato dall' url originale il 15 giugno 2018) . A succession of attacks resulted in heavy casualties on both sides, though no budge in th… After US 1st Armored Division had already been ordered north toward Rome, Italy, Mark Clark belatedly reported to Harold Alexander such a change in orders; he left only 1 division to attack the remaining German forces at Valmontone. The American attempt to break out of the Anzio beachhead in Italy was halted, followed by the first German counterattack against the beachhead. Three Italian motor torpedo boats attacked the Allied beachhead at Anzio, Italy before dawn, causing no damage and suffering no losses. Following the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943, American and British forces drove up the peninsula until being halted at the Gustav (Winter) Line in front of Cassino. 36,000 Allied troops landed at Anzio, Italy, facing little opposition. Later in the same morning, he ordered General Eberhard von Mackensen of German 14th Army and General Heinrich von Vietinghoff of German 10th Army to dispatch their reserves to reinforce the Anzio region. As a result, an exposed salient was created in the lines. The Allied advance up the ‘soft underbelly’ of Europe had … The next day, Colonel General Eberhard von Mackensen was given command of the German defenses. Hitler saw no reason to hold on to Rome, and expressed such sentiment to Kesselring on 2 Jun, who agreed whole-heartily, preferring to move his surviving forces to reinforce defensive lines further north. Battle of Anzio 22 Jan 1944 - 4 Jun 1944 Contributor: C. Peter Chen The Allied forces landed in the southern portions of mainland Italy in Sep 1943, and the subsequent progress had been slow, largely due to a fairly well-executed delay action campaign conducted by … One Italian motor torpedo boat attacked the Allied beachhead at Anzio, Italy before dawn, causing no damage and suffering no losses. Striking near Cisterna, this effort was repulsed by the Allies with around 2,500 German casualties. In the afternoon of 3 Feb, the German offensive began with probing attacks, followed by a full attack at 2300 hours. Also, he received control of three additional divisions in Italy and three from elsewhere in Europe from OKW (German High Command). HTML tags are not allowed. At 0500 hours, he ordered mobile units from German 4th Parachute Division and Hermann Göring Panzer Division to rush to the area to cover the roads leading out of Anzio, while he requested his superiors in Germany to reinforce Italy with men from rear areas. The plan called for Clark's US Fifth Army to attack along the Gustav Line to draw enemy forces south while Lucas' VI Corps landed at Anzio and drove northeast into the Alban Hills to threaten the German rear. Out at sea, an Italian motor torpedo boat attack sank one cargo ship; one Italian boat was sunk in the attack. The Battle of Anzio, which is also called Operation Shingle (January 22, 1944) was an Allied sea landing in the Italian Campaign against German forces of Anzio and Nettuno, Italy. British 1st Infantry Division had moved 2 miles inland, US 3rd Infantry Division had moved 3 miles inland, US 6615th Ranger Force had captured the port of Anzio, and US 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion had captured Nettuno. On 11 Feb, the Allies launched a counterattack, but it was met with failure as the Germans had intercepted the radio communications, and thus was able to prepare against it. The plan to land several divisions at Anzio, Italy was briefly canceled. 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