Battle+of+Anzio

**Background of the Battle** After the Allies invaded Italy in 1943 American and British forces moved up the peninsula until they were stoped in their tracks at the Gustav (Winter) Line in front of Cassino, Italy. British Prime Minister Winston Churchil proposed Operation Shingle, which called for landings behind the Gustav Line near Anzio, Italy. The plan called for one force to attack the Germans along the Gustav Line while another landed at Anzio to move northeast into the Alban Hills to threaten the German's rear. The goal of the Allies was to take Rome from the Germans.

**Landing at Anzio** Operation Shingle moved forward on January 22, 1944 with the British 1st Infantry landing north of Anzio. While this was happening, more forces landed south of Anzio and another force attacking at the port.Allied forces initially met little resistance and began moving inland.By midnight, 36,000 men had landed. Rather that attacking the German's rear, Major General John P. Lucas strengthened his perimeter. Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, leader of the German forces, dispached mobile reaction units to the area. Although he initially believed that the invasion could not be contained, when he heard that the Allies were holding their position instead of attacking, he changed his mind and he soon had 40,000 men alligned opposite of the Allied forces. **Battle for the Beach** The next day the Allies launched a 2-pronged attack on the Germans with the British attacking one city and the US Army Rangers attacking another. The Rangers were held off however, and took heavy losses. The British also failed to take their city. This failure left the Allies exposed and unprotected. **Bombshell: Command Change** By early February the Allies had a total of 76,400 men facing 100,000. On February 3, the Germans counter-attacked. After several days of fierce battle, the British were pushed back. On February 16, the German attack was renewed and the Allies were then pushed all the way back to the beach. Because of Clark's poor performance, he was replaced by Major General Lucian Truscott. The Germans attacked again, but this time the Allies held them off and the Germans took heavy losses.

**Vicory is Sweet** On May 23 the Allies launched the final offensive of the battle. The British pinned down German forces while the Americans marched forward.The Germans sent several divisions to stall the advance. The Allies were able to exploit a gap in German forces however, and the German line of defense soon collapsed. On June 2 the Germans were ordered to retreat north of Rome, and the Allies marched into the city three days later. The Allies were victorious!

**Aftermath** The Battle of Anzio saw 7,000 Allied soldiers killed and 36,000 were either missing or wounded.As for German soliers, only 5,000 were killed, 30,500 were either mssing or wounded, and 4,500 were taken prisoner. Operation Shingle was considered poorly planned and executed because of the lack of action after landing at Anzio. Churchill relentlessly defends the plan stating that although it failed to acheive its tactical goals, it succeded at holding the German forces in Italy. It was still a very important victory because Rome was very important to the Germans. **Test Questions** 1. What country was the battle fought in? 2. When did Operation Shingle begin? 3. How many Allied soldiers were killed in the Battle of Anzio? 4. True or false, Operation Shingle was flawlessly executed?

** Test Question Answers ** 1. Italy 2. January 22, 1944 3. 7,000 4. False ** Extras ** PLAY DUMB GAME HERE --> [|This is a dumb game]

media type="custom" key="12718966" align="center"

Hickman, K (2012) //Battle of Anzio// Retrieved February 28, 2012 from [] Unkown Autor (1996-2012) //Battle of Anzio// Retrieved March 1, 2012 from [|www.history.com/topics/**battle-of-anzio**] Smith, G (2005) //Blue Devils// Retrieved March 2, 2012 from []
 * Resources: **