American Forces in Action Series

Anzio Beachhead
(22 January-25 May 1944)

Historical Division
War Department


CONTENTS

Foreword v
The Anzio Landing (22-29 January) 1
  Plan for a New Offensive 3
  The Assault 11
  Expanding the Beachhead 18
The Allied Offensive (30 January-1 February) 27
  Attack on Cisterna, 30 January 28
  Attack on Cisterna, 31 January-1 February 33
  Advance to Campoleone 36
The Enemy Attacks (3-12 February) 43
  Battle of the Campoleone Salient 44
  The Beachhead Defense 47
  The Factory and Carroceto 53
  Allied Counterattacks 62
The Major German Offensive (16-20 February) 67
  Preparing for the Attack 67
  The First Day, 16 February 70
  The Second Day, 17 February 75
  The Crisis, 18-19 February 80
  The Battle is Won, 19-20 February 85
VI Corps Holds the Beachhead (20 February-3 March) 91
  The Battle of the Caves 92
  The 3d Division Repulses the Enemy 97
The Breakthrough 105
  The Problem of Supply 107
  Life at the Beachhead 112
  Casualties 116
  The Breakthrough, 23 May-4 June 116

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Illustrations

  Page
Frontispiece-After the Battle xi
The Anzio Beachhead Terrain 2
Littoria and the Right Flank 4
Maj. Gen. John P. Lucas 5
Preloaded Supply Trucks and DUKWS 7
Troops Filing Aboard at Naples 8
The Anzio Landing 11
Enemy Coastal Defences 12
Lt. Gen. Mark W. Clark 13
A Destroyed Mussolini Canal Bridge 14
Engineers Clearing Demolition Charges at Anzio 15
An Air Attack on Cisterna 16
Putting Down Road Matting 17
Unloading at Anzio's Docks 19
Advancing Towards the Mussolini Canal 20
The Right Flank at the Mussolini Canal 22
Enemy Shellfire Hitting the Beaches 23
Antiaircraft Guns and Barrage Balloons 25
Isola Bella and Cisterna 29
Each Building Became a Fortress 31
Tanks Take Momentary Cover 32
An Artillery Observer's View 35
Zone of Armored Attack on the Left Flank 39
Campoleone Station 41
Farmhouse Attacked in the British Zone 45
Forward Observation Posts 48
Wire-Laying Crews 49
Camouflaged Artillery Positions 51
Destruction of Equipment in Nettuno 52
The Butterfly Bomb 53
"Hell's Half Acre" 55
The Factory 56
No Man's Land 58
Counterbattery Fire by Antiaircraft Units 59
The Overpass at Carroceto 63
German Artillery in the Factory 64
The Albano Road Sector 69
Bombardment of the Anzio and Nettuno Areas 71
Dugouts Along the Mussolini Canal 73
Bomb Concentrations on Campoleone Station 76
The First Overpass Above Anzio 78
Tanks Move Up the Albano Road 83

--viii--

  Page
Engineers Bridge a Stream 84
Prisoners Formed Long Columns 85
The German "Goliath" Tank 88
The Caves 93
Maj. Gen. Lucian K. Truscott 97
Smoke Over the Front Lines 98
Enemy Losses 103
A Destroyed Ammunition Dump 106
A Raid on an Enemy Position 108
Rushing the Farmhouse 109
A Supply Dump 110
Anzio Annie 111
VI Corps HQ at Nettuno 112
Revetting the Hospital Tents 114
Living Conditions at the Front 115
The Capture of Cisterna 118
The Fall of the Factory 120
The Entry into Rome 121

Maps

No.  
1 The Italian Front, 15 January
2 Allied Strategy in Italy, January 1944
3 The Landing, 22-23 January
4 Expanding the Beachhead, 24-28 January
5 Expanding the Beachhead, 29 January
6 Expanding the Beachhead, 30 January
7 Expanding the Beachhead, 31 January
8 Expanding the Beachhead, 1 February
9 Campoleone Salient, 3-5 February
10
Plan for Beachhead Defense, 5 February
11 The Factory and Carroceto, 7-8 February  
12 The Factory and Carroceto, 9 February  
13 The Factory and Carroceto, 10 February  
14 Allied Counterattacks, 11-12 February  
15 Enemy Offensive, 16 February  
16 Enemy Offensive, 17 February  
17 Enemy Offensive, 18 February  
18 Enemy Offensive, 19-20 February  
19 Regrouping of Forces  
20
Holding the Beachhead, 28 February-3 March  
21
The Breakthrough, 23-24 May  
22
The Breakthrough, 25-26 May  
23
The Breakthrough, 27-28 May  
24
The Breakthrough, 29-30 May  
25
The Breakthrough, 31 May-4 June  

--ix--

Photo: After the Battle
AFTER THE BATTLE. The central square of Cisterna, 26 May 1944.

--x--

Transcribed and formatted for HTML by David Newton for the HyperWar Foundation