Our Flag!
The skull represents Adolf Hitler's personal guarantee to "turn the Anzio beach head into 'death's head' ". The red reminds us of the massive carnage of the battle that claimed the lives of over 28,000 Allied servicemen.
The blue represents the ocean, from which the assault was launched.
The line between the 2 colors exhibits the "Gustav Line" that divided Italy from Nazi control.
This battle is truly indicative of triumph over tragedy in that the Allies sustained massive casualties to gain victory. However, the Nazis were forced to send 2 additional divisions (totaling over 80,000 troops) that were originally destined for Normandy to this battle, thereby doubling the effects of the defeat as the lack of re-enforcements proved costly for the Germans at Normandy on 6 June 1944 (the very day AFTER Rome was liberated by the Allies). Thus, the Battle of Anzio was indeed the catalyst for the final liberation of Europe.
Operation
Shingle
The code name for the Allied
amphibious landing in the Anzio/Nettuno area on the west coast of Italy, some 30 miles south of Rome.
At 0200 on the 22nd of January, 1944 the invasion fleet of 374 ships and landing craft, under the command of Rear Admiral Frank J. Lowery, USN, commenced landing troops of the US VI Corps on the beaches of Anzio and Nettuno. The name of a rather obscure hamlet, ANZIO – a former watering spot where Nero once came to soak his tyrannical bones and where a latter day would be Nero, had come to pitch hay, bare-chested for the benefit of the newsreels was thus destined to become a prominent word in the annals of war. The assault forces under the overall command of Major General John P. Lucas consisted of the US 3rd Infantry Division; the British 1st Infantry Division and 46th Royal Tank Regiment; the US 751st Tank Battalion, the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division, and the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion; two British Commando battalions; and three battalions of US Army Rangers. The US 45th Infantry Division and Command A (CCA), a regimental-size unit of the US 1st Armored Division, were directed to land as reinforcements once the beachhead was established.
Before breaking out of the beachhead, the 34th and 36th US Infantry Divisions, the 5th and 56th British Infantry Divisions, and the 1st Special Service Force (an elite force of the US and Canadians soldiers) joined the battle.
The landings had taken the Germans completely by surprise with the only resistance coming in the form of scattered mine fields and some random shelling from some 88mm guns in the woods behind the beach, which were quickly silenced by Naval gunfire. Some shells from a larger German railway guns fell on the beachhead and among the anchored ships with little effect. The only opposition immediately inland came from two depleted coast watching battalions which were overrun quickly. By midnight of the landing day, approximately 90% of the invasion force, amounting to 36,000 men, 3,200 vehicles and large stores of supplies were ashore.
General Lucas chose to consolidate the beachhead awaiting the arrival of more men, armor, heavy artillery and supplies before continuing the offensive further inland. When on January 30, VI Corps went on the offensive, Field Marshal Kesselring, the German commander of the area, had moved substantial forces into the area and had built them around the beachhead in order to prevent Allied attempt to move further inland. The primary objective of the landing was to establish a beachhead, quickly drive inland to cut Highway 8, by which the enemy supplied his forces on the Garigliano-Minturno front and eventually cut off Highway 7 at Valmontone, thus trapping the German forces who opposed the bulk of the US Fifth Army on the front at and around Cassino.
Few foresaw the four-month long bitter struggle that was to ensure or the battle for the beachhead which on three separate occasions found the US defenders repulsing fanatic attacks by Germans who had received orders from Hitler to eliminate the threat by completely destroying its defenders.
The strategic importance of the Battle of Anzio in the liberation of Italy is well documented. The campaign's contribution to the overall Allied effort in Europe, however, is often underestimated. The two German corps engaged on the Anzio front were originally destined for Normandy. The success of the Allied landings on the beaches in France in June 1944 were due largely to the tenacity of the Allied forces at Anzio.
But the price of this crucial victory was high. Allied forces suffered nearly 87,000 casualties, 700 killed, 36,000 wounded, another 44,000 were hospitalized from various non-battle injuries. In one measure of the courage and sacrifice of those who fought there, 22 Americans were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the most of any single battle of World War II.
At 0200 on the 22nd of January, 1944 the invasion fleet of 374 ships and landing craft, under the command of Rear Admiral Frank J. Lowery, USN, commenced landing troops of the US VI Corps on the beaches of Anzio and Nettuno. The name of a rather obscure hamlet, ANZIO – a former watering spot where Nero once came to soak his tyrannical bones and where a latter day would be Nero, had come to pitch hay, bare-chested for the benefit of the newsreels was thus destined to become a prominent word in the annals of war. The assault forces under the overall command of Major General John P. Lucas consisted of the US 3rd Infantry Division; the British 1st Infantry Division and 46th Royal Tank Regiment; the US 751st Tank Battalion, the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division, and the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion; two British Commando battalions; and three battalions of US Army Rangers. The US 45th Infantry Division and Command A (CCA), a regimental-size unit of the US 1st Armored Division, were directed to land as reinforcements once the beachhead was established.
Before breaking out of the beachhead, the 34th and 36th US Infantry Divisions, the 5th and 56th British Infantry Divisions, and the 1st Special Service Force (an elite force of the US and Canadians soldiers) joined the battle.
The landings had taken the Germans completely by surprise with the only resistance coming in the form of scattered mine fields and some random shelling from some 88mm guns in the woods behind the beach, which were quickly silenced by Naval gunfire. Some shells from a larger German railway guns fell on the beachhead and among the anchored ships with little effect. The only opposition immediately inland came from two depleted coast watching battalions which were overrun quickly. By midnight of the landing day, approximately 90% of the invasion force, amounting to 36,000 men, 3,200 vehicles and large stores of supplies were ashore.
General Lucas chose to consolidate the beachhead awaiting the arrival of more men, armor, heavy artillery and supplies before continuing the offensive further inland. When on January 30, VI Corps went on the offensive, Field Marshal Kesselring, the German commander of the area, had moved substantial forces into the area and had built them around the beachhead in order to prevent Allied attempt to move further inland. The primary objective of the landing was to establish a beachhead, quickly drive inland to cut Highway 8, by which the enemy supplied his forces on the Garigliano-Minturno front and eventually cut off Highway 7 at Valmontone, thus trapping the German forces who opposed the bulk of the US Fifth Army on the front at and around Cassino.
Few foresaw the four-month long bitter struggle that was to ensure or the battle for the beachhead which on three separate occasions found the US defenders repulsing fanatic attacks by Germans who had received orders from Hitler to eliminate the threat by completely destroying its defenders.
The strategic importance of the Battle of Anzio in the liberation of Italy is well documented. The campaign's contribution to the overall Allied effort in Europe, however, is often underestimated. The two German corps engaged on the Anzio front were originally destined for Normandy. The success of the Allied landings on the beaches in France in June 1944 were due largely to the tenacity of the Allied forces at Anzio.
But the price of this crucial victory was high. Allied forces suffered nearly 87,000 casualties, 700 killed, 36,000 wounded, another 44,000 were hospitalized from various non-battle injuries. In one measure of the courage and sacrifice of those who fought there, 22 Americans were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the most of any single battle of World War II.
Medal of Honor Recipients
1. Sgt.
Sylvester Antolak - Cisterna, Italy, 5/24/44 - 3rd Div.
2. T/Sgt.
Van T. Barfoot - Carano, Italy, 5/23/44 - 45th Div.
3. Pvt.
Herbert F. Christian - Valmontone, Italy, 6/2/44 - 3rd Div.
4. T/Sgt.
Ernest H. Dervishian -Cisterna, Italy, 5/23/44 - 34th Div.
4. PFC
John W. Dutko -Ponte Rotto, Italy, 5/23/44 - 3rd Div.
6. PFC Lloyd
C. Hawks - Carano, Italy, 1/30/44 - 3rd Div.
7. 2nd LT.
Thomas W. Fowler - Carano, Italy, 5/23/44 - 1st Armor
8. Capt.
William W. Gault - Crocetta, Italy, 5/29/44 - 34th Div.
9. T/5
Eric Gibson - Isola Bella, Italy, 1/28/44 - 3rd Div.
10. S/Sgt.
George J. Hall - Anzio, Italy, 5/23/44 - 34th Div.
11. Cpl.
Paul B. Huff -Carano, Italy, 2/8/44 - 509th Para. Inf. Bn.
12. Pvt.
Elden H. Johnson - Valmontone, Italy, 6/3/44 - 3rd Div.
13. PFC
William H. Johnson - Padiglione, Italy, 2/17/44 - 45th Div.
14. PFC
Patrick L. Kessler -Ponto Rotto, Italy, 5/23/44 - 3rd Div.
15. PFC
Alton W. Knappenberger -Cisterna, Italy, 2/1/44 - 3rd Div.
16. Pvt.
James H. Mills -Cisterna, Italy, 5/24/44 - 3rd Div.
17. 1st
LT. Jack C. Montgomery -Padiglione, Italy, 2/22/44 - 45th Div.
18. 1st
LT. Beryl R. Newman -Cisterna, Italy, 5/25/44, - 34th Div.
19. Sgt.
Truman O. Olson - Cisterna, Italy, 1/30/44 - 3rd Div.
20. PFC
Henry Schauer - Cisterna, Italy, 5/23/44 - 3rd Div.
21. Pvt.
Furman L. Smith -Lanuvio, Italy, 5/31/44, - 34th Div.
22. PFC
John C. Squires - Padiglione, Italy, 4/23/443rd Div.
