Chapter 182 Volume 5, Chapter 27, The Assault on Anzio

Heavy fighting on the Cassino front. Sudden landing at Anzio. Sudden loss of ground. Dangerous situation facing Kesselring. Delays at the beachhead. The renewed attack on Cassino. Frustrated at Anzio. Question I call Field Marshal Dill on 8th February Massive vehicle disappointment and casualties at the beachhead 16th February The Germans make every effort to drive us to sea A desperate battle won Kesselring's conceded defeat on 1st March I am February 22 Report to Parliament on the situation of the war. Smuts's call on February 23. My reply to the telegram. The elite German troops were transferred from France to Italy.

During the first two weeks of January, intense preparations were made for the codename for the Battle of Anzio on the sandy seashore, while Fifth Army took initial steps to divert the enemy's attention and lure its reserves away from the beachhead. action.To this end, the Fifth Army launched a series of attacks in the hope of crossing the Garigliano and Rapido rivers, while the French Army rounded the right flank and threatened the high ground north of Cassino.The fighting was fierce, for the Germans were apparently trying to prevent our troops from breaking through the Gustav Line; this line, centered on Cassino, was the last stand of their defense in depth.Among these rocky mountains, they used a large amount of steel and cement to build a huge defense system with strong barriers.From the elevated lookout posts the movement in the valley below could be controlled by artillery fire.

After an initial assault in the midwinter cold, Fifth Army launched their main offensive on January 12, while the French Army advanced ten miles on the northern flank.Three days later, the U.S. Second Army took Mount Trocchio, the last barrier in front of the Lili River, and after crossing the river, another bridgehead was established but failed to hold.At this time, the British Tenth Army crossed the lower Galligliano River, captured the outskirts of Minturno and Castelfort, but was blocked in its attempt to continue northward.Its right-wing forces also failed to capture San Ambrogio. All these actions, however, had the desired effect on the enemy, causing him to pay no heed to the imminent threat to his vulnerable sea flank, and to salvage the situation by drawing three elite divisions from his reserves.The enemy attacked the British Tenth Army, but could not force it back.On the afternoon of the 21st, the convoy bound for Anzio set off smoothly under the cover of our aircraft.The weather at this time is very favorable for the convoy advancing in concealment.Our heavy bombing of enemy airfields, especially the Luftwaffe reconnaissance base at Perugia, prevented many enemy planes from taking off.General Westphal, Kesselring's chief of staff, vividly described the situation at the German headquarters at that time:

On January 21, Admiral Canaris, the head of German intelligence, came to Army Group headquarters and we urged him to share any information he might have about an attempted enemy landing.We especially want to know about aircraft carriers, battleships and landing craft.Canaris could not go into details, but saw no need to worry about new landings in the immediate future.That's how he sees it.At this time, not only aerial reconnaissance, but also German counterintelligence operations almost completely stopped.A few hours after Canaris left his headquarters, the enemy landed at Anzio. 【１】 [1] Westphal: "The Besieged Army", p. 240.

I held nervous, but I believe restrained excitement, as I awaited the outcome of this important assault. I call Stalin: January 21, 1944 We have launched a massive offensive against the German forces guarding Rome, about which I spoke to you when I was in Tehran.It appears that the weather conditions are favorable.I hope to have good news for you soon. I soon learned that the Sixth Army under the command of General Lucas of the United States had landed on Anzio Beach at 2:00 am on the 22nd. login.They encountered little resistance and virtually suffered no casualties.By midnight, 36,000 people and more than 3,000 vehicles had landed.Alexander, who was present at the time, sent a telegram saying: Our attack almost completely surprised the enemy.I stress the importance of sending mobile patrols with a strong strike force to advance boldly into contact with enemy forces, but so far no reports of their activity have been received.I fully agree with this, and I called back and said: Thank you for all the messages you sent.I'm so glad you went on the offensive instead of defending the beachhead.

But at this time, a disaster happened, and the main goal of the assault was completely defeated.General Lucas concentrated on capturing the beachhead and getting equipment and vehicles ashore.General Penney, commanding the British 1st Division, was eager to push inland, but his reserve brigade stayed behind with the Sixth Army.The battles of the 22nd and 23rd were all small tentative attacks directed at Cisterna and Compoleoni.The commander of this expeditionary force had no general forward intention.By the evening of the 23rd, two full divisions and their adjuncts, including two British commandos, American commandos and paratroops, had landed, along with a great deal of baggage.The fortifications of the beachheads are being strengthened, but this opportunity, created by our best efforts, has been lost.

Kesselring reacted swiftly to the dangerous situation he faced.The greater part of his reserves had been sent to fight our army on the Cassino front, but he mustered all possible forces, and within forty-eight hours mustered about two divisions against our advance. German General Westphal's comments on the measures to accomplish the above disposition are incisive. When the enemy landed south of Rome, we had but two battalions, besides some coastal artillery near by.There were no other troops in the vicinity that could be mobilized to resist the enemy that day.The highway to Rome is open.If a daring vanguard were to enter the holy city, no one could stop it.During the first two days after the enemy landed, the situation was truly critical.It was not until two days later that the German countermeasures had any effect.What's the point?In December 1943, the (German) Army Group issued a comprehensive emergency plan applicable to the whole of Italy, which stipulated what troops and columns should be mobilized to stop the enemy's possible landing points, and determined The roads they have traveled, the time they have been mobilized, and the tasks they have undertaken.As long as the code name of Richard's case is issued, these predetermined plans can be carried out.

Although the roads in the Apennines were icy, most of the troops actually reached the designated places by the stipulated date.The German High Command dispatched troops from France, Yugoslavia and the country to support it.The enemy unexpectedly stood still.They're clearly busy building a bridgehead.In this way we were able to establish a new front against the enemy.This front was commanded by the headquarters of the Fourteenth Army, which had previously been stationed in northern Italy, under the command of General von Mackensen. 【１】 [1] Westphal: "The Besieged Army", p. 242.

The threat posed to Kesselring's flank did not lessen his resolve to resist our advance at Cassino.According to Hitler's order captured on the 24th, the intention of the German army is crystal clear: The Gustav Line must be defended at all costs, and a complete victory in this defense will have political consequences.The Führer wishes to defend every inch of ground with the fiercest struggle. His order was indeed obeyed. On the 25th, Alexander reported that the beachhead was fairly solid.The American 3rd Division was four miles from Cisterna, the British 1st Division two miles from Compoleoni, and contact continued throughout the entire front.On the twenty-seventh came serious news.Both places failed.The Guards Brigade had repelled the infantry and tank counterattacks and moved forward, but was still about a mile and a half from Compleoni, while the American troops were still south of Cisterna.Alexander stated that neither he nor General Clark was satisfied with the pace of the advance, and that Clark was ready to go to the beachhead immediately.I called back and said:

Prime Minister to General Alexander January 28, 1944 It was a relief to learn that Clark would inspect the beachhead.If your army is blocked there, and the main force cannot advance from the south, the situation is not good. However, that's exactly what happened. Meanwhile, our German attack on Cassino's position continued.The British Tenth Corps, drawing the main body of enemy reinforcements to its front, then resolved to attack further north in order to seize the heights overlooking Cassino and encircle the position from that side.It's going well.The U.S. II Corps crossed the Rapido River above Cassino, while the French Army marched shoulder to shoulder on its right flank, capturing Castellón and Colemajola.From there they attacked Abbey Hill to the south, but the Germans had been reinforced and held on frantically.At the beginning of February, the strength of the Second Army was exhausted.General Alexander decided that fresh troops were needed to resume the offensive.He had ordered the transfer of three divisions from the Eighth Army on the Adriatic Coast to form a New Zealand Army under the command of General Freiberg.In fact, the Eighth Army, which intended to hold the enemy tightly to its front with a counter-offensive, was forced to deploy no fewer than five divisions to support the fierce fighting on the west coast, and for the next few months had to Stay on the defensive.

On both fronts, more intense fighting was clearly imminent, and more troops needed to be replenished.The Polish 3rd Carpathian Division was scheduled to move to the main front in early February.General Wilson had the Eighteenth Infantry Brigade and the 1st Guards Brigade stationed in North Africa on standby.On January 30, the U.S. 1st Armored Division had landed at Anzio, and the U.S. 45th Division was en route.All of this takes place on barrier-ridden beaches, or through tight fishing harbours.Admiral John Cunningham telegraphed that the situation was a far cry from the lightning assault of two or three divisions envisioned at Marrakech, but you could be confident that the Navy would spare no effort to lay the groundwork for victory.Later facts proved that this promise has been fully realized. While the fighting at Cassino was at its height, the Sixth Army at Anzio made its first violent attack on January 30 and gained some ground.But the American Third Division failed to capture Cisterna, and the British First Division failed to take Compoleoni.At the beachhead, more than four divisions have already landed.However, despite the bombardment of its lines of communication by our air force, the Germans were able to quickly and vigorously reinforce their forces.The main force of the eight divisions confronted us in positions they had had time to consolidate.The camp we occupied was overcrowded and plagued by enemy fire, and our ships anchored by the beach suffered losses from nighttime air raids.On February 2, Alexander inspected the battlefield again and gave me a detailed report.German resistance had grown.Resistance against the American 3rd Division at Cisterna and against the British 1st Division at Compoleoni became particularly violent.No further offensive was possible until these strongholds had been taken.For the past two or three days, the 3rd Division had fought hard in the battle for Cisterna.The soldiers were tired, but they were still about a mile from the city.A brigade of the 1st Division was holding the station at Compleoni, but they were in a very narrow and prominent position and were being fired from three sides.Alexander concluded by saying: We will soon conduct a well-coordinated all-out assault to achieve our goal of cutting off the enemy's main supply lines, and I have ordered preparations for this purpose. Before Alexander's order could be carried out, the enemy launched a counter-offensive on February 3, rushing into the prominent positions of the British 1st Division. Obviously this was only a prelude to more intense fighting in the future.General Wilson reported: The lines along the salient positions have been cordoned off, and our troops inside cannot advance further. From the following telegrams, it appears that I am concerned about several features of the Battle of Anzio: Prime Minister to General Wilson (in Algiers) and commander in chief mediterranean February 6, 1944 At a time when the battle is in full swing, I don't want to increase the mental burden of General Alexander, and at the same time, I am not surprised by the inquiries made by the chiefs of staff of the US armed forces.You should state the following three points.First, why were the paratroopers of the 504th Regiment not used at Anzio as prescribed; why were the existing brigades of British paratroopers used as ordinary infantry at the front?Second, why not try to take the heights, or at least the cities of Velletri, Compoleoni, and Cisterna, within twelve or twenty-four hours of the unopposed landing?The third is the question raised by the chief of staff of the United States armed forces: Why did not take a violent offensive on the main front while the German retreating troops resisted the landing? 2. In my earlier telegram to General Alexander, I raised the above points for his consideration, especially my objection to the continued use of battalions, companies and even platoons for repeated small-scale offensives.But I repeat, I do not want General Alexander to be distracted from the climax of the war in order to answer and explain past questions. General Wilson replied that, because of a last-minute decision by General Clark, the 504th Parachute Regiment was transported by sea rather than by air.At the same time, due to the lack of infantry, British paratroopers were sent to the front to fight.As to my second question, he replied that it was not without urging from superiors, that during the first forty-eight hours, Alexander and Clark had been at the beachhead to prompt the attack.Although General Lucas completed the raid, he failed to take advantage of the favorable situation.This was due to his Salerno mentality at work, assuming that as a prelude to victory, the first task was to repel the inevitable counterattack of the enemy.He was not sure about the task until the combat team from the 1st U.S. Armored Division arrived.Wilson said the attack was moving too slowly.He also explained the difficulty of breaking through the main lines on the Rapido and near Cassino. General Marshall shared my concerns, and I transmitted this report to Washington with the following comments: Prime Minister to Field Marshal Deal (in Washington) February 8, 1944 Whether this report should be forwarded to General Marshall is at your discretion. My opinion is that the superior commander should not urge, but should order. All this disappoints me, however, and it would be very advantageous if large numbers of the enemy were to fight in southern Italy, far from the other fields, and we would have badly needed to engage them continually, even if it were a war of attrition. Stand by and watch the Russian army fight.There are also many lessons that should be learned about how to avoid the above situations, which are valuable for the Overlord operation plan. Admiral Cunningham's actual actions regarding the landing craft even exceeded his promises.Now I candidly ask him a question. Prime Minister to Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean February 8, 1944 Please calculate the total number of vehicles that will land in Anzio in seven days and fourteen days.If possible without being unduly laborious and time-consuming, separate the numbers of trucks, artillery, and tanks. The answer was quick and surprising.As of the seventh day, a total of 12,350 vehicles had landed, including 356 tanks; by the fourteenth day, a total of 21,940 vehicles had landed, including tanks Three hundred and eighty vehicles.This figure represents a total of 315 transports of the tank landing craft. It is worth noting that, in addition to the 4,000 trucks accompanying the tank landing craft to and fro, as of the fourteenth day, there were about 18,000 vehicles in Anzio The beachhead was brought ashore in order to serve an army numbering 70,000, including, of course, the drivers, as well as the vehicle repair and maintenance personnel. On February 10, I replied: I am very grateful for the material you provided. How many people do we have to drive or maintain 18,000 trucks in this narrow area?We're bound to have a huge number of drivers.I was extremely surprised that the enemy infantry outnumbered us.Please report the latest supply situation of our army going to the bridgehead. Later that same day, more reports were received.General Wilson said that our air strikes were not possible because of the weather.The British 1st Division was forced to retreat under heavy pressure, and Alexander was trying to rescue. All these developments have caused great disappointment both at home and in the United States.Of course, I don't know what orders General Lucas received, but his opinion seems to have violated the basic principle of rushing forward to engage the enemy.As I said at the time, I had hoped that what we had thrown ashore was a feral cat, but it turned out to be a beached whale.As of the fourteenth day, in order to supply 70,000 people, we have gathered 18,000 vehicles on the shore, or including the driver and repair and maintenance personnel, each vehicle is less than four people, and the progress they have made Nor was it more than twelve or fourteen miles which was astonishing.In terms of combat power, we are clearly still stronger than the German army.But the enemy's deliberate movement of troops on the field and the speed with which they were forced to fill the precarious gap left in the southern field were impressive.All of these provide us with negative material for the Overlord Operation Plan. I call Alexander: Prime Minister to General Alexander February 10, 1944 I think you may be unwilling to assert your power because of your extensive dealings with American personnel, so you ‧urge‧prompt forward rather than‧order‧command it forward.But you have full power to order them; and I have been assured by the highest authorities in the United States that they expect their troops to receive direct orders.Their army, they said, had been formed on Prussian rather than more moderate British principles, and that American commanders wanted tangible orders which they would obey immediately.Therefore, you should give orders as you would to our own soldiers, without hesitation.Americans are easy to get along with, and they don't care whether the environment goes well or not. Alexander replied on February 11th: The first phase of the campaign, which had begun so promisingly, was now over, because the enemy was able to quickly muster sufficient forces to stabilize their desperate situation.The campaign is now entering its second phase, in which we must, at all costs, crush the enemy's counter-offensive, then regroup our own forces, resume the offensive, penetrate inland, and cut off the enemy's access to the south from Rome traffic line.I will do my best to achieve this goal.The casualties of the thirty-five battalions of the Sixth Army were as follows: as of February 6, the British had 285 killed in action; 1,371 wounded; and 1,048 missing.As of February 9, the United States had 597 killed, 2,506 wounded, and 1,160 missing.These figures include loss figures for nine commando battalions.The total number of casualties was 6,923.I am very grateful for the sincere instructions you gave me at the end of your telegram.You and everyone in this country are disappointed, and I fully understand that.I am very much hopeful and willing to achieve what we are trying to achieve. On February 16, the enemy began the expected massive counter-offensive in an attempt to drive us back to sea at Anzio.At that time the enemy, with more than four divisions and four hundred and fifty cannon, advanced directly southward from Compoleoni.Before the attack, the Germans read Hitler's special orders to the troops.He demanded that the abscess on our beachhead must be removed within three days.The timing of the enemy's attack is very inappropriate for us.For the American 45th and British 56th Divisions, brought in from the front at Cassino, are coming to the rescue of our heroic 1st Division, which will soon be fully engaged again.A deep and dangerous wedge has been opened on our front, and our front has been forced back to its old beachhead.Since all our soldiers defending the beachhead have landed, the enemy's artillery fire has been harassing, and now it is more violent than ever.The situation is critical, and there is no room for retreat.If the enemy advances a little further, he can not only use long-range artillery to bombard barges and ships in a disturbing manner, but also use field artillery to weave a real firepower network to block all incoming and outgoing transportation.I have no illusions about such a question.It's life and death. Previously, our fate was ill-fated, but now, thanks to the heroic last stand of the British and American troops, we have turned around.Before the three-day deadline set by Hitler, the German army was forced to stop the offensive.At this time, the enemy's prominent position was flanked by our army; We bombarded it again with all the artillery, and bombed it with all the aircraft that could take off, cutting off the enemy's prominent positions.The battle was fierce, with heavy losses on both sides, but we won the battle of life and death. At the end of February, Hitler attempted to attack again because his willpower was at work.The American 3rd Division on the eastern flank was attacked by three German divisions.The vitality of these three divisions was greatly damaged due to the last defeat.The U.S. troops held their positions tenaciously, but the German attack was disintegrated within a day, causing more than 2,500 casualties.On March 1, Kesselring conceded defeat.He thwarted Anzio's expedition but failed to crush it.I telegraphed President Roosevelt: I extend my warmest congratulations to your troops, especially the U.S. 3rd Division, on a successful campaign at the Anzio Beachhead.I am always moved when I think of the famous deeds that our troops have fought together in so many ferocious battles that will add an inspiring page to our history.Of course, I have struggled for a beachhead with little room to retreat.Now that both sides have put in a lot of power, the stalemate will remain for a long time, but I am sure that we will win here and at Casino. On February 22, 1944, I made a report to the House of Commons,[1] which gave a fitting account of the situation at Anzio.I talked about every kind of situation that could have been talked about at the time. 【1】See page 420 of this volume. It is not easy to send this huge army to the sea with the first batch of 40,000 to 50,000 people when it is completely impossible to judge the winter weather and the enemy's air defense forces.The campaign itself was an example of joint warfare.The landing met virtually no resistance, however, what followed did not go as we had hoped or planned.A large army had landed at last, with a great deal of artillery, tanks, and thousands of vehicles; our troops advancing inland came into contact with the enemy. The German reaction to the attack was astonishing.Hitler was clearly determined to defend Rome with the same recalcitrance shown at Stalingrad, Tunisia, and more recently the bend of the Dnieper.No fewer than seven German divisions were quickly brought in from France, northern Italy, and Yugoslavia, determined to destroy the bridgehead and drive us to sea.There was a protracted and extremely fierce battle between the two sides.At this time, the Fifth Army of the United States and Britain in the south also advanced with all their strength.There was another fierce battle going on there. Hitler decided to send as many as eighteen German divisions to southern Italy, together with their maintenance troops, a total of about half a million people, and decided to open up a huge second battlefield in Italy.From a broad strategic point of view, the Allies did not welcome his decision.Unless we stand by the Russians, we're going to fight the Germans somewhere.This war of attrition in Italy was an effective prelude to other larger campaigns by pinning down a number of troops from their use in other larger campaigns. General Smuts telegraphed me the next day, expressing his wide-ranging insight in words. General Smuts to Prime Minister February 23, 1944 You have given a brilliant account of the British efforts in the war which will impress world opinion.The report provided many new facts that were not generally known, and it was comparable to Russia's brilliant record.It also diluted the one-sided impression created by our propaganda of our own impotence in Burma and Anzio compared with Russia's crushing victories.I myself do not know our strategy for the Anzio beachhead, but I think that this position should be linked to the Cassino line, the purpose of which is to crush German resistance in the mountains of southern Italy.We were now in an isolated pocket, out of contact with the enemy's main southern front, and were ourselves surrounded by enemies that could not ease the pressure on us in the south. You underscored the great efforts of our Air Force in destroying the base of German war assets and in laying the best foundations for the future Western theater, which restored the theater to its proper proportions.But I myself do not intend to over-promote this battlefield, because it may cause us unpleasant surprises.The retreat of the German army on the Eastern Front was not only due to the heroic resistance of the Russian army and our drawing the Luftwaffe from the Eastern Front, but also, perhaps, because the German army brought back a large number of strategic reserves to counter our threat to it in the west.In a field where the enemy is fully on our guard, we will encounter serious obstacles, if not setbacks, and events that will inevitably disappoint us. The German plan may be to effectively stop us in the west, and then rush back to the east to prevent the Russian army from breaking into Germany. The Russian army must be most afraid of the enemy.If the Germans' plan had not been like this, I could not understand their strategy, where Italy fought tenaciously against us, fighting for every inch of ground, while on the Eastern Front, it allowed Russia to achieve such victories. Our propaganda should now focus on our air force offensive against Germany and not over-promote our western theater.This, I am convinced, is even more far-reaching than the victories Russia has won on land. If any reserves were to be called up, it must not be forgotten that the 6th South African Armored Division was now well trained and stationed in Egypt.They just need to get a few more transports to perform well on the right battlefield. My opinion expressed in reply to this telegram has not changed so far: Prime Minister to Field Marshal Smuts February 27, 1944 Thank you very much for your call.During my conferences at Carthage and Marrakech, I did my best to get this great amphibious campaign at Anzio into a sound organization without difficulty.My own efforts did not touch upon the commanding aspects of the operation; such matters were, of course, practically left entirely to the commanding officers once they had safely landed at the intended place.In all the meetings Alexander held with me, it was agreed that the key to this campaign was to capture Mount Alpen at the highest speed, and for this purpose I was able to transfer from the United States to the 504th Parachute Regiment, although at the time due to the Overlord plan, It has been ordered to withdraw.But at the last moment, General Clark decided not to use this regiment of paratroopers; and the fifty-five-year-old American General Lucas, who had made a name for himself in command of an army in Salerno, seemed to have a well-thought-out plan to deal with the counterattack at all costs. .As a result, although I instructed Alexander, as soon as I received news of the successful landing, that he should go on the offensive rather than hold on to the bridgehead, the whole plan stalled.Needless to say, the logistical estimate turned out to be too high, and the required quantity was too broad.The original plan to supply 50,000 people is now more than enough to supply 170,000 people. No one can deny that such luck is really good. A good start, so fortunate and well planned, seems to have slipped by, which of course greatly disappoints me.However, I have no regrets about what has happened.As a result, the German side has now transferred at least eight divisions to southern Italy, so there are already eighteen divisions there in total.By removing as many German divisions as possible from the field of Operation Overlord and pinning them down elsewhere, the arduous fighting in Italy throughout this spring will be an ideal prelude and accompaniment to the main campaign.This has an extremely important relationship with the victory of the Overlord Operation Plan. We had hoped that in conjunction with the landing there would be a major attack north from the Cassino front.We did have plans of this kind, but we did not carry it out, for evidently there were great difficulties in going up the valley of the Liri, past Cassino.Of course, we are doing our best to bring these two forces together, and the curtain on the next scene could be lifted at any time.Lucas had been replaced by Truscott, a young and highly respected American division commander.My trust in Alexander hasn't changed a bit. At home, all is well here, although the little ones are more active, yet their murmurs will soon be drowned out by the thunder of cannon. I really hope to meet you.When the big times come, I will be happy that you will be by my side. Such is the history of the Battle of Anzio; a story of good chances and disillusioned hopes; of well-planned beginnings on our side, of the enemy's quick recovery of lost ground, and of heroism on both sides.We now know that, at the beginning of January, the German High Command attempted to transfer five of the best divisions from Italy to North-West Europe.Kesselring protested that under the circumstances he could no longer carry out his orders to fight south of Rome and would have to retreat.While the debate was raging, the landing at Anzio took place.The German High Command abandoned this idea, and instead of sending troops from the Italian front to northwestern Europe, they took steps in the exact opposite direction.Hitler was furious that his Fourteenth Army had failed to drive the Allies to sea.After their counteroffensive of February 16, he ordered a selected delegation of twenty officers of all ranks and services fighting in Italy to report to him personally on the front.Such a case was the first and only time in this war.General Westphal remarked that he had better come to the front himself, so that he would be convinced that the Allies did have an advantage in aircraft and artillery. We are ignorant of all the circumstances that changed the plan at that time.But it does prove that the offensives undertaken by our troops in Italy, and especially the Anzio Offensive, did make a significant contribution to the success of the Overlord plan.We shall see in this volume its role in the liberation of Rome.