"Operation Shingle: Landing at Anzio, Italy" Topic

"At the conclusion of Operation Avalanche, Allied leadership was optimistic that Rome might fall as early as late October 1943. These hopes rapidly diminished once it became clear that the German commander in Italy, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, planned to stubbornly contest the Allied advance from Salerno. Poor weather, mountainous terrain, and a series of east-west river crossings aided the German defenders, who slowed the Allied armies to a crawl up the Italian peninsula in the fall of 1943. By the end of the year, the Allies faced a stalemate at the Germans' Gustav Line, approximately halfway between Salerno and Rome.

In early November 1943, the overall Allied commander in Italy, British General Sir Harold Alexander, decided that another amphibious operation would be required to force the Germans from their position and open the road to Rome. Dubbed "Shingle," the operation was scheduled for the third week of January 1944. The plan called for landing the U.S. VI Corps under Major General John P. Lucas at Anzio, a resort town on Italy's western coast approximately 80 miles behind the Gustav Line and 35 miles from Rome. The Anzio landings would be coupled with a breakthrough at the Gustav Line by the remainder of Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark's Fifth Army…"
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