7.+The+Italian+Campaign+and+the+battle,+“Bloody+Anzio”

It was January 22nd and I sat in the overcrowded American transport boat clutching my gun, all of us were nervous, I felt as if I would throw up at any moment. I was part of the Rangers and had been stationed in Italy for the past year. Several months ago, however, our advance had been halted at the Gustav line according to our military reports there were over “20,000 German troops holding the fortified line” (Albrecht 1). Our officer had described the plan formulated by the army commander John P. Lucas. My unit was to attack the port of Anzio, code named “Yellow Beach”, two other landing were to be at “X-Ray Beach” several miles south of Anzio, and at “Peter Beach” several miles north by the British forces. ([]) I heard the scrape of the metal ship haul on sand and the boats large landing door swung down. To my surprise there was very little resistance, we took the town of Anzio with ease and set up a defensive line as reinforcements continued to pour into the city. Over the next few days sparse fighting occurred in the nearby regions, but no major conflicts occurred. However, when January 30th arrived our commanding officers informed us that we were launching an offensive on the Germans. Our troops captured none of our objectives and sustained severe casualties. On February 3rd the Germans launched a massive counter attack on us; they had over 100,000 troops in total. Their advance was eventually slowed but a second offensive which pushed the allies further south and “led to a stalemate”(Albrecht 2). It was not until May 23rd that we finally broke through the line, suffering large casualties along the way. Despite our gains it was not until June 5th that the Axix powers withdrew from Rome and it was taken by the Allies. After Liberating the city of Rome i was bunked in an old government building with some fellow soldiers and an officer. It was this officer that informed me of the terrible extent of the Casualties suffered at "Bloody Anzio." There were over "18,000 American dead, 15,000 British, 11,000 French, and 38,000 Axis Casualties"(Lyons 4). ([])

Gerald A, J Alum, Larry K, Louis W, Nancy W. __The Americans.__ Illinois: McDougal Little, 2003.
 * __Sources__**

The Battle of Bloody Anzio. 2006. History Army. 19 March 2009.

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Into the Lion's Den, Anzio. 2003. Boody Battles. 19 March 2009.

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