Posted on 01/30/2021 10:18:38 AM PST by L.A.Justice
Statement by Chargé d’Affaires Thomas Smitham on the 77th Anniversary of the Allied Landing in Anzio, Italy
Today, on January 22, 2021, we commemorate the 77th anniversary of the Allied landings at Anzio and Nettuno, where brave Americans joined allies and partners to liberate Italy. Over 7,800 U.S. service members remain at Nettuno’s Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, their final resting place. Today, we draw inspiration from these heroes and their sacrifice. We shall always remember what they did, and aim to live each day by their example.
Today, on January 22, 2021, U.S. service men and women still stand watch around the world. They serve in dangerous places, side by side with Italy and our friends and allies, to defeat forces as dark as those we faced in World War II. Our continuing commitment to democracy, liberty, international cooperation and peace is the most fitting way to ensure the sacrifice offered by the heroes of Anzio and Nettuno was not in vain.
My father was in his platoon. He was drafted right at the end of the Korean War and was stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington. Murphy had long since been out of the active army but came there in 1955 to film the movie. My father got to meet him. In the pass and review parade scenes my dad always pointed out “there I am.” Of course he admits there’s no way in the movie you could tell one soldier from the other but he was one of them.
Number 3 of the 4 amphibious attacks that my Dad did with the 45th Infantry in WW2. He developed a bad case of claustrophobia from his 4 months of being underground there. There is a good book on the 45th that focuses on their hell in Anzio, “The Rock of Anzio” (Flint Whitlock), a close analog to Stalingrad on the Eastern Front.
Thinking of you Dad, love you!
Describes Clark to a T
Italy was a tough go Germans were really dug in with a lot of time for defensive emplacements.
“Italy campaign did tie up German troops...”
That is true. But you never invade that hilly country from the bottom. Even the Germans told the allied commanders that after.
If they would have cut them off up top, they would have isolated the whole dam works.
Mark Clark asked Winston Churchill to preface his book on the war. Churchill declined
James Arness was also a survivor although wounded.
In “Kelly’s Heroes” they did a pretty respectable job of making some T-34 series tanks look like a Tiger I tanks.
The Allies were concerned about the reach of their air power. Although they had conquered Sicily, there were not enough airfields available on Sicily to ensure that they could control the air space over the landings. Tunisia was quite a bit further away so aircraft taking off from Africa would have little loiter time over the battlefield. Salerno was chosen as the landing location as they felt they could command the air at that location, but that any landing further north was a much dicier proposition.
I’m not sure how polished they would be after that climb. Probably pretty scuffed up.
They would have had airfields enough if they had taken Corsica in between. Which they did anyways.
The Italian campaign was a Brit debacle.
There was a film about Yugoslavia theater...FORCE TEN FROM NAVARONE...Harrison Ford, Richard Kiel,and Robert Shaw were in the film...T34 tanks were used as German tanks in that film...
I am not surprised that Prime Minister did not have a very positive opinion about General Mark Clark...
I think he was a mediocre general...Not as good as George S. Patton...
I think southern and central regions of Italy were not suitable for mechanized warfare...
Northern Italy was little different...In 1945, Allied troops advanced very fast in April offensive...
If the invasion would have taken place at the north of Italy and started cut cross the area, the Germans would have had to evacuate or become trapped. The only way they could have got out is across the water to the east. Then they would have had to face the Russians eventually.
Of course Hitler, in his genius for strategic war, would have insisted upon holding the ground in Italy. The result would have been complete entrapment and taken Kesselring’s entire army group out of the war.
The Germans would have had to contend with the Italians as well as getting attacked from the air every time they showed their faces.
I always liked him.
True to a point. But the areas for landing are much more limited as you go north. Presumably one would land on the west coast. (An Adriatic landing would be conducted in a very constricted body of water and would forfeit surprise as the armada entered the Adriatic.) As you go north of Rome the west coast is mostly mountainous. You could land there but not go very far very fast. Good chance of getting pinned in the lodgement area. Another question that arises is supplies. How much supply capacity do you have over the beaches and how much can any ports captured handle? A couple of very good ports are available, Livorno and Genoa. Neither are promising terrain for quickly exploiting a landing. Same with Pisa. If you land 10-20 divisions without a major port or two the divisions will be starved of supplies. That is why Naples was such an inviting objective - very large transshipment capacity. That argued for a landing near Naples and a rapid seizure of that port, hoping the Germans would not obliterate the port area.
3r Infantry Division. My Drill Sergeant in Recruit School wore the 3rd Div patch on his right shoulder. Tough guy, but one to be emulated. He told me about being in on the Anzio landing. That was in 1957, 13 years later.
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