A little about the Guns at Anzio.
The German K-5 RR battery that shelled the Anzio Beachhead was made up of two guns. These were railroad artillery pieces capable of sending a 563 pound shell over 20 miles. The Germans named the guns "Robert" and "Leopold", to the Allies they were know as "Anzio Annie" and "Anzio Express".
When the Allies broke out of the Anzio Beachhead, the guns were moved to Civitavecchia, located just north of Rome and were spiked with explosives and blown in place.
On 07 June 1944, the 168th Infantry Regiment of the 34th Division captured the guns. Leopold was the less damaged piece and was moved to Naples and embarked aboard the liberty ship Robert R. Livingston and shipped to Aberdeen Proving Grounds .
Country of Origin: Germany Caliber: 11.02 inches (280 mm) Barrel Length: 70.08 feet Overall Length: 135.28 feet Weight in Action: 214.59 tons Elevation: 0° to 50° Traverse: 2° Shell and Weight: HE; 563.38 lbs Muzzle Velocity: 3,700 fps Maximum Range: 38.64 miles
The World War II Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial is situated at the north edge of the town of Nettuno, Italy. It is just east of Anzio and thirty miles south of Rome.
The field of headstones of 7,861 American military who lost their lives are arranged in gentle arcs which sweep across the broad green lawns beneath the rows of Roman pines. Many of the Dead interred or commemorated here lost their lives in the landings at Anzio Beach and expansion of the beachhead (January 22, 1944 to May 1944).
Ya beat me to it :-)
Hera are a few more pics of Leopold. A big hat tip to the folks at(www.dynamicdioramas.org)they have a pretty cool web site with some really nice dioramas.
It should be noted that with the logistical support needed to keep these two monsters in action that the Nazis could probably have supplied several batteries of 150mm or so guns with a wealth of ammuntion. Sometime biggfwer is not always best.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}