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Anzio Beachhead Museum

Anzio, Italy

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli

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We've been enjoying ourselves in Anzio, Italy, having great lunches on our hotel balcony, enjoying the sea view, eating gelato and visiting Roman Emperor Nero's villa.

Every day we learned more about how crucial Anzio had been in the Second World War and that they had their own version of D-Day.

I hate to express my ignorance, but I didn't know that.

On one of our walks about town, we ran into the Anzio Beachhead Museum which is devoted to this Allied amphibious landing. It happened on January 22, 1944, along the coastline between Anzio and Nettuno, in Italy.

Due to some ambiguity of objectives with this mission and lack of resources, the Allies almost didn't win this battle.

The front of the Anzio Beachhead Museum

Though small, this museum is an intriguing place.

On the right is the door to the WWII memorabilia, to the left is an archaeological museum with Roman artifacts, and in the front left on the lawn (not visible) are more ruins from the Roman times under glass, still in the ground.

As we have mentioned before, Anzio was the resort playground of the elite Romans, and their physical evidence is everywhere.

The Beachhead section of the museum features authentic uniforms, badges, documents, pictures, newspapers and mementos donated by veteran organizations over the years.

The museum itself is in the Villa Adele, which originates from the 17th century.

British and American flags, and a wooden propeller

The amphibious landing of the Allied Forces (called Operation Shingle) in January of 1944 turned out to be a long and drawn out battle lasting until June of that year.

The objectives of the landing were not clear, and due to the hesitation of Major General John P. Lucas, and lack of supplies, this battle was prolonged with a great loss off life. Lucas held a bleak view about the prospects for the success of Operation Shingle from the beginning, and his idea was to wait for reinforcements instead of advancing onwards to take Rome.

Churchill famously commented that "I had hoped we were hurling a wild cat onto the shore, but all we got was a stranded whale".

Photo of the entrance tickets to the museum

The museum itself was established in 1994 on the occasion of the 50th year of the allied landing. The above picture was taken from the painting "Anzio in history" by M. Massacelli.

The primary objective of the landing at Anzio was to establish a beachhead, and then quickly drive inland to cut off and disrupt the highways German troops used for resupply. But it was far more complex than expected. Hitler was determined to fend off the Americans and Allied forces, and Lucas' hesitation and doubts played into Hitler's hands.

It took four grueling months until the area was secured by the Allied forces.

This battle was critical to the ultimate liberation of Italy, and  Allied forces suffered nearly 87,000 casualties.

And that number, if you think about it, is the size of a small city or town.

Newspapers from the day

Winston Churchill, no stranger to risky amphibious operations, saw this landing as an opening to an advance on the Italian capital city of Rome.

Much depended on the availability of landing ships and other invasion craft, but many of these had already been earmarked for the invasion of Normandy.

Nettuno, a city some 30 miles south of Rome was also part of this Operation Shingle.

Initially, tactical surprise had been achieved and the landings were virtually unopposed.

 A US reconnaissance jeep patrol found the way was open to Rome, however, Lucas threw away the initiative to go into the capital city and that hesitation allowed German forces to mount an impressive opposition.

Instead he chose to dig in and await the Germans.

Military map of strategic plans

The battle simply went on and on, affecting German supply routes, capturing strategically important hills and cities and facing German counterattacks.

And those German counterattacks were typically swift.

German Field Marshal Albert Kesselring summoned reinforcements from Rome, northern Italy, France and Germany.

Photo of Anzio D-Day landing

By the 25th of January, 40,000 German troops came to the area, and Kesselring was encouraged by the Allies’ unwillingness to immediately strike out from Anzio.

Lucas, wanting to build up his forces, waited until January 25 to attempt to penetrate the German defenses.

Lucas’s lack of drive in these first days was to become the cause of subsequent controversy. 

Allied military solder in uniform with photos and text behind him

The land around Anzio was low-lying marshland and the trenches soon filled with water. There was little cover for Allied troops.

German artillery pounded the Allied beachhead.

Another photo, showing the destruction of Anzio

The Luftwaffe also mounted attacks with their new precision weapons.

Now more ships were being sunk in dusk attacks.

Uniforms donated by Veterans of the Anzio Battle

Here are more military uniforms donated by veterans along with photos of themselves and spouses.

Tampa Bay Daily Times headlines

Headlines from Tampa Bay, Florida were filled with war news.

You can even see the map of Anzio and how close that city is to Rome, the ultimate destination.

Posters from World War II

There were a lot of WWII posters encouraging people to "Make do and mend" allowing factories to utilize their time for the war effort, instead of making fashionable clothes.

Other posters asked you to donate your rags because these rags could be used for making uniforms and blankets for the solders.

Recycling was very important during the Second World War. People were encouraged to recycle animal bones for their multiple uses, such as glue and fertilizer. 

Large American flag with flag of Canada

To the right of these flags was an older man giving a presentation about Anzio Landing, and answering questions that visitors had.

The museum is small, but is fairly packed with exhibits from this time in history.

On June 3rd, Kesselring declared Rome an open city and Allied troops liberated Rome on June 4th.

General Clark entered the city of Rome in triumph on June 5th.

The sign for the museum

Outside the museum is this sign listing the hours it is open, both for summer and winter seasons.

Entry is free.

After the fall/Liberation of Rome there would be no rapid end to the war in Italy.

The Allies would face almost another year of bitter fighting before final victory.

Memorial at the harbor

At Anzio harbor is this memorial with photos of the war.

While not one of the most well-known battles of World War II, 22 Americans were awarded the Medal of Honor for their valor during the battle at Anzio—the most of any single battle in World War II.

Close up of some of these photos

The capture of Rome shone briefly in the headlines, but was eclipsed the very next day as Allied armies landed in Normandy June 6th, known as D-Day.

The focus of the war was shifted irrevocably elsewhere and the Italian campaign quickly became a secondary theatre of operations.

Though the Duke of Wellinton's troops marched into Rome on June 8th, 1944, from that point on, the Italian campaign would be a strategic backwater.

Would we recommend you visit Anzio Beachhead Museum?

Well, now that you know the story, absolutely!

__________

Anzio Beachhead Museum

Via Villa Adele, 00042 Anzio Rome, Italy

Free Admission

Website: https://www.liberationroute.com/pois/113/anzio-beachhead-museum

Tele: +390 6984 8059

Email: info@sbarcodianzio.it

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