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THE ANZIO BEACH AREA. Top: looking westward, Astura tower lower right; bottom: looking eastward. The beach shown in these pictures was the U. S. zone of the landing area. The British landing beach, about six miles northwest of Anzio, proved too shallow for unloading supplies. It was closed soon after the British forces had landed there, and supplies were handled mostly through the port of Anzio. The Anglo-American assault force consisted of almost 50,000 men and 5,200 vehicles.

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MORNING OF D DAY. Top: men coming ashore from LCI’s. Enemy air raids started at 0850 and consisted of three separate attacks by an estimated 18–28 fighter-bombers. One LGI was hit and is shown burning. Bottom: LST backing away from portable ponton causeway after having unloaded. Bulldozer is holding causeway in place. In background is an LGI with a deckload of soldiers waiting to go ashore.

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MEN AND EQUIPMENT COMING ASHORE on Anzio beaches on D Day morning. The first assault craft hit the beaches at 0200, 22 January 1944. There was practically no opposition to the landings as the enemy had been caught by surprise. Men with full equipment wading ashore from LCI (top); in foreground are two DUKW’s near beach, at right is LST unloading equipment over portable causeway pontons (bottom).

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ARTILLERY OBSERVATION PLANE taking off from LST carrier to land at Anzio beachhead shortly after dawn on D Day. The first use of an LST carrier for this purpose was during the invasion of Sicily. Two planes were launched and directed naval fire to the vicinity of Licata, Sicily. Cub planes were to play an important part at Anzio. The area of the beachhead and surroundings is generally flat and featureless and in such terrain observation was at a premium and it was vital to secure or deny that observation.

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B-26 BOMBING ROADS IN THE LIRI VALLEY behind the Gustav Line on 22 January 1944 in order to hamper the enemy in sending troops to the Anzio area. The hill at lower left is Montecassino. The mountains immediately above the plane were the scene of bitter fighting during the winter of 1943–44. While the Anzio landing was still in preparation the Allied air forces had been bombing airfields and communication centers, and the army had started its drive (on 17 January 1944) to penetrate the Gustav Line. By the 22d, the date of the Anzio invasion, the attempt to penetrate the Gustav Line had bogged down in front of the Cassino defenses.

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DOUGLAS HAVOC BOMBING RAILROAD BRIDGE and enemy installations at Cisterna di Littoria. This town became one of the enemy strong points surrounding the beachhead. It was shelled and bombed for months, and when it finally fell, on 25 May 1944, it was nothing but a mass of rubble.

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THE PORT OF ANZIO, which was taken intact with very little opposition on the morning of D Day, 22 January 1944. The enemy had placed demolition charges to destroy the port and its facilities, but the assault was so sudden and unexpected that there was no opportunity to set off the charges. By early afternoon the port was ready to receive four LST’s and three LCT’s simultaneously. By midnight on D Day 36,034 men, 3,069 vehicles, and large quantities of supply had been brought ashore, either through the port or over the beaches. The unloading area of the port (upper right) was not suitable for Liberty ships or other freighters; these continued to be unloaded offshore, mostly by DUKW’s.

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FREIGHTER UNLOADING CARGO INTO DUKW’S. Supplies for Anzio were carried by two methods: in truck-loaded LST’s from Naples and in bulk-loaded Liberty ships or other freighters from Africa. After its capture, the port of Anzio sustained regular shelling by enemy artillery. The LST’s docked at the port and the freighters unloaded into smaller craft or DUKW’s offshore.

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MEN WORKING ON A BARRAGE BALLOON. A number of balloons were used at the beachhead, chiefly in and around the port area. Floated at the end of a steel cable, their purpose was to prevent low-level strafing and dive-bombing attacks and to force the bombers high enough to give the antiaircraft gunners time to get on the target. Up to forty balloons were flown at one time over the port. These were filled with highly inflammable hydrogen gas, which was manufactured in the field. Helium gas was sometimes used but was harder to obtain.

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CAMOUFLAGED MULTIPLE-GUN MOTOR CARRIAGE M16 mounting four .50-caliber machine guns in Maxson turret. Allied antiaircraft artillery faced its first major test in Italy with the establishment of the beachhead. The enemy air force now started on a large-scale, continuous offensive. The offshore shipping, port, and beach congestion in the Anzio area offered easy targets. Allied fighter aircraft were based about one hundred miles to the south and they found it difficult to counter the enemy’s quick sneak raids and night attacks. Antiaircraft artillery units were mainly responsible for combatting these attacks and keeping the flow of supplies constant. By May 1944, 1,051 pieces of antiaircraft artillery were on the beachhead, including sixty-four 90-mm. guns.

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SOLDIER SHARING HIS C RATION WITH NATIVE BOY. A few days after the landing most of the civilian population, about 22,000, were evacuated by sea to Naples, leaving only about 750 able-bodied civilians. Later, as the need for workers increased, an office was set up in Naples to recruit Italian civilians for work at the beachhead. (Soldier is wearing a combat jacket, initially issued with trousers to members of armored units.)

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CAMPOLEONE STATION near the Albano highway leading from Anzio to the Colli Laziali, the mountain mass overlooking the plains of the beachhead. By 31 January 1944 the Allies had advanced to Campoleone station, the front line being the railroad bed in foreground above, but the available forces could not hold the area. The enemy was bringing reserves toward the Gustav Line where the Allied drive had stalled. These enemy reserve troops were rerouted to contain the Anzio beachhead and, if possible, force the Allies back to the sea. The picture above, looking toward the sea, gives an idea of the flat, featureless terrain in the area. The group of buildings in the distance at right is the “Factory,” scene of hard fighting.

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CISTERNA DI LITTORIA. A thrust toward Cisterna di Littoria was made by the Allies on 25–27 January 1944, but was stopped about three miles southwest of the town. Another attempt made on 30 January-1 February met even less success. In the distance are the Colli Laziali overlooking the beachhead. Below the mountains is the town of Velletri. Highway 7 through Cisterna di Littoria leads past the mountains to Rome. Attempts to extend the beachhead failed: the first attempt along the Albano road was stopped at Campoleone; the second, the effort to cut Highway 7 at Cisterna di Littoria, was stopped within sight of the village. By this time the enemy outnumbered the Allies and the latter consolidated their positions and waited for the counterattacks.

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CAMOUFLAGED FOXHOLES AND ARTILLERY POSITIONS along the Mussolini Canal. On 2 February 1944, after the unsuccessful attempt to extend the beachhead, the Anzio force received orders to dig in and prepare for defense. By this date casualties totaled 6,487. Allied troops were on the defensive in Italy for the first time since the invasion at Salerno.

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LAYING AN ANTITANK MINE. The man at left is arming the mine by pulling the safety fork. This type of mine contained 6 pounds of cast TNT and had a total weight of 10⅔ pounds. The pressure of a man stepping on the mine would not detonate it, but any vehicle hitting it would set it off. Mines were generally laid at night or on foggy days behind a smoke screen. The task of laying mine fields at night in the open, almost featureless terrain resulted at first in many improperly marked fields causing accidents. The practice was finally adopted of first marking a field, then recording it, and only then laying the mines. (Antitank mine M1A1.)

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LONG TOM FIRING AT GERMAN POSITIONS. On 3 February 1944 the enemy started a series of counterattacks to wipe out the beachhead. There were three main attacks: 3–12 February, 16–20 February, and 28 February–4 March. The stalemate began on the latter date and lasted until the offensive to break out of the beachhead got under way on 23 May 1944. Enemy prisoners taken during the February fighting always commented on the heavy artillery fire, which caused numerous casualties, shattered nerves, and demoralized many enemy units.

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SIGNAL CORPS MEN working in the main frame room of headquarters switchboard installation. The beach area at Anzio-Nettuno was on a slightly higher level than the rest of the beachhead area and was honeycombed with tunnels and caves so far underground that they were bombproof. Wherever possible the installations along the shore were put underground.

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RADAR SET IN OPERATION. By 24 February 1944 the first sets of this type were in position on the Anzio beachhead. They were brought in to cope with enemy jamming techniques and “window” (small strips of metallic paper dropped from attacking planes) which had reduced the effectiveness of earlier types of radar. During the night of 24 February a flight of twelve bombers approached in close formation, using the “window” method of jamming. Forty-eight 90-mm. guns directed by radar of the improved type caught them at extreme range over enemy territory and brought down five with the first salvo. The remainder of the formation jettisoned their bombs and fled. (Radar SCR 584.)

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FIRING ANTIAIRCRAFT GUN at ground targets. The enemy counterattack down the Albano road on 16–20 February 1944 was the most severe and dangerous of the three main attacks the Germans made on the Allies at Anzio beachhead. On the 17th it looked as if the enemy might succeed in driving down the Albano road from the Campoleone area to Anzio and thus split the beachhead forces. To aid the hard-pressed infantry, all the artillery in the area was brought to bear on the enemy. In addition to 432 guns representing corps and divisional artillery and three companies of tanks, four batteries of 90-mm. antiaircraft guns were employed against ground targets. Two cruisers assisted with fire on the flank of the beachhead.

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GERMAN PRISONERS TAKEN NEAR THE ALBANO ROAD on 19 February 1944. The German attack started in the morning hours of 16 February and relied on smoke to conceal the advancing troops. By 18 February the enemy infantry, strongly supported by tanks, had pushed the defenders back about three miles. The next day the Allies counterattacked and halted the advance. Never again was the enemy to come so close to rolling up the final beachhead line.

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TANK DESTROYER DUG IN BEHIND HAY STACK. These weapons were used well forward, sometimes dug in, but more often placed behind a house or other means of concealment. Tanks were also used well forward, particularly after the front became somewhat stabilized at the beginning of March. The distribution was about one company of tanks to one regiment in the line. This practice violated the principle of employing tanks in mass, but their usefulness in support of the infantry outweighed the loss of mobility and dispersion of strength.

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THE GERMAN PANTHER TANK. This heavy tank was probably the most successful armored vehicle the Germans developed, having relatively high speed and maneuverability, combined with heavy armor and a rapid-fire, high-velocity gun. It first appeared on the Russian front in the summer of 1943, and soon thereafter on the Italian front. No U. S. tank comparable to it appeared. The frontal armor could not be penetrated by Sherman tank guns at ordinary fighting range. In constructing this vehicle the Germans were influenced by the Russian tank, the T34. The corrugated surface (top picture) is a plastic coating to prevent magnetic mines from sticking to the metal. (Pz. Kpfw. Panther, 7.5-cm. Kw. K. 42 (L/70) gun. After Action Reports indicate that there were a total of 165 enemy tanks surrounding the beachhead as of 28 February 1944. Of these 32 were Tigers and 53 Panthers, the rest being mostly Mark IV.)

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ANZIO ANNIE, 280-mm. railway gun (top). The beachhead faced a heavy concentration of German artillery. During enemy attacks in February this was employed mostly in direct support of the infantry. Standard German divisional medium howitzer (bottom). The caliber was 150-mm. (15-cm. s. F. H. 18.)

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LANDING CRAFT BRINGS WOUNDED TO HOSPITAL SHIP in Anzio bay. On the night of 24 January 1944 a fully illuminated and marked British hospital ship was bombed and sunk while taking wounded on board. All evacuation from the beachhead was by sea. Air transportation could not be used, since the dust raised by planes landing or taking off brought on enemy shelling. Hospital ships were used whenever possible, but as these could not dock in the shallow port, LCT’s were used to transfer patients from shore to ships. When storms and high seas interrupted this procedure the wounded were loaded on board LST’s at the Anzio docks for the 30-hour trip to Naples. For the period 22 January to 22 May, 33,063 patients were evacuated by sea.

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NURSE GIVING INTRAVENOUS INJECTION OF PLASMA to a wounded soldier. In the period 22 January to 22 May 1944, 18,074 American soldiers suffering from disease, 4,245 from injuries, and 10,809 battle casualties—33,128 in all—were given medical care and attention in evacuation hospitals at the beachhead. If recovery required fourteen days or less, the casualty remained in the evacuation hospital; if the recovery period was estimated to take more than two weeks, the patient was evacuated to one of several base hospitals in the Naples area as soon as he was strong enough to be moved.

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NURSE DIGGING FOXHOLE. The confined area of the beachhead and the lack of distinction between the front lines and rear areas were nowhere more noticeable than in the locality of the U. S. evacuation hospitals. For more than sixteen weeks medical personnel healed and comforted the sick and wounded in an area within range of enemy artillery. Soldiers called the hospital zone “Hell’s Half Acre” and admitted their preference for the protection of a front-line foxhole to a cot in a hospital tent. Of the medical personnel at the beachhead, 82 were killed in action, 387 were wounded, 19 were captured, and 60 were reported missing in action.

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WRECKAGE OF EVACUATION HOSPITAL ON THE BEACHHEAD. Most of the hospitals were located in the vicinity of Nettuno, and all were within easy range of enemy artillery. It was impossible, within the confined area of the beachhead, to locate hospitals in an area out of reach of enemy artillery.

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MECHANICAL SMOKE GENERATOR IN ACTION. Generators of this type were used at ports to prevent accurate bombing and in the field to conceal movements of troops. Large quantities of oil, about two 53-gallon drums per hour, were consumed. The generator was capable of converting hydrocarbon oils of low volatility into a fog of relatively great persistence. The special oil, usually referred to as fog oil and used for the generation of large area screens, was a petroleum by-product. The fog would frequently extend five miles or more downwind. (Smoke generator M1.)

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SMOKE SCREEN SHIELDING ALLIED POSITIONS. Smoke was used to a great extent on the beachhead because the flat terrain which the Allies occupied was under constant observation from the enemy-held Colli Laziali. The harbor area was screened by smoke starting one-half hour before sunset, the time the enemy bombers usually appeared, and on every air raid alarm.

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BATHING FACILITIES at the beachhead were limited but those available were used to the fullest extent.

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PRIMITIVE SHOWER BATH. Some of the more hardy souls took their showers directly from the well in winter.

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FIRING A PACK HOWITZER. From the establishment of the beachhead the Allied artillery surpassed that of the enemy. Even with limitations imposed on some types of ammunition, the artillery was firing about 25,000 rounds per day. At the same time the enemy fire falling in the port and the rest of the beachhead was estimated to be not more than 1,500 rounds. The amount of Allied artillery increased month by month. At the end of March a battalion of 8-inch howitzers was brought in with the primary mission of demolishing houses used by the enemy as observation posts and strong points. In April a battery of 240-mm. howitzers was added to the beachhead forces. (75-mm. pack howitzer.)

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USED SHELL CASES BOUND FOR THE UNITED STATES as scrap are loaded into a freighter from an LCT.

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SOLDIER FIRING A SUBMACHINE GUN at a haystack suspected of concealing enemy soldiers. After the last German attempt to reduce the beachhead had died out during the first days of March 1944 there began a period of stalemate on the Anzio plain. This did not mean the end of fighting; it meant the end of pitched battles by large numbers of men and armor. Artillery duels still continued and enemy aircraft bombed and strafed positions as before. There were frequent clashes and fire fights between infantry patrols. To provide protection against enemy infantry attacks, stress was laid on the development of self-sustaining, mutually supporting points of resistance, usually centered on Italian farmhouses. (.45-caliber Thompson submachine gun.)

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SOLDIER TESTING “STICKY GRENADE” on an armored vehicle. This was a British weapon used against tanks. It had a hollow-type charge, and was held to the metal by magnets. Unlike the real sticky grenade which could be thrown and which stuck to the target by means of a glue substance, this antitank grenade had to be hand-placed. During the stalemate period the front-line troops were equipped with this type of grenade in addition to bazookas. The charge was a delayed action type and the grenade was set off by pulling the string attached to it.

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BEACHHEAD RATION DUMP. The failure of the main part of the army in the south to break through the Gustav Line and join the troops at Anzio necessitated maintaining the beachhead by sea for a longer period than planned. Shipping schedules were revised to take care of the gradually growing forces and to build up a reserve of food, fuel, ammunition, and other supplies. Food could be kept in a large dump, but fuel and ammunition presented problems. The beachhead area was so small that fuel and ammunition dumps, no matter where placed, were within enemy artillery range. These dumps were kept small and dispersed in order to keep losses to a minimum. Between 22 January and 10 March 1944 a little more than 1,000 tons of ammunition were destroyed, mostly by enemy bombing. Losses never became critical.

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SOLDIERS BUTCHERING A COW. Cattle and sheep would frequently wander into mine fields and be wounded or killed. The carcasses presented a welcome change from regular rations. During the stalemate some soldiers had their own chicken pens, others bought fresh eggs from the few remaining farmers. Foraging patrols for homeless livestock and poultry were as carefully planned as patrols against the enemy.

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LISTENING TO A CONCERT BY A SOLDIER ORCHESTRA. This is in a recreation area established by one of the divisions on the beachhead in March 1944. Only a limited audience could attend because of the ever-present danger of enemy artillery fire. During the critical period of enemy counterattacks in February all troops were needed for defense, but as soon as the front had become stabilized 750 men every four days were sent by LST to the rest center at Caserta.

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OPEN AIR BARBERSHOP AT THE BEACHHEAD located in one of the few wooded sectors of the area. Barber service, because of its uplifting effect on morale, was made available whenever possible.

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MALARIA CONTROL. Soldier pouring diesel oil in water-filled bomb crater to kill mosquito larvae. The Pontine Marshes near the beachhead had for centuries been notorious for the prevalence of malaria. In April 1944 large-scale draining projects were started, and patrols were sent out to dust or pour oil on canals, ditches, and pools. This activity was even carried right into no man’s land at night. The program, combined with preventive measures taken by the individual soldier, such as the use of head nets, mosquito bars, insect repellents, and atabrine, kept malaria from becoming a medical problem. The division stationed in the worst area did not develop a single new case of the disease.

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INFLATING RUBBER DUMMY TANK (top). Placing dummy tank in camouflaged position which had been vacated by a tank moving toward the front for the coming offensive (bottom). The dummy tank was designed by the British and manufactured in the United States.

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WATCHING THE BATTLE FROM OBSERVATION POINT. The offensive from the beachhead started at 0545, 23 May 1944, when the artillery began firing. Allied medium and fighter bombers strafed and bombed enemy positions. At 0630 the infantry and tanks moved out. The artillery preparations, the most intensive thus far at the beachhead, had searched out command posts, assembly areas, and dumps with the result that enemy communications and supply lines were severely damaged. The Germans recovered and put up a strong fight, but they could not make up for the initial disorganization.

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WALKING WOUNDED ON THEIR WAY FROM THE FRONT to a hospital. Tags tell the nature of the wound and what has been done for it in the field or at the first aid station. On the first day of the fight to break out of the beachhead, the Allies suffered the heaviest casualties of the Anzio Campaign. American combat casualties for the whole army on that day were 334 killed, 1,513 wounded, and 81 missing, a total of 1,928 and the high point in the entire Italian campaign. The U. S. and British combat casualties at the beachhead between 22 January and 22 May numbered about 30,000, including at least 4,400 killed and 18,000 wounded. The enemy captured about 6,800 prisoners. The noncombat casualties during this period amounted to about 37,000.

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RECOVERING ARMOR. Tank recovery vehicle pulling disabled tank destroyer M10 out of mine field near Cisterna di Littoria (top). Many Allied tanks were disabled by running into their own mine fields. Front of tank destroyer is still smoking from effect of mine blast. In the left background is a disabled Sherman tank. To the right are a ruined German Mark IV tank and a personnel carrier. During the first day’s attack the Allies lost heavily in tanks and tank destroyers. Those that ran on mines were generally repairable, those lost as a result of enemy fire were often wrecked beyond repair. Tank recovery vehicle M31 (same as at top) towing German 75-mm. assault gun (bottom).

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INFANTRY SOLDIER IN GISTERNA DI LITTORIA. This town on Highway 7 had been one of the German strong points facing the beachhead forces. It fell to tanks and infantry on 25 May. The main Allied drive had been launched in the direction of Cisterna di Littoria with the object of continuing straight north to capture Valmontone on Highway 6 and cut off the enemy forces retreating toward Rome from the shattered Gustav Line defenses.

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THE VILLAGE OF CAMPOLEONE with Campoleone station in upper left. The station area was reached on 31 January, when the first attempt to break out of the beachhead was made, but was soon lost to enemy counterattacks. It was not retaken by the Allies until 29 May 1944 during the drive on Rome. Starting on that day a tank-infantry attack fought a two-day action to penetrate the German defenses here, but without success. The area was heavily defended by infantry weapons supported by enemy tanks, self-propelled guns, artillery, and flak guns. On 31 May the U. S. armored division making the attack was withdrawn for maintenance purposes. Losses in both tanks and personnel had been severe. The break-through, when it came, was made across the eastern side of the Colli Laziali.

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MONTECASSINO ABBEY. Liri Valley, the so-called Gateway to Rome, is on the left. On 15 February the abbey was bombed and shelled for the first time. Before that Allied soldiers had orders not to fire even a rifle shot at the structure. Enemy ammunition dumps were located close to the building, and gun emplacements in the vicinity were numerous. It had become a legitimate military objective. The bombing and shelling destroyed the abbey as a work of art, but its usefulness to the enemy was scarcely impaired. The rubble caused by the destruction of the upper parts of the building only served to strengthen the remaining lower parts.

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THE BOMBING OF CASSINO on 15 March. Although it had been repeatedly bombed before, the town was heavily bombed and shelled that day in preparation for the attack by the New Zealand Corps, at this time part of the Fifth Army. About 1,200 tons of bombs were dropped and 195,969 rounds were fired by artillery ranging in size from 3-inch guns to 240-mm. howitzers. The enemy’s defenses were not destroyed. Protected by cellars, steel and concrete pillboxes, caves, and tunnels, the German troops suffered comparatively few casualties. The bombing and shelling neither overcame the enemy’s resistance nor noticeably reduced his morale. When the infantry moved in for the attack they were met by heavy mortar fire; when the Allied tanks appeared they could not advance because of bomb craters and debris. The attack was repulsed.

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CASSINO AREA, looking along Highway 6. “Castle Hill,” in left foreground topped by tower, was in Allied hands for weeks before the town of Cassino fell. Below cliff are ruins of the town. The picture, made from the vicinity of the abbey, gives some indication of the enemy’s observation over Allied positions. The main drive through the Winter Line defenses started above San Pietro Infine. U. S. forces began the advance on 15 November 1943 and had fought their way to the outskirts of Cassino by 26 January 1944, a distance of eight miles in seventy days. The town fell on 18 May to the Eighth Army after several unsuccessful attacks. The drive on the southern front, to penetrate the Gustav Line, started on 11 May 1944, while that out of the Anzio beachhead started on 23 May.

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HOWITZER. These pieces fired their first mission in Italy in Mignano Gap, 30 January 1944. They were used with good effect during the Gustav Line fight in and around Cassino. Vehicle towing weapon is converted General Grant tank M3 (top). Howitzer in position near San Vittore del Lazio, five miles southeast of Cassino (bottom). (240-mm. howitzer.)

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THE ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS in March 1944 damaged a number of aircraft on fields in the vicinity. Fuselages and wings were pierced by fragments of rock hurled from the volcano. In foreground is a P-40 fighter-bomber.

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BAILEY BRIDGE over bypass on Highway 7 near Sessa Aurunca. This is the coastal road between Rome and Naples; the inland road, through the Mignano Gap, past Cassino and up the Liri Valley to Rome, is Highway 6. The Bailey bridge was invented by the British, from whom the U. S. forces obtained it.

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THE RUINS OF SANTA MARIA, INFANTE. This village between the Aurunci Mountains and the Golfo di Gaeta fell to U. S. forces on 14 May, three days after the attack that was to carry the Allies to Rome started. The village had been demolished by air and artillery bombardment. (57-mm. antitank gun.)

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GOLFO Dl GAETA. The high mountain at the right is Monte Petrella, which is 4,600 feet high; the one in the center is Monte Ruazzo, which is 4,000 feet high. The drive through the Gustav Line, started by the left flank of the Fifth Army, had reached Monte Petrella by 15 May and had advanced to the Itri Valley on the left of the picture. U. S. forces in general advanced along the slopes facing the sea.

The French mountain troops advanced across the mountains farther to the north, then turned right into the Liri Valley on the other side and threatened to cut off the German forces around Cassino and in the lower part of Liri Valley. This action by the French made the German position untenable and the enemy started a general withdrawal from the Gustav Line.

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GOUMIERS OF THE FRENCH FORCES leading a pack train into the Aurunci Mountains during the drive that started 11 May. Tank is U. S. M5 light tank manned by French crew, and armed with a 75-mm. howitzer.

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U. S. TANKS IN CORENO AUSONIO on 14 May. The same tanks, manned by Americans, were attached to the French mountain troops making a drive from the Castelforte area on the right flank of the Fifth Army, through the Aurunci Mountains and into the Liri Valley. (Left, light tank M5; right, medium tank M4.)

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SWEEPING THE TERRACINA BEACH FOR MINES. Terracina is located on Highway 7. During the drive the road became so overcrowded that some supplies had to be shipped by sea. Since the small harbor was cluttered with wreckage of ships, the beach had to be cleared for landing and unloading. (Mine detector SCR 625.)

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GERMAN PORTABLE PILLBOXES. Some of these were found in the Gustav Line around Cassino and others were later found in the Hitler Line in the Liri Valley. These steel pillboxes, camouflaged and usually connected by communication trenches to well constructed bunkers, were impregnable to all but direct hits from artillery fire. (German mobile steel pillbox, being removed by tank recovery vehicle M31.)

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VALMONTONE ON HIGHWAY 6, twenty-five miles southeast of Rome. This was the main escape route of the enemy forces trying to retreat toward Rome from the Cassino-Liri Valley area. The enemy kept the road open until 1 June. U. S. forces found the village unoccupied on the morning of 2 June when a battle patrol entered the town.

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A TANK-INFANTRY TEAM entering Rome on 4 June. The burning vehicle is a German Tiger tank. The enemy had been evacuating the city for several days, but had left a strong rear guard equipped with tanks and artillery to hold the Allies in and below the city as long as possible. Since the streets of Rome were not suitable for conventional infantry attacks, small tank-infantry teams entered the city from several directions and by early morning of 5 June were in possession of the bridges across the Tiber.