The Landing at Anzio 

January-24 May 1944

For Churchill the Anzio landing should be a powerful attack that allowed the allies to break out from the dead point in Cassino and the Gustav line. But one month after the attack the situation was the same, and the road to Rome was still closed for the allies but in that month one of the bloodiest batlles of ww2 was fought.

The battle of Anzio begun on January 22 1944 with the landing of 110.000 american and british troops under the command of general Lucas. The german were totally surprised. Kesselring, the german commander, hadn't any reserves to face the attack. He gathered all the disperse german units in the Rome zone and he ordered some troops in northern Italy to deploy defending the road to Rome. He also transformed some anti aircraft units into anti tank units and deployed them surrounding the allied beachead. Meanwhile he recalled from the Gustav line the recently deployed 3rd Panzergrenadier and Hermann Goering divisions (two tough german units). The situation for the allies was excellent but general Lucas didn't ordered the troops to attack until it was too late for an easy breakthrough, instead he prefered to consolidate the beachead first. This delay in the attack costed the allies a lot of casualties, when Lucas decided to attack his troops faced a rough german defense, and finally it meant the failure of all the operation.On January 30 1944 Lucas decided to attack, the american Rangers assaulted Cisterna di Latina and the British troops intended to take Campo Leone, both attacks were disastrous failures and the allies established defensive positions. On February 3 the germans launched an artillery bombardment to the british sector, then the troops assaulted the british positions isolating some british units. The british surrounded units escaped in a night withdrawal. During all the attack the british lost 1400 men.

Between February 7 and February 9 the germans launched an attack taking the city of Aprilia forcing the decimated britsh to withdraw to their last defenses. The 45th american division came to support the british and launched two failed attacks to recapture Aprilia in February 11 and 12.

After these attacks all the allied beachead was endagered, and the commanders in order to weaken the final german assault ordered massive air strikes and an attack to Cassino to sustract some german units from the Anzio zone. The germans brought reinforcements and concentrated in the Aprilia area for the attack. On February 16 the attack begun, the allies where forced to withdraw suffering heavy casualties. On February 17 the situtation was so critical that all the air forces available in Italy launched an attack on the Anzio zone to stop the german advance. But on February 18 and 19 the germans continued advancing and it seemed to the allies that the operations will end with a second Dunkirk. But a miracle happened and the germans begun to retreat. Then the British launched an assault on the german positions. After February 20 the situation remained static until May 1944 when the allies launched an offensive breaking the Gustav line, that ended with the capture of Rome on June 4 1944.

 THE MYTH OF AENEAS

The Mediterranean dune is the true, eternal protagonist of the historical happenings of this coastal area south of Rome, often forgotten but favoured by hikers and tourists in search of lovely beaches. Views in which natural elements still prevail, along with history and the fascination of the myth of Aeneas. According to legend the hero landed here with his fellow-Trojans and later founded the ancient Lavinium, named after his wife Lavinia. According to the mythology outlined by Virgil in the Aeneid, Romulus and Remus were both descendants of Aeneas through their mother, and thus Aeneas was responsible for the founding of Rome.

Family and legendary descendants Aeneas (or Aineias, Αινείας) was a Trojan hero, the son of prince Anchises and the goddess Venus. The journey of Aeneas from Troy, which led to the founding of a city that would one day become Rome, is recounted in Virgil's Aeneid. He is considered an important figure in Greek and Roman legend and history. Aeneas is a character in Homer's Iliad and Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida.

The Julian family (Gens Julia) of Rome, whose most famous member was Julius Caesar, traced their lineage to Aeneas's son Ascanius and, in turn, to the goddess Venus.

The legendary kings of Britain also trace their family through a grandson of Aeneas, Brutus.