"Fatal Decision: Anzio and the Battle for Rome"
By Carlo D'Este
"Fatal Decision" is a definitive narrative of one of the most desperate campaigns of World War II. In the winter of 1943-44, Anzio, a small Mediterranean resort and port some thirty-five miles south of Rome, played a crucial role in the fortunes of World War II as the target of an amphibious Allied landing.
The Allies planned to bypass the strong German defenses along the Gustav Line and at Monte Cassino sixty miles to the southeast, which were holding up the American and British armies and preventing the liberation of Rome.
By taking advantage of Allied command of the sea and air to effect complete surprise, infantry and armored forces landing at Anzio were expected to secure the beachhead and then push inland to cut off the two main highways and railroads supplying the German forces to the south, thus opening the way to Rome.