Anzio: The Gamble that Failed

By the end of 1943 the Allied campaign in Italy had become a stalemate as German forces stopped the Allied advance cold at Cassino. In a country where the fighting front could be no longer than the eighty-mile width of the Italian peninsula, in a region where rugged mountains impeded maneuvers and favored the defense, in an effort where Allied resources were sharply restricted and winter was looming, prospects for a swift and decisive victory were slim. Battling their way up the Italian mainland promised to be a slow and bloody affair.