Agony At Anzio Essay Research Paper Agony — страница 2
Hitler began issuing threats against Poland. At that point, both Britain and France gave assurances to the Polish government that they would come to their aid in response to a German invasion; they even thought about drawing a mutual defense plan with Stalinist Russia. Stalin, however, had already decided that he could except no protection from the Western powers; he had after all not even been invited to attend the conferences at Munich. Consequently, Stalin signed a non-aggression pact with Hitler in August 1939. The signing freed the Germans, for the moment, from the dangers of a two-front war in Europe (Reid 163) For a few months, Hitler had attempted to frighten the Poles into submitting to Germany’s demands. When that proved unsuccessful, Hitler staged an incident on the Freeman 4 border to allow him to claim that Polish forces had attacked Germany. On September 1, 1939, Hitler launched a full-scale invasion of Poland. Britain and France true to their word declared war on Germany two days later. World War II had begun on the European continent (Reid 165). Germany had won a quick and easy victory in Poland. Then, in 1940, Germany went on to occupy Norway and Denmark. In May they conquered the Low Countries, of Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Now with a clear path into France they swept into the English Channel. On June 22, 1940 France surrendered to Germany (“World War II”). In the summer of 1940, Hitler dominated Europe from the North Cape to the Pyrenees. His one remaining active enemy Britain, under a new Prime Minster, Winston Churchill vowed to continue fighting. The Battle of Britain from August to October 1940 was Germany’s only failure to this point. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor bringing the United States into the war. The reinvigorated Allies conquered Sicily and Southern Italy, forcing Italy to surrender in September 1943. The Allied momentum stopped as they hoped to occupy Northern Italy. Here, German resistance was stubborn, specifically in the Battles of Cassino and Anzio (WWII). On midnight January 22, 1944, Allied troops landed on the Anzio beachhead in hopes of entering Rome and capturing the eternal city. Operation “Shingle” became the Allied codename for this battle. Immediate losses were apparent as thirteen men were Freeman 5 killed, forty-four were missing, and ninety-seven were wounded as Lowry of the United States Navy and Troubridge of the Royal Navy landed 36,034 men and 3,069 vehicles. Also, ninety percent of the assault equipment of the United States VI Corps was supplied (Adams 75). The supporting naval forces comprised of four light cruisers and twenty-four destroyers had neutralized the fire of the shore batteries and overran two German battalions on the beaches. The road to Rome, 37 miles away, was now open for Allied advancement. The Germans could not have prevented a force from driving into the city and taking it over. The Allied forces fortified on the beach instead of moving inward, a decision they would later regret (Collins World 1505). The Germans threatened by this Ally movement onto Rome decided to muster up their strength on the Anzio beachhead. Kesselring, a German General, sensed this Allied invasion and added more men and artillery to this outfit. Within hours, elements of five different divisions were rushing toward Anzio. Despite the talents of Kesserling as an improviser and the capabilities of his general staff, a week was to pass before the German Fourteenth Army could offer any opposition to the Allied offensive (Chandler 52). On the Allied side, Major General John P. Lucas thought only of consolidating his bridgehead and getting ashore the balance of his corps. The two divisions left ashore were the Forty-fifth Division led by Major-General W. Eagles and the First Armored Division led by Major-General E.N. Harmon. By now the Anzio beachhead was ten miles deep. A great strategic opportunity was lost on January 22 through the twilight on the Freeman 6 28th as the Allied forces could have trampled Germany. In London, Churchill was full of impatience and voiced his concerns to Sir Harold Alexander. I expected to see a wild cat roaring into the mountains – and what do I find? A whale wallowing on the beaches! The spectacle of 18,000 vehicles accumulated ashore by the fourteenth day for only 70,000 men, or less than four men to a vehicle, including drivers and attendants…was astonishing (Collins World 1505). At this point General Clark was urging that Lucas begin more aggressive operations against the Germans. Bad weather and two heavy German air raids upset Lucas’s plan to become more aggressive. Lucas’s lack of initiative was becoming a main concern
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