22 January 1944 the sun is shining and there is a nice wind blowing on the beach of Anzio. Over the next two days this beach will be covered with over 30,000 Allied soldiers and will see some of the bloodiest fighting of the war over the next four months. Anzio was originally supposed to be a distraction that Sir Alexander could use to break through the Gustav Line. However, if they failed to push towards Rome immediately, the allies would be trapped in trench warfare and forced to flee Anzio. This was, quite simply, called the Anzio Breakout. The escape from Anzio included the plan and its flaw, the invasion and the Escape. Allied commander Sir Alexander felt that he would not be able to take Rome unless a waterborne assault exhausted the Cassino front which would draw German troops away from the Gustav Line. This plan was called operation “shingle”. Alexander believed that if he could capture the Alban hills which lay north-east of Anzio he would prevent the Germans from sending supplies to Cassino. And without supplies the Germans would be forced to retreat to the Apennines. However, the general of the German troops, Lucas, saw a flaw after the invasion. He realized that the Allies could not hold both the Alban Hills and the lifeline at the port of Anzio. Hoping to exploit this weakness Lucas created a bridgehead on the outskirts of Anzio to stop the Allies. Alexander, now with a plan and not realizing his flaw, gave the go-ahead and the Allied troops began their invasion. On January 22, 1944, Allied troops landed on the beaches of Anzio completely surprising the Germans by taking them by surprise. This was possible because the attention and reserve troops were moved south, to oppose the Allied attack... middle of paper... Scott's platoon in fractions thus ensuring that in the final attack the Americans would be those who liberated Rome. Rome finally fell after months of fighting on 4 June 1994. Works Cited "ANZIO 1944". US Army Military History Center. Network. 03 April 2010. "Anzio and the path to Rome." Home page of the house of heroes. Network. 03 April 2010. "Battle of Anzio? Articles, videos, images and facts from History.com." The story channel? Home page. Network. 03 Apr. 2010. "The National Museum of the Second World War Stall at Anzio." The National WWII Museum, June 6, 2010 â?? The museum celebrates its 10th anniversary and commemorates D-Day.Web. 03 April. 2010. .