5 June 1944
Allied Capture of Rome
Just five days after the capture of Monte Cassino the three beleaguered Allied divisions at Anzio finally succeeded in breaking through the German defenses there. Kesselring set about trying to establish a new defensive position—the Caesar Line—just south of Rome, but the German commander realized that this would not hold for long. On 2 June he asked and received permission from Hitler to give up Rome to the advancing Allies. The U.S. Fifth Army entered the Italian capital on 5 June, while the Germans retreated further north. Operations in Italy since the fall of 1943 had been extremely costly—roughly 40,000 Allied casualties, compared to 25,000 Germans—but they had succeeded in keeping a substantial part of the German army while a much larger Allied force was heading for Normandy. Indeed, Operation Overlord—the invasion of France—took place the very next day.

History:
Rome-Arno

Personal Accounts:
Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II: Interview with George Mickett
Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II: Interview with Thomas Kindre

Photograph:
The ruins of Civitavecchia harbor