FIFTH ARMY REPORT FROM THE BEACHHEAD
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Year Published: 1944
Format: 16mm
Description: This film from WWII details the Fifth Army and its assault on Anzio in late January, 1944, with hopes of reaching Rome. The Battle of Anzio took place from January 22 (beginning with the Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle) to June 5 (ending with the capture of Rome). The operation was opposed by German forces in the area of Anzio and Nettuno. The operation was initially commanded by Major General John P. Lucas, of the U.S. Army, commanding U.S. VI Corps with the intention being to outflank German forces at the Winter Line and enable an attack on Rome. At mark 0:46, the Fifth Army is seen advancing with tanks and other armor as well as jeeps and trucks. They took this place by under the command of General Mark Clark saying. "We are here to stay. Not one foot of ground will be given up." At mark 1:32, soldiers are given a welcome by Italian civilians. At mark 1:59, material of every description including gasoline, guns, ammunition, medical supply, are shown moving to supply the advancing Fifth. A city once full of life and hope now smashed into waste by the Germans is seen at mark 2:35. People begging for clothes, water, food as seen at mark 2:55. The objective is to take Rome with the smallest loss of life. The philosophy of this Italian campaign is explained at mark 3:20. At mark 3:47, the Fifth Army is moving up. Yankee-built bulldozers are seen at mark 4:00 clearing up the streets, blowing up towers so that supplies may come through. They clear the streets so that the tools may be transported and the weary men will make their way to luxury. At mark 4:20, the men are seen bathing with hot water and soap. At mark 4:40 heavy artillery is seen firing against the enemy. The Fifth Army advance into Avellino is seen at mark 4:50. A deserted city, a lone child, at mark 5:10a woman is seen with a casket. Also the Americans have their own share of burden to bear as seen at mark 5:15. At mark 5:27 is a cemetery for the lost soldiers. At mark 5:40 is the city of Benevento, a nightmare city, bomb, shell, destructions, killings, a dead city, a city murdered by war. At mark 6:30 is the Volturno River, and across the river is the road to Rome. Here, every bridge are blown and at mark 6:45, the Fifth Army is seen moving on as they built road for the transport of their supplies, gasoline, guns and other artilleries. At mark 6:50, gasoline, guns, ammunition, medical supply, material of every description are seen. At mark 7:05, the trucks are seen making their ways through mud and harsh terrain. At mark 7:30, bridges are seen breaking up as they are swept away by the force of the river. At mark 7:40, the engineers are seen building the bridges as they make their way across rivers and waters, across every barrier on their road to victory. Lt. Gen. Mark W. Clark is seen at mark 7:55 making a statement to the friends at home. He says they will defeat the enemy and return back home but not without struggles and heavy sacrifices. At mark 8:30, the bombings and attacks are seen. At mark 9:00, the General Clark continues his speech. The Battle of Anzio was an important battle of the Italian Campaign of World War II that took place on January 22, 1944, with the Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle against the German forces in the area of Anzio and Nettuno. The operation was commanded by Major General John P. Lucas, of the U.S. Army, commanding U.S. VI Corps, and was intended to outflank German forces at the Winter Line and enable an attack on Rome. The Volturno Line (also known as the Viktor Line) was a German defensive position in Italy during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The line ran from Termoli in the east, along the Biferno River through the Apennine Mountains to the Volturno River in the west. Following the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943 the German forces set up a series of defensive lines across Italy, intended to delay the Allied advance. The Volturno Line was the southernmost of these.
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Transcription
[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] this is Naples at dawn from staging areas near this ancient Italian port American supplies start moving on destination secret mission secret [Music] gathered and waiting in the harbor as the invasion fleet its officers have their sealed orders this is the beginning of what turned out to be one of the boldest and toughest combined operations fought by the fifth Army on the blood-soaked Italian boot on this mission our battle-hardened veterans of our North African and Sicilian campaign this is the beginning of the surprise American landing behind the backs of the Germans at a small seaside town a few miles south of Rome name of the town Anzio [Music] out to sea now our men have been told the nature of the job ahead of them they know that they are moving in for battle was not the first line troops trained hard seasoned veterans who have the strength and determination to stand up against us [Music] our secret was well-kept the German garrison is caught completely off guard when we reach Anzio Harbor at 2:00 a.m. for six hours we land men and equipment then comes this [Music] [Music] but between Nazi rates we keep unloading the quicker we can get the heavy stuff ashore the better our chances are of staying ashore simply landing is not enough even with strong fighting equipment invasion means occupation occupation means driving the enemy off keeping him from driving us off but some of the stuff we started out with will never be used for instance this cargo and this [Music] and these ship we save whatever we can in march into Anzio take on field we and our British allies season at UNO two miles down the coast and all the while the Nazi planes keep pasting us [Music] that's a German me-109 taking its last dive that direct hit on us and others like it except these heavy trucks flaming in the narrow streets of Anzio 5,000 miles from their home factory precious tires going up in smoke look at this duck set a fire being towed out of a congested supply area to keep its flames from spreading to other material and this is all that's left of another one of our trucks our aim is to pinch off the vital German supply route between Rome and Casino we widen and deepen our beachhead to approximately 100 square mile but it is a beachhead as flat and exposed as an arena Nazi long-range guns keep pounding and Beyond in the harbor where our ships are supplying us with food in ammunition it is a beachhead where our general is in full nerville as a pilot and vice versa 100 square miles was not a single square inch of safety we sent those tanks out there as decoys to draw enemy fire so that our spotters can locate the exact position of German gun emplacements [Music] [Applause] [Music] we locate the Nazi guns and let them have it and don't spare the ammunition they very tell our minds to slow our push our engineers take them out reduce them to dead iron instead of dead Americans we find them using this vicious new type of wood and plastic mind called the wooden shoe which evades detection by our mine sweepers it contains enough TNT to tear off a soldier's foot we clean the field and advance up to the time these scenes were taken we were slowly gaining ground but these Nazi super men whom we captured still boasted that they would roll us back into the sea wounded American boys being treated in the field a rifle stock makes an emergency splint [Music] frontline surgery [Music] not a pretty sight but this is the stern reality this is the inevitable cost of war the cost of fighting and destroying an army as technically powerful as totally equipped for global murder as the Nazi the importance that Hitler placed on the Anzio casino line on his determination to make it hold was evidenced by the fact that he threw in much of the pic of his elite divisions the Hermann Goering director herb again the Panzers yes the Germans have only one last hope to make our victory so costly that we were weakened compromised make a deal with them and their axis power but in the name of these heroic wounded we at home pledged ourselves not only to continue producing the material for victory but pledge our United determination to make that victory final complete total [Music] the moments of crisis involving the safety of our native land the American people would have been terribly routed against the danger with courage faith and resolution the past two years we have filmed in one of these moments of crisis perhaps the greatest in our history on the battlefield and on the homefront men and women are daily making great sacrifices so the freedom and our way of life may be preserved there is now in Tartus the fifth war long drive to raise money so is to ensure that this conflict will be brought to the speediest possible conclusion and with at least lost in life a complete success in matters I will meet the acclaim of the forces in the field and will be renewed proof that all Americans are one solid phalanx of determination in this great war all of us profoundly trust soon the world may be restored to adjust peace until we can have God's help bring about that happy realization of our dreams each of us must seek incessantly always a means by which the value of our services to our country may be left right now we can do so by firing bombs let's make this particular victory a quick and decisive one back to the attack by more than before [Music]
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