The Italian Campaign proved to be far more difficult than Allied planners had imagined, and when the advance that followed the Salerno landings stalled, it was decided to make a second landing on Italy's west coast in an effort to break through the Winter Line and speed up the capture of Rome. In conference at Marakesh, the Allies decided on Operation Shingle, sending Maj. Gen. John Lucas with elements of the VI Corps of the Fifth U.S. Army to land along a 15-mile beachhead near the resort town of Anzio, 30 miles south of Rome, on January 22, 1944. Units committed to the landings included the U.S. 3d Infantry Division; the British 1st Infantry Division and 46th Royal Tank Regiment; the U.S. 751st Tank Battalion, the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division, and the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion; two British Commando battalions; and three battalions of U.S. Army Rangers. The U.S. 45th Infantry Division and Combat Command A (CCA), a regimental-sized unit of the U.S. 1st Armored Division, were to land as reinforcements once the beachhead was established.

The landings were textbook perfect and encountered very little German resistance. Progress inland was rapid, with British and American units attaining their first day's objectives by noon. Before the end of the day, they had advanced three to four miles. Indeed, the Germans did not anticipate an amphibious assault at this time or place, but Lucas failed to move aggressively and thus lost the advantage gained by the element of surprise. Over the next week, his units busied themselves with consolidating their positions preparatory to the major breakout. This gave the Germans ample time to redeploy, and what had started with an easy landing would stretch agonizingly into a savage four month campaign. Although Lucas would receive much blame, he was, in fact, acting on his understanding of the orders of Fifth Army commander Gen. Mark Clark. Clark outlined two missions for VI Corps: to divert enemy strength from the south and to prepare defensive positions in anticipation of a violent German counterattack. He was further instructed to advance toward the Alban Hills and points east to link up with the rest of Fifth Army seven days after the landings. Lucas did not see his mission as immediately capturing the Alban Hills.

In support of the landings, some 2,600 Allied aircraft were available, as was a large naval flotilla, comprising ships from six nations. To preserve the element of surprise, the naval forces did not launch a major pre-invasion bombardment. . .

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