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The following story was posted by Mark Jeffers, with permission from the author.

After Christmas in Naples, we were again part of combat command B and the second wave that arrived on Anzio beachhead, to create a second front to threaten Rome. Although there was little resistance at first, we were pinned down in the low-lying area of the Pontine Marshes. We were surrounded by mountains at a distance of seven miles, from where the Germans could bombard Allied forces at will. The Germans had a powerful railroad gun, nicknamed the ‘Anzio Express’, which used to pound the beachhead from inland each evening. It was moved on a railway track, and was taken inside a purpose-built tunnel to protect it when not in use. US attack bombers hit the tunnel, but the gun survived attack and resumed the bombardment. We were on the beachhead for four months before a breakthrough was made and the Allies forced their way into Rome on 4th June 1944. Very little damage was inflicted on Rome itself, as the Axis forces did not wish to draw fire on the ancient city.

At Anzio, two married men from my company were granted 30 days leave according to the points system. I refused leave and let another married man go in my place. Of the three who left us, one came back, another went to another unit, and the third stayed in the USA due to personal circumstances. From Rome we headed to Pisa and then Florence. I remember seeing the bombed railway station in Florence, and being taken on a tour of the Cathedral by a young girl from a religious order, who explained the history of the church to me in great detail. We were billeted in a hotel in the city, and were welcomed by the citizens. I remember meeting Mussolini’s daughter in a hotel in Florence — her father had her husband murdered, and she had joined the partisans. We were each presented with a medal for our part in liberating the city while in Florence. This was the only point in my 37 months overseas that I remember being given a rest period. Our next major target was Milan, which we reached late in April 1945. When our convoy arrived on the outskirts of the city, the partisans asked us to stop, so that they could deal with Mussolini themselves. When we drove into Milan, we saw that Mussolini and his girlfriend had been killed and were hanging upside-down in the square.

After the German surrender in north Italy on 8th May 1945, I was able to return home at last. I flew from Italy back to North Africa in a B17, then to Natal and Brazil in a C54, and finally to Miami in a C46. From there I took a train to Indiana, where I was discharged and received my medal for honourable service. This displays an eagle with outstretched wings, but is sometimes referred to as a ‘ruptured duck’!

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