Editing Battle of Monte Cassino (section)

==Aftermath==
===Hitler Line===
[[File:The ruins of Cassino, May 1944- a wrecked Sherman tank and Bailey bridge in the foreground, with Monastery Ridge and Castle Hill in the background. TR1799.jpg|thumb|The ruins of Cassino town with a knocked-out Sherman tank by a Bailey bridge in the foreground with Monastery Ridge and Castle Hill in the background, May 1944.]]
Units of the Eighth Army advanced up the Liri valley and the Fifth Army up the coast to the Hitler defensive line (renamed the [[Hitler Line|Senger Line]] at [[Hitler]]'s insistence to minimise the significance if it was penetrated). An immediate follow-up assault failed, and the Eighth Army then decided to take some time to reorganise. Getting 20,000 vehicles and 2,000 tanks through the broken Gustav Line was a major job that took several days. The next assault on the line commenced on 23 May with the Polish II Corps attacking [[Piedimonte San Germano]] (defended by the redoubtable German 1st Parachute Division) on the right and the 1st Canadian Infantry Division (fresh from the Eighth Army Reserve) in the centre. On 24 May, the Canadians had breached the line and [[5th Canadian Division|5th Canadian (Armoured) Division]] poured through the gap. On 25 May, the Poles took Piedimonte, and the line collapsed. The way was clear for the advance northward on Rome and beyond.

===Anzio breakout===
{{main|Battle of Anzio#Breakout}}
As the Canadians and Poles launched their attack on Anzio on 23 May, Major General [[Lucian Truscott]], who had replaced General Lucas as commander of the U.S. VI Corps in February, launched a two-pronged attack using five (three U.S. and two British) of the seven divisions in the beachhead at Anzio. The German 14th Army, facing this thrust, was without any armoured divisions because Kesselring had sent his armour south to assist the German 10th Army in the Cassino action. A single armoured division, the [[23rd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|26th Panzer]], was in transit from north of the Italian capital of Rome, where it had been held anticipating the nonexistent seaborne landing the Allies had faked and so was unavailable to fight.

===Clark captures Rome but fails to trap the German Tenth Army===
By 25 May, with the German 10th Army in full retreat, Truscott's VI Corps was, as planned, driving eastwards to cut them off. By the next day, they would have been astride the line of retreat, and the 10th Army, with all of Kesselring's reserves committed to them, would have been trapped. At this point, astonishingly, Clark ordered Truscott to change his line of attack from a northeasterly one to [[Valmontone]] on Route 6 to a northwesterly one directly towards Rome. The reasons for Clark's decision are unclear, and controversy surrounds the issue.{{Citation needed|date=December 2018}} Most commentators point to Clark's ambition to be the first to arrive in Rome, although some suggest he was concerned to give a necessary respite to his tired troops (notwithstanding the new direction of attack that required his troops to make a frontal attack on the Germans' prepared defences on the [[Caesar C line]]). Truscott later wrote in his memoirs that Clark "was fearful that the British were laying devious plans to be first into Rome",<ref name="Majdalany, p. 256">{{harvnb|Majdalany|1957|p=256}}</ref> a sentiment somewhat reinforced in Clark's own writings. However, General Alexander, the C-in-C of the AAI, had clearly laid down the army boundaries before the battle, and Rome was allocated to the Fifth Army. Leese's British Eighth Army was constantly reminded that their job was to engage the 10th Army, destroy as much of it as possible, and then bypass Rome to continue the pursuit northwards (which in fact they did, harassing the retreating 10th Army for some {{convert|225|mi|km}} towards [[Perugia]] in 6 weeks).<ref>{{harvnb|Hingston|1946|p=81}}</ref>

At the time, Truscott was shocked, writing later:{{blockquote|I was dumbfounded. This was no time to drive to the northwest where the enemy was still strong; we should pour our maximum power into the Valmontone Gap to insure the destruction of the retreating German Army. I would not comply with the order without first talking to General Clark in person.&nbsp;... [However] he was not on the beachhead and could not be reached even by radio.&nbsp;... such was the order that turned the main effort of the beachhead forces from the Valmontone Gap and prevented destruction of Tenth Army. On the 26th the order was put into effect.<ref name="Majdalany, p. 256"/>}} He went on to write:{{blockquote|There has never been any doubt in my mind that had General Clark held loyally to General Alexander's instructions, had he not changed the direction of my attack to the northwest on 26 May, the strategic objectives of Anzio would have been accomplished in full. To be first in Rome was a poor compensation for this lost opportunity.<ref>{{harvnb|Majdalany|1957|p=259}}</ref>}} An opportunity was indeed missed, and seven divisions of the 10th Army<ref>{{harvnb|Clark|2006|p=304}}</ref> were able to make their way to the next line of defence, the [[Trasimene Line]], where they were able to link up with the 14th Army and then make a fighting withdrawal to the formidable [[Gothic Line]] north of [[Florence]].

Rome was captured on 4 June 1944, just two days before the Normandy invasion.