Could anzio have come off

I had heard claims that if the landings were followed by swift advances the Nazis would have been caught unaware.

Could Rome have fallen early?
 
Two different viewpoints I've seen in regard to this.

1. German Reserves would have arrived and given the over extended Allies a bloodnose.

2. The Germans were too disorganized to counter a move on Rome. They were completely taken by surprise didn't even have the proper headquarters staff. Luftwaffe particularly has unprepared, Richthofen was in northern Italy on a hunting trip.

So its a question of whether the Germans can get their act together in time.

This article Is pretty good: http://www.allworldwars.com/Kesselr...erman-Commander-at-Anzio-by-Teddy-Bitner.html
 
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Two different viewpoints I've seen in regard to this.

1. German Reserves would have arrived and given the over extended Allies a bloodnose.

Thats my take after looking at the speed & efficiency Kesselrings reserves closed in on the landing site.

2. The Germans were too disorganized to counter a move on Rome. They were completely taken by surprise didn't even have the proper headquarters staff. Luftwaffe particularly has unprepared, Richthofen was in northern Italy on a hunting trip.

So its a question of whether the Germans can get their act together in time.

This article Is pretty good: http://www.allworldwars.com/Kesselr...erman-Commander-at-Anzio-by-Teddy-Bitner.html

From Jacksons 'The Battle for Italy' my take is there had been enough contingency planning to prepare for such a action. Beyond that these were the same crowd who routinely put together effective scratch emergency operation on the eastern front. The linked article has a similar description concerning the contingency planing.

The OKW estimate for the same time period is characterized as follows:
In laying plans for future actions, it (OKW) had to consider that the Allied Command would try to achieve the collapse of the German defense by shifting the strongpoint of the attack or by Landing in the hinterland behind the German lines. Based on this estimation of the situation, and on the knowledge of the Allied objectives,(Rome) the German High Command realized the necessity to form a center of resistance in the southern sector of the defensive front and to reinforce the coastal stretches in the rear area sufficiently.[17]
In regard to these estimates, Kesselring additionally believed that Allied operations along the Gustav Line to drive up the Liri valley would be tied to a landing around Rome.[18]

Some important things fall out of these estimates. First, it is evident that both Kesselring and OKW felt it necessary to develop contingencies in the event of an Allied amphibious assault. A significant aspect to all of the contingencies was
the availability of reserve forces to meet the possible invasion. The other important aspect of these estimates is that both pointed toward expected Allied actions in the spring, which was defined by Army Group C as about the middle of February. Based on this estimate, Kesselring developed a timetable to prepare for anticipated attacks along the Gustav Line and an invasion along the coast. Consequently, when the action came for both areas in January, his plans were not yet completely executed. The exchange of the 3d Panzer Grenadier for the 90th Panzer Grenadier, for example, was only partially completed when the Allies began their actions on the Gustav Line.
 
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I had heard claims that if the landings were followed by swift advances the Nazis would have been caught unaware.

Could Rome have fallen early?

Major Vladimir "Popski" Peniakoff of 8th Army passed through the Anzio area in late 1943 with his little motorized scouting force. (Yes, he was operating behind the German lines.) He wrote later that the only Germans there were tourists and there were no fortifications newer than the 16th century.
 
Major Vladimir "Popski" Peniakoff of 8th Army passed through the Anzio area in late 1943 with his little motorized scouting force. (Yes, he was operating behind the German lines.) He wrote later that the only Germans there were tourists and there were no fortifications newer than the 16th century.

In January 1944 the area was defended by two understrength infantry battalions & a bit of light artillery. They had made some entrenched strong points, but not fortifications. Kesselring had lined to coast with outposts and garrisoned a few major ports. He kept the bulk of his forces in reserves in the interior.
 
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