This black & white WWII film from 1944, “Beachhead Operation” shows the brutal fight for the beachhead at Anzio, Italy. Day to day struggles of Allied soldiers are shown under heavy shell fire, trying to keep up the assault on German positions.

Opening: Beachhead Operation (:23-:54). Artillery is fired at night, the flare lights up the night sky. Fighting in war. Bombed out town. U.S. Military on site. A bulldozer pushes debris in Anzio. Bombed out ruins. Smokey ruins. A baker makes bread. Bags of salt are poured. Men make bread dough. Dough is pushed down (:55-3:00). Men move the dough and mold it. Loafs of bread cool. Anzio. Crew lay out protective ground cloth on the beach. A balloon is put into the air. Ruins in Anzio (3:01-4:23). A drainage canal is filled with dirt. Military set up stakes to put up barbed wire. TNT is planted in the ground by the U.S. Soldiers work on a canal. Barbed wire is set up (4:24-6:00). At the bakery, the bread is ready. Bags are filled with bread, actually mattress covers. The bread is loaded into the back of a truck. Soldiers eat the bread. B-24 planes in the sky. A soldier watches (6:01-7:40). Sixth Army Corps for the U.S. are underground. Special staff discuss. An officer takes apart a shell and looks at it. Paymaster and account jobs. Currency is placed in bags. Men count it out (7:41-9:13). Soldiers work on radio communications. Maps are looked at and studied. A new road is found on the map (9:14-10:27). Patrol leader sketches out the plan in the dirt for his men outside. Infantry soldiers on patrol. A howitzer is set up and sandbagged. Wire on drums is put into a mount to lay the wire out down the side of the road for communications. A sign is placed that reads: “You too can be a hero, watch the wire.” Soldiers walk on (10:28-12:43). Soldiers walk into a wooded area. Soldiers shoot and take cover. Soldiers cover one another and advance on a building. Soldiers rush into a house. Soldiers wave the all clear sign (12:44-14:19). Camouflage nets are set up. A field is plowed to lay wire and give it protection into the ground. Soldiers go into a town. Mortar fire – one soldier killed. Soldiers have their weapons ready and continue onward in a bombed out area (14:20-16:00). Wire continues to be laid out at headquarters. Soldiers bring out German prisoners on the beach. They are questioned by Americans. Information is passed via radio communications about the where the Nazis are based on what the POW said (16:01-17:35). Military men make calls. One man reviews the plotting board. Another reviews a map. The crew of the howitzer goes into action. They set up their gun and then fire (17:36-19:14). Other howitzers fire as well. A tank fires as well, all in the same direction at where the enemy Nazis are. Shells are loaded and fired. Smoke plumes in the distance. Headquarters plans for a German counter-attack. Fog is created to smoke out the area to make cover for the Americans (19:15-21:06). Fake fog continues to pour in to the area. Under the smoke, the howitzers continue to fire. Night falls on Anzio. Guns fire at night (21:07-22:08). End credits (22:09-22:14)

The Battle of Anzio took place from January 22, 1944 (beginning with the amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle) to June 5, 1944. The operation was opposed by German forces in the area of Anzio and Nettuno led by Marshal Albert Kesselring. The Allied operation was initially commanded by Major General John P. Lucas, with the intention being to outflank German forces at the Winter Line and enable an attack on Rome. Lucas’ forces succeeded in his initial landings, but failed to capitalize on the element of surprise. While Lucas consolidated, Field Kesselring moved every unit he could spare into a defensive ring around the beachhead. Lucas was eventually relieved and sent home. His replacement Major General Lucian Truscott managed a break out in May and captured Rome on June 4, 1944. The maneuver allowed Kesserling time. The bulk of the German army escaped and regrouped, and prepare a further defensive position on the Gothic Line.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com