Slashing the Axis Underbelly

It is nearly impossible for a visitor to Italy to believe that this nation was an official enemy of the Allied forces in World War II. Of the three legs of the Germany-Japan-Italy Axis stool, Italy was the least belligerent. Its blustery dictator Mussolini was a tool of Adolf Hitler and when the war came to Italy, it was the German army that did the tough fighting.

The war came to Italy because it was clear to the Allied command that the most vulnerable place to launch an offensive against Germany was through Italy - the "soft underbelly" of the Axis in Winston Churchill's famous phrase. A key thrust was the landing on the beaches of Anzio, some 33 miles south of Rome, and the fighting was vicious.

War historian T. R. Fehrenbach's account of the assault, Anzio, brings the four month action to life with searing power. We had to take Anzio and we did, but at a terrible price.

The beautiful port town of Anzio has been awarded a "blue flag" for the quality of its beaches. But in 1943 the sand ran crimson.

- Richard Curtis