Footsteps of WWII · Italy
Anzio Beachhead Museum (Museo dello Sbarco)
Museum · 22 Jan – 23 May 1944
The story
On 22 January 1944 US VI Corps under Major General John P. Lucas landed at Anzio and Nettuno in Operation Shingle, to outflank the Gustav Line. US 3rd Infantry Division came ashore at X-Ray beach, British 1st Infantry Division at Peter beach and US Rangers took the port. Lucas consolidated rather than drive inland, and General von Mackensen's Fourteenth Army sealed the beachhead. Major General Lucian Truscott replaced Lucas on 22 February. The breakout, Operation Buffalo, began on 23 May, and Rome fell on 4 June. The museum was founded on 22 January 1994, the 50th anniversary, by a local research association.
What to look for
A single room in the 17th-century Villa Adele, organised in American, British, German and Italian sections: uniforms, weapons, maps, documents and veterans' photographs. Look for objects raised from the seabed off Anzio, including from HMS Janus, HMS Spartan and the hospital ship St David.
Plan your visit
Open Tue and Thu–Sun 10:00–13:00 and 16:00–18:00; closed Mon and Wed. July–August 10:00–13:00 and 17:00–19:00. No booking needed. Short walk from Anzio station; check the website before you go.
Things change, so check opening times before you travel.
Nearby sites
- Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Nettuno · 3 km
- Fosse Ardeatine Mausoleum, Rome · 47 km
- Museum of the Liberation of Rome (Via Tasso) · 50 km
All 160 sites in Footsteps of WWII →
Footsteps of WWII: Europe 1939–1945
A free field guide for your phone: the route, the maps and the stories built in, even with no signal. The whole Second World War in Europe, from the first shots at Westerplatte on 1 September 1939 to the German surrender in May 1945: Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, Normandy, Arnhem, Bastogne, Stalingrad, Berlin and the camps, in 15 areas from Britain to Russia.
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