By Kevin Seabrooke
The Battle of Anzio (January 22-May 25, 1944) was aimed at bypassing the German’s daunting Gustav Line in an effort to capture Rome. The amphibious forces under Maj. Gen. John P. Lucas the amphibious landing some 30 miles south of Rome was unopposed. A cautious Lucas chose to consolidate the beachhead instead of advancing. It was a costly decision, for by the time an attack was launched on January 29, the 69,000 Allies were facing 71,500 German troops.
Three Ranger battalions, some 767 men, were tasked with a night infiltration of Cisterna to secure the Conca-Cisterna Road for an attack of German supply lines the following morning. Unknown to Allied command, Cisterna was being used as a Wehrmacht staging area for relief divisions. Darby’s Rangers were ambushed, with 311 killed and 450 captured, and the units were disbanded.
A former U.S. Army officer, Williams spent more than 20 years collecting the combat experiences of 160 Rangers, compiling a comprehensive history of the unit. This book allows 46 of those who fought at Cisterna to tell their story in their own words.
The Road to Cisterna: Darby’s Rangers and Their Most Consequential Battle in World War II (David Lyle Williams, LSU Press, Baton Rouge, LA, 401 pp., 22 illustrations, 12 maps, Sept. 26, 2025, $44.95 HC)
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