Battlefield Travel - Exklusive militär-historische Reisen

On ancient battle grounds

The motto "Liberate Rome" was a mandate. Experience yourself how the protagonists executed it.

Enjoy the antique beauties of  Paestum, Pompeji and Rome and be amazed about the fact that the combatants on both sides spared these monuments in their desperate battle. Have the benefit of extraordinary hotels and superb Italian cuisine right in front of a fascinating scenery.

Historical background

In the night from September 8 to 9, 1944 a mixed band of American and British Divisions landed in the Bay of Salerno. The objective of “Operation Avalanche” was to take Naples, meet up with Montgomery`s troops and form a solid front right up to the Adriatic Sea.

At first, everything seemed to be going according to the Allied plan. Then Kesselring regrouped his troops and attacked the right flank of the American forces. On September 13, Generaloberst (general)von Vietinghoff reported to Kesselring that he hoped to have pushed the Americans back to the beach by nightfall. In the end, things would turn out differently. The Americans were able to counterattack and drive back the advancing German forces with heavy artillery from their offshore boats and undisputed control of the air.

After the Allies were able to successfully break out of their beachhead at Salerno, they took over Naples and prepared to attack the Gustav Line. Kesselring had the intention of getting rid of the Allied forces once and for all. In preparation for this attack, he had set up the Gustav Line, a fortified line of resistance that reached from shore to shore of the Italian Boot.

San Pietro Infine, a small mountain village on the way to Monte Cassino, gave the Americans a bitter taste of what was to come in and around the city itself. The battle of San Pietro lasted ten grueling days at a dizzying altitude of over 3000 feet. This legendary battle was even immortalized on film by Hollywood Star Director, John Houston, in his movie, “The Battle of San Pietro.”

The next three battles in Monte Cassino and the total destruction the Benedictine
Monastery of the same name put an abrupt end to Winston Churchill`s dream of an early end to the war by cutting up through the “weak underbelly of Europe.” Never before and never again were so many different nationalities so bitterly embroiled in battle around a couple of mountains and valleys to open up the way to Rome.

Two simultaneous landings in Anzio and Nettuno supported the Allied efforts in Monte Cassino. This maneuver was designed to take away troops from the Cassino Front and cut off the main highway to the Albanian Mountains. A reluctant commanding officer, however, passed up the chance at a fast attack on Rome.