Exactly 80 years ago Rome was liberated from the Nazi-Fascists after an occupation that lasted 9 months. On 4 and 5 June 1944, American troops under General Mark Wayne Clark overcame the last German defensive lines and entered the capital, welcomed with enthusiasm by the Roman population. It was the US Fifth Army, coming from Anzio, that finally liberated the capital.
June 3: Kesselring declared Rome an open city
Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, commander of German forces in Italy, decided to withdraw his troops northward, avoiding combat within Rome. This decision was made after General Eberhard von Mackensen ordered the 14th Army to reach the southern area of the city by June 3, in a desperate attempt to contain the Allied advance. The fracture of the Gustav Line, caused by the victory of the Polish II Corps at Montecassino, had made it impossible to stop the Allied advance. Kesselring, aware of the situation, declared Rome an “open city” and began the orderly retreat of the German troops to regroup along the Gothic Line.
June 4: At dawn the first US troops entered the city
At dawn on June 4, US VI Corps forces reached the Roman suburbs, despite German resistance. The southern outskirts of the city were occupied by the 1st Armored Division and the 36th Infantry Division, while the German rear guards retreated in an orderly manner. The Germans will only allow entry into the center around sunset. General Clark, eager to be the first to enter Rome from the south after fifteen centuries, ignored some operational instructions from the British commander Harold Alexander, risking his own life in order to document the historical moment: to be immortalized in a photograph with behind the road sign with the writing Rome, he was almost killed by German sniper fire.
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Clark’s change in military plans to finish first
On May 26, Clark suddenly changed military plans, catching both his subordinates and the Germans by surprise. Thanks to a maneuver by General Frank Walker, on May 30, the Americans managed to infiltrate two German army corps, taking control of Monte Artemisio. Clark decided to converge on Valmontone for the decisive attack: the 36th division opened a route on the Alban Hills, threatening the Casilina route, forcing Kesselring to reproach von Mackensen for having underestimated the American breakthrough.
The celebrations in the streets of Rome
In Rome, the population welcomed the Allies with joy. The streets were filled with cheering people, in an atmosphere of collective euphoria. However, the influx of civilians slowed Allied military operations, preventing an immediate pursuit of the retreating German forces. Rome, which had not risen as the partisans had hoped after the attack in Via Rasella, finally found freedom after nine months of Nazi occupation. Clark had succeeded in his very personal feat of having caused the fall of the first Axis capital (which no longer existed) and the symbol of the fascist regime (which had moved to Salò).
June 6: D-Day
King Vittorio Emanuele III, under pressure from the Allies, transferred powers to Prince Umberto as Lieutenant General of the Kingdom on 5 June 1944, without however abdicating. The relevance of Clark’s action during the conflict was partially overshadowed by Operation Overlord, D-Day, the landing on the coast of Normandy in the greatest military undertaking of all time (6 June), which captured world attention and marked the beginning of the end for Hitler’s Germany.
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