| Original caption: “German prisoners, Anzio Beachhead below Rome, on their way to prison camp.” German prisoners captured by the 3rd Infantry Division, Anzio Beachhead. 1 warily eyes the camera. The captured Heer (“Nazi German Army”) Prisoners of War were assigned to the LXXVI Panzer Corps, 114th Light Infantry, and the 362nd Infantry; the men wearing camouflage jackets are with the Hermann Goering Panzer Division, waiting to be transported to Naples and Bizerte prison camps. The temporary “cage” is just barbed wire strung in a field. Note DUKW “Duck” General Motors amphibious truck behind the enclosure. Anzio was invaded on January 21, 1944. 2nd Lieutenant Siegmund Seiler, of the 2d Company, 6th Technical Unit, German Army, was expecting trouble that evening of January 21, 1944. He had not been alerted by orders from higher headquarters, but something made him uncomfortable. Seiler was not a combat sol-dier; actually he could be called a civil engineer in uniform. His technical unit, which consisted of firemen, plumbers, electricians, locksmiths, and welders, had a total strength of some nearly 400 men, but each small detachment worked independently. Seiler’s job that evening was to blow 2 channels in the mole at Anzio. His detachment consisted of 18 men. At about 1700 Hours, Seiler heard a loud explosion a couple of miles to the south at Nettuno, and his 1st reaction was to investigate. He drove the short distance down to Nettuno and reported to the German town commandant. There was no invasion, the commandant assured him; the noise had been caused by the explosion of a German ammunition truck, a sheer accident. Still Seiler remained uncomfortable; the purring sounds out in the waters must have some meaning. But, since the Kommandant was his senior — and an experienced man — Seiler kept his own counsel. On the assumption that nothing important was in the offing, Seiler and the Nettuno town commander started back in the early morning of January 22, headed for their headquarters at Frascati. Suddenly, bursts of automatic weapons fire hit the car from the side of the road, 1 bullet killing the Kommandant. The Allies were ashore! In terror, Seiler tried to hide behind the rear seat of their vehicle. Soon an American soldier opened the front door and motioned for him to come out with his hands up, a feat that he managed with difficulty. An American doctor stopped briefly and asked him if he was wounded; he was not. Looking around, Seiler saw that the coast road was crowded with American troops. Siegmund Seiler, now an American prisoner of war, was being conducted down to the beach for evacuation by sea. His unhappiness at being captured was heightened by the fact that, as a technician, he had never expected to be exposed to this misfortune. In a while, however, his technical expertise made him forget his plight momentarily in his interest to see what was going on. He watched with fascination as an American beach party went about its business. During the time he watched, he never heard a word of command, though everything went like “clock-work.” Troops were “running around, unloading, adjusting and correcting here and there; it was like a big market and a medley, without muddle.” Seiler also declared himself impressed by American equipment, especially by the maneuverable jeeps and amphibious vehicles. Bulldozers were operating only a few hours after the landing. “It was an impressive spectacle,” he testified, “where every man knew his place and no commands were necessary.” Up to the north, Seiler noticed lights and fire in Anzio. A pathetic German air raid, 4 waves of 4 planes each, was apparently having little effect. German fire was almost nonexistent. Seiler had witnessed the beginning of the Anzio landing. He may have embellished his thoughts to impress his captors. Prisoners formed long columns as they were marched single file from the battle area. When they passed a group of curious American infantrymen, German captives, including these men from the 114th Light Division, displayed little interest in their captors. The American troops that advanced toward Cisterna on the morning of January 30, 1944, ran into a heavy concentration of German forces — elements of the Hermann Goering Panzer Division and supporting units — instead of the thinly held outpost positions which they expected. The German main line of resistance was in front of Cisterna, not behind it. Thus, the Germans were able to destroy or capture the advanced elements that approached Cisterna, and to slow the American drive all along the front. When the 4th Ranger Battalion was stopped along the road below Isola Bella, the 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry, which was to push up behind them, was unable to launch its planned attack. OnGeneral Lucian K. Truscott Junior’s (January 9, 1895 – September 12, 1965) order, Lieutenant Colonel Ashton H. Manhart (August 24, 1909 – December 10, 1969), commander of the 15th Infantry, directed the 3rd Battalion to swing off the road to the east and follow the route of the 1st and 3rd Rangers, in an effort to reinforce them. After the Rangers surrendered, this battalion was ordered to turn toward Isola Bella and attack it from the right rear. Under cover of a heavy concentration of smoke and shells laid down on the village, the battalion found a gap in the enemy defenses and filtered across the soggy fields. Behind their tanks and tank destroyers they drove in on the battered, rubble-filled cluster of buildings, firing at point-blank range to clear each house of its defenders. By noon, they had overcome all organized resistance, although they were kept busy all afternoon hunting down snipers and small groups of Germans who infiltrated through the lines. Too late to save the 1st and 3rd Rangers, Major Frederick W. Boye, Junior (December 16, 1916 – October 10, 2004), swung his 3rd Battalion south from Isola Bella to clear out enemy pockets holding up the 4th Rangers along the road. Meanwhile, the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry, drove up the parallel road about 2 miles (3 kilometers) to the right of the 3rd Battalion to clear the regiment’s right flank. Against strong opposition, the battalion pushed forward a mile and a half (2 1/2 kilometers) to reach its objective. Tanks of B Company, 751st Tank Battalion, spearheading the infantry’s advance, knocked out a Panzerkampwagen IV, overran 78 millimeter (3 inch) antitank guns, and rounded up remnants of 2 shattered companies of the Hermann Goering Panzer Division. In a diversionary attack on the 3rd Infantry Division’s right flank, the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment thrust north along the main Mussolini Canal. The paratroopers’ mission was to seize and blow 2 bridges north of the canal junction and to cut Highway Number 7 in order to block these possible avenues of counterattack. After a stiff fight the 1st Battalion reached both bridges, but before it could seize them, the Germans blew them up. While the 1st Battalion mopped up the Germans on the near side of the canal, capturing large numbers of prisoners from the Hermann Goering Panzer Division and the 356th Reconnaissance Battalion, the 2nd Battalion, under Lt. Col. Daniel W. Danielson (September 15, 1912 – December 4, 1988), attacked through the 1st Battalion toward Highway Number 7. Their advance was held up, however, along the ravine formed by Cisterna Creek, because the Germans had blown the bridges, making it impossible to put supporting armor across the stream gully. In the afternoon, the newly arrived 7th Luftwaffe (“Nazi German Air Force”) Jäger Battalion attacked across the main canal, striking the paratroopers in the rear. This enemy shock battalion was made up of hardened disciplinary offenders of the Luftwaffe who had chosen combat service and a clean slate to military prison. The 7th Jäger’s thrust was stopped by the 69th Armored Field Artillery Battalion in a hot hour of rapid firing. 131 prisoners were captured in the subsequent mop-up. Prisoners reported that men sick with dysentery had been forced into line for the attack. Many Heer prisoners attributed their failure to lack of adequate tank support. This was due partly to losses suffered during the fighting, but largely to unfavorable tank terrain. Both Heer and Allied tanks were roadbound and consequently could be employed only in small groups. In some cases the lead tank and rear tank of a column were knocked out, blocking the escape of the remainder; wherever tanks were used in groups of more than 2 or 3 they made excellent targets for artillery. At no time did tanks prove a crucial factor in the final result of the battle, although the prisoners paid tribute to the effectiveness with which the 1st Armored Division tanks were later employed in the counterattacks on February 19. At Anzio-Nettuno, the Heer reported the capture of 1,304 Allied prisoners. Exposure, exhaustion, and particularly trench foot resulting from days spent in foxholes half-filled with water resulted in a total of 1,637 non-battle Allied casualties. 227 Nazi German Prisoners of War were taken on D-Day by the 5th Army; 2,640 prisoners were in cages at Anzio; another 1,000 at Cisterna. 4,838 Nazi German Prisoners of War were taken by the Allies during the course of the campaign. As Lansing Ship, Tanks (LSTs) emptied their cargo onto Anzio Beach, they were filled with Allied wounded and Nazi German Prisoners of War. The prisoners were taken to Naples. From there, they were sorted and sent to North Africa if they weren’t needed for intelligence or work parties. Lieutenant Charles Marshall, detailed to interrogate Prisoner of War because he spoke German, later recalled in his memoirs: “My first trip to the gage proved frustrating. I had barely begun work when the Germans were packed into trucks for shipment to the boats, starting them on their way to the Prisoner of War camps in America. A fleet of LSTs shuttled between Naples and Anzio, bringing supplies to the beachhead and taking prisoners and our wounded to Naples. On other days I had better luck and, as time went on, when the OSS radioed a description of the marking, we were able to check our compilation and identify the unit. Knowing that, we would also know the type and often the history and quality of the troops being committed. We might also have data on the personality of its commanding officer. Just as Lucas [Major General John P. Lucas (January 14, 1890 – December 24, 1949)] and Truscott were two very different generals, the enemy, too, had very different generals.” As Prisoners of War came into the Army Cage, they were 1st interrogated by Army Interrogators on tactical matters and were then passed on to Psychological Warfare Branch (PWB) interrogators, among others. The PWB interrogator was concerned mainly with the evaluation of the enemy’s morale in the unit to which the Prisoner of War belonged. 1st this information was co-related in periodical reports reviewing apparent changes in the enemy’s morale. It was distributed outside the theater and compared with the evaluations made by Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF). 2nd, the assessment of the enemy’s reactions to Allied Propaganda. It was important to know how many Prisoners of War saw Allied leaflets, what effect a leaflet had on their company or platoon, and whether or not these leaflets were read or passed on; and in case of deserters, whether or not their decision to come over to the Allied lines was motivated by a leaflet or an Allied broadcast. Prisoners of War were asked where they picked up particular leaflets dropped by aircraft, and PWB 15th Army Group then compared this information with the “nickeling” report received from the Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force (MATAF). In many cases, interrogation provided useful information on the accuracy of leaflet bombs, the effect of wind drift, and dropping techniques. 3rd, the collection of materiel for use in leaflets and broadcasts as well as general background and political information which was later passed on to AFHQ, other PWB Units, to the Foreign Office and the State Department. Prisoner of War patients from the Italian campaign that were received in the Eastern Base Section in North Africa were routed to the 78th Station Hospital at Bizerte or to the 103rd Station at Mateur. After Italy became a co-belligerent in September 1943, Italian prisoners in Africa were organized into service units of various types. Their status made it necessary to keep them completely separated from the Nazi German prisoners. At the same time, their numbers and the assignments given them increased their hospitalization requirements. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0638.jpg |
| Image Size | 1.07 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 2326 x 2904 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Navy |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | February 3, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | Anzio |
| State or Province | Lazio |
| Country | Italy |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-80-G-54412 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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