| Original caption: “Rome taken! Fifth Army armor rumbles past Rome’s ancient Coliseum [sic] in triumphal procession as Allied troops occupied the Italian capital. Crowds line the route to greet their entrance into the city.” United States 5th Army M10 Tank Destroyers move down Via Labicana towards the Colosseum as they occupy Rome. They are probably from A Company, 701st Tank Destroyer Battalion, Task Force Howze. Several United States Army elements, including Task Force Howze, from different divisions, were headed towards Rome on June 4. Task Force Howze, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton H. “Ham” Howze (December 21, 1908 – December 8, 1998) was attached to the 1,600 men of the 1st Special Service Force (FSSF) under Brigadier General Robert T. Frederick (March 14, 1907 – November 29, 1970). A column led by Captain Taylor Mark Radcliffe (September 6, 1918 – April 1, 2012), 1st Special Service Force, in 18 jeeps and 2 M8 armored cars, drove ahead into Rome and was the 1st American unit there. They linked up with Italian partisans and fought Nazi German tanks and infantry before retreating to report contact with the enemy. Task Force Howze, a combined arms task force composed of M4 Sherman tanks, M10 tank destroyers, and mounted infantry, would protect the lightly armed advance patrol enabling Radcliffe to dash into Rome. But Radcliffe inadvertently hooked up with Task Force Ellis instead. Task Force Ellis, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles A. Ellis (July 6, 1892 – May 15, 1974) of the 91st Reconnaissance Squadron, was advancing up Via Tuscolana, parallel and to the south of Task Force Howze’s advance on Highway 6. Radcliffe quartered his troop in Cinecitta movie studio on the night of June 4 after a sharp fight with Nazi German panzers. Meanwhile, Task Force Howze opened a way into Rome. The next morning, Howze and FSSF prevented the Nazi Germans from blowing the bridges across the Tiber; this would’ve cut Rome in 2. Frederick, leading from the front, was wounded 3 times on June 5. The main body of FSSF followed Radcliffe into Rome 25 minutes later. Radcliffe’s patrol got credit for being the 1st Allied soldiers to enter Rome from the south while the FSSF and Task Force Howze seized the northern part of the city. Rapidly the situation in the city changed as the Germans and Italian Fascists fled northward. After the initial hard day’s fighting into the Italian capital, the FSSF soldiers were then greeted by crowds of Romans cheering them as liberators. A FSSF soldier, seeing the ancient Colosseum for the 1st time commented, “The Germans sure blew the hell out of that place!” | |
| Image Filename | wwii0672.jpg |
| Image Size | 1.12 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 3365 x 4464 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | June 5, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | Rome |
| State or Province | Lazio |
| Country | Italy |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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