May 1944

Italy

The US 5th Army achieves a solid front with the junction of the VI and II Corps during the morning. Brett Force (1st Battalion of the 36th Engineers, Tank Destroyers, and reconnaissance elements of the British 1st Division) makes contact with the 91st Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron of the II Corps below Borgo Grappa. The opening of Highway 7 permits supplies to move northward for the assault on Rome. The VI Corps overruns Cisterna, Cori, and Monte Arrestino as the German opposition collapses. Supporting aircraft take an extremely heavy toll of German vehicles fleeing toward Velletri and Valmontone. Over 2,600 prisoners are take by noon. The 1st Armored Division makes little progress toward Velletri but cuts the Giulianello-Velletri road just west of Giulianello. The 34th Division, less the 133rd Infantry, takes up positions behind the 1st Armored Division. In the center, the 3rd Division seizes Cisterna and Cori. The 3rd Regiment, 1st SSF, attacks through the 133rd Infantry on the right flank of the VI Corps and secures Monte Arrestino. The II Corps, informed of its impending relief by the IV Corps, maintains its current positions while waiting for the FEC to come up abreast it to its right. The 339th Infantry, 85th Division, crosses the Amaseno River in the hills west of Priverno. The FEC overcomes organized resistance within its sector, at San Giovanni Incarico on the right and Vallecorsa on the left. The Algerian 3rd Division takes the former and the Mountain Corps, the latter. The 1st Motorized Division is withdrawn as the FEC reserve.

The British 8th Army also makes rapid progress as the enemy begins a general withdrawal. The Canadian I Corps expands the bridgehead across the Melfa and passes infantry through the armor to exploit toward the Liri. The XIII Corps begins forward movement, taking Aquino without opposition and reaching the Melfa, where a bridgehead is established. The Polish II Corps secures the rest of Piedimonte as the Germans withdraw.