Allied Fifth Army forces join near Anzio, Italy. British and U.S.

Allied Fifth Army forces join near Anzio, Italy. British and U.S. soldiers happily greet each other as the main Allied Fifth Army joined the Anzio beachhead forces on May 25, 1944, in the Pontine Marshes, near the west coast of central Italy. After the juncture, the Fifth Army swept on to liberate Rome, the Italian capital, on June 4, 1944, climaxing a 24-day offensive which smashed through the German Gustav and Adolf Hitler lines below the Eternal City. The Germans, after declaring Rome an open city, attempted to take a stand at the city's southern gates, but were defeated. Later on the same day, the British Eight Army also entered Rome, and the two Allied forces continued to pursue the retreating enemy northwest of the liberated capital.