Allied French troops parade in freed Rome.

Allied French troops parade in freed Rome. To the strains of their National Anthem, troops of the French Expeditionary Forces march through a plaza in liberated Rome. Rising majestically in the background is the monument to King Victor Emanuel II whose reign ended with his death in 1878. Fighting alongside their American, British and Polish allies against the Germans, these soldiers of the Free France, armed by the U.S. and attached to the Allied Fifth Army, won the praise of its commander, U.S. Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark. He described as "truly magnificent" the achievements of French forces in the battle for Rome and in the earlier stages of the offensive. French troops, spear-heading the attack, broke through the German Gustave line and opened the way for the Fifth Army's advance upon Rome which was freed of the Germans on Jun 4, 1944. Three weeks later, the Allies had advanced 120 miles north of the Italian capital.