ANZIO AND NETTUNO LANDINGS
ANZIO AND NETTUNO LANDINGS – 75 YEARS ON
Every year there has been a commemoration of the landing by Allied troops starting on 22 January 1944, an operation which broke the deadlock but led to some bloody battles before finally liberating Rome in June. This year however it was on a scale that will probably not be repeated over the next few years. Commemoration events took place at the American Cemetery in Nettuno (where lie 7,858 soldiers), the British and Commonwealth Cemeteries in Anzio, and the following day at the German Friedhof near Pomezia (graves for 27,443). There was also an extensive cultural programme of films, works of art and exhibitions, including vehicles and equipment of World War II. However, controversy arose over the choice to entrust the cultural programme of Nettuno (separate from that of Anzio) to an alleged neo-fascist revisionist historian. Commissaire Bruno Strati of Nettuno has distanced the town from the appointment by the Università Civica di Nettuno, asking for a report. Others have demanded that the Minister for Defence, Elisabetta Trenta, provide an official explanation of this episode.