Editing Eberhard von Mackensen (section)

===== Activity in Italy during WW2 =====
The sudden and unexpected landing of Anzio, carried out by the Anglo-American forces on January 22th 1944 on the south coast  of Rome, caused great concern in the German high commands and caused a reorganization of the Wehrmacht deployment in Italy. Field Marshal Kesselring activated emergency measures and reserve troops were brought in from northern Italy and also from other war fronts. Von Mackensen was then ordered to relocate the headquarters of the 14th Army and take command of all assigned German forces to contain and possibly destroy the Allied landing head. On the 23rd January 1944, von Mackensen arrived at the headquarters of Field Marshal Kesselring inside the super-bunker of Mount Soratte and took control of the divisions arriving in the Anzio sector. Furthermore, von Mackensen, in addition to directing the field formations engaged in the landing areas, also became the supreme command authority of the entire war territory of the sector which also included the city of Rome; he then became the direct superior of General Kurt Mälzer, commander of the square in Rome.

Von Mackensen worked with tenacity and skill to contain the allied forces landed at Anzio and to build a solid defensive array. The enemy advance towards Rome was blocked and the German troops also obtained some important local successes by the end of January 1944. Adolf Hitler, however, was determined to inflict a crushing defeat on the Anglo-American divisions and completely annihilate the beachhead on the Lazio beaches, thus, massive reinforcements of motorized troops and heavy artillery were assigned to the 14th Army and von Mackensen received the order to launch a major counter-offensive, the so-called "Fischfang" operation. The plans drawn up by the German high command for the counter-offensive included a massive use of artillery and a concentrated attack by regrouping the bulk of the assault troops on a narrow sector of only six kilometers. These plans, however, were not shared by von Mackensen, who pointed out that the Anglo-American superior air force could have inflicted heavy losses on overly concentrated German divisions; furthermore, the general indicated that he did not have sufficient ammunition to carry out the planned prolonged artillery barrage. Hitler rejected von Mackensen's proposals and criticisms and ordered to launch the attack according to the initial plans studied by the high command.

The German offensive against the Anzio bridgehead began on February 16th 1944 and put the Anglo-American troops in serious difficulty, but in the end von Mackensen was unable to obtain the great victory requested by Hitler. The fire of the powerful Allied artillery and the massive intervention of the Anglo-American air force inflicted heavy losses on the German assault troops and blocked the advance of the divisions of the 14th Army. The Fischfang operation therefore ended in a German strategic failure. Von Mackensen had to return to the defensive and limit himself to consolidating his positions around the bridgehead. The battle at Anzio turned into a long and tiring war of position.