5th Battalion Grenadier Guards, February 1944

I'm trying to trace the circumstances behind the death of a Reg 'Lofty' Adcock. The CWGC gives the date of the 9th February 1944 and he is buried at the Beach Head Cemetery, Anzio. I understand that the Grenadiers were part of the amphibious attack in late January (Operation Shingle I believe) but would welcome some more detail from anyone that has researched the Guards.

 

Here's some Maps etc from the battalion war diary

 

And a rather detailed war diary entry. Apologies if the pagers are not in order. Imageshack mixes the order up sometimes and theres far too many for me to go through individually.

 

This was a grim period for 5 GREN GDS and despite enormous losses on the night of 7-8 Feb 44 when Maj Philip Sidney wins his Victoria Cross, the Bn manages to hold its position blocking German access to the Anzio-Albano road at Carroceto. They were still being pounded on 9 Feb 44.

Do you have a personal interest in this Guardsman?

Regards

Frank

 

Thank you Owen and Drew. What's that saying 'a picture paints a thousand words' or something similar, the maps certainly accentuate the descriptions.

 

Hi
No info on Reg Adcock, however my Grandfather (Guardsman 2618681 Lawrence Smith) was injured and captured when serving with the 5th Bttn Grenadier Guards on the night of the 8th/9th Feb whilst defending Buonriposa Ridge, Anzio Beachhead.
I suspect that they fought together and may well have known each other
Spent the rest of the war at Stalag X1A Altengrabow, near Magdeburg
Let me know if I can assist
I particularly am interested in any info regarding the battalion at Anzio
Best wishes

 

Gary.

I am taking a group to Anzio 4-7 May 17 if you want to see exactly what happened to 5 GREN GDS. Part of the trip includes looking in detail at the 5 GREN GDS positions that were battered by the German infiltrations onto Buoriposo Ridge and then going down into the Gully to explain how Maj Sidney wins his VC.

During the six weeks that the Bn spent in the beachhead, they were engaged for little more than a fortnight – 25 Jan-10 Feb 44, but in that time lost 29 of their 35 Offrs, nine of whom were killed including a CO, 12 were wounded and 8 taken prisoner. The Bn lost 577 of their 785 ORs: 52 of whom were killed, 222 wounded and 303 were missing. They had four COs in three weeks – one was only in command for 27.5 hours before he was killed. This gives some indication of the violence of the opening stages of the Anzio campaign that 5 GREN GDs endured.

Check out my website www.cassinobattlefields.co.uk

Regards

Frank

 

Hi all,
I'm conducting a research on the events around the Factory - Aprilia.
Can you tell me how can I get a copy of the war diary of 5th Battalion Grenadier Guards from 20 Jan. to 20 Feb. 1944?
Thanks
Livio