Both VI Corps and the enemy suffered heavy losses in combat casualties during the four months between the Allied landing at Anzio on 22 January and the attack out of the beachhead on 23 May. In presenting casualty Statistics, a note of caution is in order. Since it is impossible to compile an exact record of combat casualties for any large-scale operation, those presented here should be treated as an approximation. [1]

The combat casualties of VI Corps at Anzio through 22 May numbered about 30,000, including at least 4,400 killed and 18,000 wounded in action.

Of these totals, American units lost approximately 17,000 men, including at least 2,800 killed and 11,000 wounded in action.

The enemy reported the capture of 6,800 Allied prisoners, including about 2,400 American troops.

About two-thirds of the combat casualties occurred during the period of heavy fighting that ended on 3 March. During the first thirty days of the Anzio operation, the combat casualties of VI Corps amounted to about 17 percent of its effective strength.

British combat losses were relatively heavier than American, in terms of the number of troops engaged; during the above 30-day period, their units lost 27 percent of their effective strength.

In addition to the combat losses, VI Corps reported over 37,000 noncombat casualties during the whole period of the Anzio operation, more than 26,000 of whom were American.

About 33,000 casualties, combat and noncombat, were evacuated by sea from Anzio–including 24,000 Americans–without the loss of a single patient’s life as a result of the process of moving men from shore hospitals to the waiting ships.

Fourteenth Army lost between 28,000 and 30,000 men as combat casualties in its operations against the Anzio beachhead. This total included at least 5,500 killed and 17,500 wounded in action.

The Allies captured more than 4,500 enemy prisoners of war. The German combat losses during the period of relative inaction after 3 March were about 10,000, almost exactly the same as those of the Allied forces.

The total combat casualties of VI Corps and Fourteenth Army were thus roughly equal, although the enemy had a larger number of troops killed in action.

Three factors made the enemy losses relatively more costly in terms of combat strength than those of the Allies. The Germans suffered higher losses among combat units, they received far fewer replacements than Allied units, and the replacements they did receive were of progressively poorer quality.[1]

[1] American Forces in Action. Anzio Beachhead (22 January-25 May 1944). The Breakthrough. http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-A-Anzio/USA-A-Anzio-6.html

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