In one month we will see the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Anzio, Italy. And today , I came across a drawing related to that event. The #BattleofAnzio was a part of the Italian Campaign and occurred between January 22nd and June 5th, 1944. It began with #OperationShingle – the amphibious landing of Allied troops which would hopefully allow the Allied troops to outflank the German forces and lead to an attack on Rome. The surprise landing went unexpectedly well with very few casualties. Those casualties came over the next 5 months of struggle (7000 killed, 36,000 wounded or missing). The image shown is an ink drawing by Sergeant K Moss (4697586 – his military ID number) in 1944. Sergeant Moss was a member of the #FieldSecurityService. Their main aim was to gather intelligence/information from prisoners of war and civilians friendly to the Allies. The data collected would then hopefully assist the Allied troops to overcome the Germans. After the war the FSS immediately took to investigating Nazi war crimes and those who perpetrated them.

The drawing shows the Head Quarters of the British FSS near Anzio.

I have found little about Sergeant K. Moss. He may not have survived to the end of the war but hopefully the information which he and his compatriots gathered would have led to Allied victories and many U.S., British and Canadian lives saved at the Battle of Anzio and after.