Rapido River Crossing

Despite having already suffered heavy losses at Salerno a month prior, the US 36th Infantry Division was selected for the crossing of the Rapido River, a costly and controversial decision. Ill-prepared and dramatically understrength, a crossing was forced at several points, each of which was carefully zoned and overlooked by dug-in German forces. Whatever tenuous foothold was captured across the river was soon lost. A wide, fast river bisects this rural landscape, with only flooded forests and scattered farmland available to protect forces before they advance.