Desperate Valour: Triumph at Anzio

by Flint Whitlock

A riveting and comprehensive account of the Battle of Anzio and the Alamo-like stand of American and British troops that turned certain defeat into victory The four-month-long 1944 battle on Italy's coast, south of Rome, was one of World War II's longest and bloodiest battles. Surrounded by Nazi Germany's most fanatical troops, American and British amphibious forces endured relentless mortar and artillery barrages, aerial bombardments, and human-wave attacks by infantry with panzers. Through it all, despite tremendous casualties, the Yanks and Tommies stood side by side, fighting with, as Winston Churchill said, "desperate valour." So intense and heroic was the fighting that British soldiers were awarded two Victoria Crosses, while American soldiers received twenty-six Medals of Honor--ten of them awarded posthumously. The unprecedented defensive stand ended with the Allies breaking out of their besieged beachhead and finally reaching their Rome. They had truly snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Award-winning author and military historian Flint Whitlock uses official records, memoirs, diaries, letters, and interviews with participants to capture the desperate nature of the fighting and create a comprehensive account of the unrelenting slugfest at Anzio.Desperate Valour is a stirring chronicle of courage beyond measure.

Genres: History, World War II, Nonfiction, Military Fiction

450 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 30, 2018

About the author

As an art major, Flint Whitlock graduated from the University of Illinois in 1964 with a degree in Advertising Design, but has always been as much a writer as an artist. His love for military history began at an early age—fueled by his father, James, who served with the famed 10th Mountain Division in World War II. Flint also had an uncle who was a military policeman with the 1st Infantry Division and another uncle who served with the Navy in the Pacific.

Wanting to serve his country, Flint was commissioned a Second Lieutenant through the Reserve Officer Commission Training Program and entered active duty in December 1964. After attending the basic Air Defense Artillery officers' course at Fort Bliss, Texas, Flint earned his jump wings at Airborne school at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was then posted to a Nike Hercules battery in Baumholder, Germany. After two years in ADA, he received a branch transfer to the Quartermaster Corps and spent an additional year with the Supply and Maintenance Agency in Zweibruecken, Germany, where he was promoted to captain.


In 1968, Flint was transferred to South Vietnam, arriving one day before the Tet Offensive in January, 1968. He served for six months as a supply specialist at 1st Logistical Command Headquarters at Long Binh, northeast of Saigon, before being transferred to the 14th Inventory Control Center at the same post. He returned to the States in 1969 and spent a year with the 5th Infantry Division Supply and Maintenance Battalion at Fort Carson, Colorado, before resigning his commission and returning to civilian life.

After a stint as the Public Relations Director for the Denver Dynamos of the now-defunct North American Soccer League, he served as a copywriter, art director, and creative director for several major Colorado advertising agencies. While holding down these positions, he also continued to paint and write, becoming a locally prominent artist of the “photo-realist” genre. His attention to visual detail also translated to the written word, as he sought to convey the emotional and physical aspects of the soldier's experience.

To heighten his understanding of, and appreciation for, what the World War II combat soldier went through, he became involved in World War II re-enactment groups, in which he has been active for over 20 years. As a tribute to his father, he founded the 10th Mountain Division Living History Display Group in 1983 (www.tenthmountain.org). He is also a member of the 10th Mountain Division Foundation Board of Directors and the 10th Mountain Division Resource Center Advisory Committee.

Flint Whitlock lives in Denver, Colorado, with his wife, Dr. Mary Ann Watson, a clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at Metropolitan State College of Denver. They have three grown children: Gillian Lee Whitlock, an actress and make-up artist in Hollywood; Suki Montgomery, a psychologist and member of the counseling staff at Ithaca (NY) College; and Matthew Montgomery, an anesthesiologist in Denver. To keep in shape, Flint skis, referees soccer, and plays tennis.

Reviews

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read. A Balanced depiction of the combatants and civilians caught up in the battle. You could sense the brutality and misery in Whitlock’s portrayal of the siege and battles. The use of Medal of Honor and other valor citations was a novel novel way to relate the extraordinary effort to break out of the beachhead. I am looking forward to his other books.

[Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very powerful book about the battle for Anzio. From January to June 1944 this was one of the most intense campaigns. The courage and valor displayed by both the Allies and the Germans is remarkable. The most Medal of Honors were given out during this campaign. Narratives come from the Americans, Bristish, Germans and the Italian citizens. What the soldiers went through was unbearable. The nurses and medics saw untold horrors. Here’s Audie Murphy probably one of America’s finest soldiers, James Arness, from Gunsmoke, and others. This is the 1st book on the Battles in Italy during WWII that I have read and I would highly recommend it.