Clark captures Rome but fails to trap the German Tenth Army By 25 May, with the German 10th Army in full retreat, Truscott's VI Corps was, as planned, driving eastwards to cut them off. By the next day, they would have been astride the line of retreat, and the 10th Army, with all of Kesselring's reserves committed to them, would have been trapped. At this point, astonishingly, Clark ordered Truscott to change his line of attack from a northeasterly one to Valmontone on Route 6 to a northwesterly one directly towards Rome. The reasons for Clark's decision are unclear, and controversy surrounds the issue. Most commentators point to Clark's ambition to be the first to arrive in Rome, although some suggest he was concerned to give a necessary respite to his tired troops (notwithstanding the new direction of attack that required his troops to make a frontal attack on the Germans' prepared defences on the Caesar C line). Truscott later wrote in his memoirs that Clark "was fearful that the British were laying devious plans to be first into Rome", a sentiment somewhat reinforced in Clark's own writings. However, General Alexander, the C-in-C of the AAI, had clearly laid down the army boundaries before the battle, and Rome was allocated to the Fifth Army. Leese's British Eighth Army was constantly reminded that their job was to engage the 10th Army, destroy as much of it as possible, and then bypass Rome to continue the pursuit northwards (which in fact they did, harassing the retreating 10th Army for some towards Perugia in 6 weeks).
Clark captures Rome but fails to trap the German Tenth Army By 25 May with the German 10th Army in full retreat Truscott's VI Corps was as planned driving eastwards to cut them off By the next day they would have been astride the line of retreat and the 10th Army with all of Kesselring's reserves committed to them would have been trapped At this point astonishingly Clark ordered Truscott to change his line of attack from a northeasterly one to Valmontone on Route 6 to a northwesterly one directly towards Rome The reasons for Clark's decision are unclear and controversy surrounds the issue Most commentators point to Clark's ambition to be the first to arrive in Rome although some suggest he was concerned to give a necessary respite to his tired troops (notwithstanding the new direction of attack that required his troops to make a frontal attack on the Germans' prepared defences on the Caesar C line) Truscott later wrote in his memoirs that Clark "was fearful that the British were laying devious plans to be first into Rome" a sentiment somewhat reinforced in Clark's own writings However General Alexander the C-in-C of the AAI had clearly laid down the army boundaries before the battle and Rome was allocated to the Fifth Army Leese's British Eighth Army was constantly reminded that their job was to engage the 10th Army destroy as much of it as possible and then bypass Rome to continue the pursuit northwards (which in fact they did harassing the retreating 10th Army for some towards Perugia in 6 weeks)