The U.S. Unit That Walked Straight Into a German Trap

On January 30, 1944, 767 American Rangers slipped through a drainage ditch toward German-held Cisterna, Italy — and by noon, only 6 to 8 walked back. This is the story of the Battle of Cisterna: how an intelligence failure, not a German trap, sent Darby's 1st and 3rd Ranger Battalions into the heart of a massing German army during the Anzio campaign, and why the disaster reshaped how elite light infantry would be used for the rest of the war. Sourced primarily from the official U.S. Army history of the Anzio campaign. This video presents a historical account for educational purposes; details on Major Dobson's role and the "German trap" narrative remain disputed among sources, as noted in the video.