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CIVATAVECCHIA

Two 280 mm railroad guns, Robert and Leopold, made up the battery that the Allies called Anzio Annie and Anzio Express. The scuttled guns were captured in the port town of Civitavecchia, Italy by the 168th Regiment of the 34th Division. Leopold, seen here, was rebuilt at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland and is currently at Fort Lee, Virginia. The German Eisenbahnbatterie 712 fired alternately on the Anzio defenses from the two K5 Eisenbahngeschutz 280 mm rail guns. The deadly weapons, hidden in rail tunnels, were estimated to have killed 1,000 soldiers on the beachhead.