It fought at Anzio and later defended German-held Northern Italy opposing the Allies during the Italian Campaign.

Because Allied air superiority made further rail transport difficult,[3] the battalion drove the remaining distance, via Rome.

Sixty percent of the Tigers suffered mechanical breakdown on the 200-kilometre (120 mi) journey through the narrow, winding, mountainous roads.

[5] Between 21 and 24 February, the battalion claimed twenty US tanks;[5] seventeen while using small elements to support several unsuccessful attempts to reduce the beachhead from Aprilia, and three M4 Shermans which had penetrated German lines.

[6] In late February, two Shermans were captured; their turrets were removed and they were converted into recovery vehicles, greatly improving the ability of the battalion to recover damaged Tigers.

Its advance was restricted to roads surrounded by marshy areas, and the attack stalled due to strong resistance.

Eight Tiger Is absorbed from Tiger-Gruppe Schwebbach (formerly Schwere Panzer Kompanie Meyer) brought the battalion back up to full strength.

[5] The battalion withdrew to Rome, staying there from 5 to 16 March, then, slightly over strength in tanks due to replacements, returned to the Aprilia—Campoleone—Cisterna area, where they resisted expansion of the beachhead.

[5] In late May, the Allies broke out from the Monte Cassino and the Anzio regions as Operation Diadem bore fruit.

On 23 May the 508th claimed 15 Shermans destroyed during a German counter-attack against advancing Allied forces near Cisterna, for the loss of a single Tiger.

The next day they started to withdraw to Rome; two tanks were lost to mechanical failure, seven more were destroyed by their crews in Cori due to lack of fuel, eleven more near Giulianello from breakdown, and another one near Valmontone on 25 May.

[5] By 3 June 1944, a general fighting withdrawal to the Trasimene Line began as the Allies pressed northward, taking Rome the next day.

[5] Despite complaints by battalion command, orders from Army Group were to widely disperse the Tigers in defense.

In early September the first company moved across to Savignano in eastern Italy, eleven tanks were lost to mechanical problems during the road march.