To assist in the landing, Allied forces to the south were to launch attacks in the days leading up to Operation Shingle by seizing German positions across the Garigliano and the Rapido River.

[1] On the night of 20 January 1944, the US 36th Infantry Division, under command of Major General Geoffrey Keyes's II Corps, fired an artillery barrage of 31,000 rounds on German positions across the Gari River, which resulted in only negligible damage.

Although the assault met with more success, the American foothold was still unsustainable, as withering fire from the 15th Panzergrenadier Division prevented the construction of pontoon and Bailey bridges by engineers.

The battle was one of the largest defeats suffered by the US Army during World War II and was the subject of an investigation in 1946 by the US Congress to establish responsibility for the disaster.

[2] War Secretary Robert P. Patterson prepared a report in response to the congressional investigation in which he concluded that "the action to which the Thirty-sixth Division was committed was a necessary one and that General Clark exercised sound judgment in planning it and in ordering it.

"[1] Colonel Miller Ainsworth, president of the 36th Infantry Division Association, testified before Congress against Patterson's conclusions, and criticized what he perceived as Clark attempting to evade investigation of his conduct.