Wartime Claim to Fame Divides 2 Italian Towns

NETTUNO, Italy — The landing of Allied forces 70 years ago who went on to liberate Rome in World War II is now the focus of a conflict between two seaside towns over which one has the right to commemorate the event.

In the early hours of Jan. 22, 1944, the American Third Infantry Division landed at a seafront site in Nettuno code-named X-Ray Beach, as other American and British troops landed on nearby beaches in Anzio. In the decades since, the Anzio beachhead was engraved in history books as the main landing site.

For decades, the two towns jointly commemorated the landing. But this year for the first time, whether seeking to correct what they say is a historical slight or to promote their town to lure tourist dollars, the authorities in Nettuno have decided to stake a claim to the memory of the landing and mark the occasion separately by promoting X-Ray Beach.

And that is when a new conflict opened up....