General von Mackensen and Lt Gen Kurt Maeltzer (former German commandant of Rome) are being tried by the British War Crimes Tribunal in Rome , charged with the responsibility for the ten-to-one reprisal massacre which took place on 24 March 1944 , in the Ardeatine Caves , some five miles from Rome . 334 Italians were killed in reprisal for a bomb attack in which 32 German troops lost their lives in Rome . Photo shows: General von Mackensen , former Commander of the German 14th Army in Italy arriving in the court under British military guard . 25th November 1946