Battle of Monte Cassino

The Battle of Monte Cassino was a series of Allied attacks on the German Gustav Line, at Cassino (a hill and the town nearby), during World War II. It took place near Route 6, in the southern portion of Italy, from January 17 to May 18, 1944. The Gustav was the strongest defensive line the Germans had built in the Italian peninsula before the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943.

Below, a German paratrooper looking across the Liri Valley from the southern slope of Monte Cassino before the battle.

The German 1st Fallschirmjäger (paratroopers) Division of the Luftwaffe and other units of the German 10th Army, under Heinrich von Vietinghoff, had the mission to defend the line at Cassino. Units of the American 5th Army, under Mark W. Clark, launched the assault against the Gustav Line at this point, which featured a 450-m-high hill, called Monte Cassino. On top of this hill, there was a Benedictine abbey, which dated back to the Middle Ages. Although the 5th Army was an American unit, it included British, New Zealander, Polish, and French elements.

The first attack took place on January 17, 1944, and it was carried out by the British 56th Division. From then on, to no avail, more British, New Zealander and Indian regiments would launch successive assaults on the German positions on Monte Cassino, which would be completely bombed and destroyed, along with the town below, by US B-25 bombers on February 15. This controversial bombing of such historical landmark and the killing of Italian civilians would cause the nearby peasants to fully support the Germans.

Despite the destruction of the abbey, the huge piles of rubble provided the German paratroopers with excellent protection and concealment against the Allied attacks. Finally, on May 12, after vicious fighting, the Allied forces were able to breach the German defenses after setting in motion Operation Diadem, with full air and artillery support in Operation Strangle. On May 18, 1944, units of the Polish II Corps took the ruins of the Abbey and the summit of the hill as most of the German paratroopers had fell back to secondary defensive lines.

German elite paratroopers of the 1st Fallschirmjäger Division during the Battle of Monte Cassino, hiding in a cellar below the rubble as they wait for the next enemy attack.

American Boeing B-25s bombing the town of Monte Cassino.

Below, a map of a portion of Italy, showing the Gustav Line and the Allies advance, just before the Battle of Monte Cassino.

A more detailed map of southern Italy. Monte Cassino is marked with a red dot.

The Battle of Monte Cassino (video)