Battle of Monte Cassino
The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome, was a series of four military assaults by the Allies against German forces in Italy during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The objective was to break through the Winter Line and facilitate an advance towards Rome.
In the beginning of 1944, the western half of the Winter Line was anchored by German forces holding the Rapido-Gari, Liri, and Garigliano valleys and several surrounding peaks and ridges. Together, these features formed the Gustav Line. Monte Cassino, a historic hilltop abbey founded in 529 by Benedict of Nursia, dominated the nearby town of Cassino and the entrances to the Liri and Rapido valleys. Lying in a protected historic zone, it had been left unoccupied by the Germans, although they manned some positions set into the slopes below the abbey's walls.
Repeated artillery attacks on assaulting allied troops caused their leaders to incorrectly conclude that the abbey was being used by the Germans as an observation post, at the very least. Fears escalated, along with casualties, and despite evidence, it was marked for destruction. On 15 February 1944, Allied bombers dropped 1,400 tonnes of high explosives, causing widespread damage.[5] Fallschirmjäger forces occupied the area and established defensive positions amid the ruins.
Between 17 January and 18 May, Monte Cassino and the Gustav Line defences were attacked on four occasions by Allied troops. On 16 May, soldiers from the Polish II Corps launched one of the final assaults on the German defensive position as part of a twenty-division assault along a thirty-two kilometres front. On 18 May, a Polish flag and the British flag were raised over the ruins.[6] Following this Allied victory, the German Senger Line collapsed on 25 May, and the German defenders were driven from their positions.[7] The capture of Monte Cassino resulted in 55,000 Allied casualties, with German losses estimated at around 20,000 killed and wounded.[3] The battle has been described as a Pyrrhic victory.[8][9]
Polish soldiers carry ammunition to the front lines just before the capture of the abbey
![Emil Czech [pl], a Polish bugler, plays the Hejnał mariacki, announcing the victory](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/Polish_Bugler_Monte_Cassino.jpg/161px-Polish_Bugler_Monte_Cassino.jpg)
Casualties[edit]
The capture of Monte Cassino came at a high price. The Allies suffered around 55,000 casualties in the Monte Cassino campaign. German casualty figures are estimated at around 20,000 killed and wounded.[3] Total Allied casualties spanning the period of the four Cassino battles and the Anzio campaign, with the subsequent capture of Rome on 5 June 1944, were over 105,000.[88]
The town of Cassino was completely razed by the air and artillery bombardments (especially by the air raid of 15 March 1944, when 1,250 tonnes of bombs were dropped on the town[89]), and 2,026 of its prewar population of 20,000 were killed during the raids and the battle.[90]
Monte Cassino: the Polish War Cemetery
Commonwealth cemetery
German cemetery
