The Battles of Monte Cassino

The Battles of Monte Cassino

January-May 1944

Many consider the battle of Monte Cassino the fifth biggest battle in WWII. This was the first battle fought by Anders' men. The Allied attack on nazi-controlled Europe started with an attack on the German position in Italy. The Germans were positioned in the mountains south of Rome, and the Allies had been unable to break through. There was only one pass through the range and the Gustav line: the Liri River valley. But the valley was blocked by several hills, the key hill being Monte Cassino. A town of the same name lay at its base, and a medieval Benedictine monastery perched on its top. The Germans had not disturbed the monastery, but fortified themselves well on the hill with barbed wire, mines, concrete bunkers, and machine gun nests. Attackers from any quarter were subjected to strong crossfire from both artillery and firearms. The position was considered impregnable.

The Allies had tried to take Cassino several times; in January 1944, General Mark Clark had commanded the American Fifth Army in the first attempt, which included the Second and Tenth American Army Corps, the French Expeditionary Corps, and the British X Corps. The Texas division approached from the valley on a narrow front and met with heavy casualties. The French Expeditionary Corps attacked on the right wing, trying unsuccessfully to outflank Monte Cassino from the north. The British X Corps’ attack on the southern flank of the Gustav line also failed.

Next, the Thirty-fourth U.S. Infantry Division was ordered to attack the town of Monte Cassino and capture hills to its north. The Americans actually made it to the top if the hill, but were pushed back by a parachute division and suffered heavy losses again.

The Second New Zealand and the Fourth Indian Divisions were then called in. Both these divisions were famous for their achievements in Africa. During this attempt, hundreds of bombers attacked the monastery from the air and completely destroyed it, which only helped the Germans. The remains of the monastery’s walls and cellars were fortified and used in the Germans’ defense. Worse, the Allied ground forces had not been told about the bombing, so the bombing was not followed by an immediate ground attack. The Germans had a chance to regroup.

In March 1944, the New Zealand and Indian Corps launched a second attack, but they, too, suffered heavy casualties and withdrew. Another aerial bombardment preceded a third ground assault, which made some progress before a German counterattack forced our troops to withdraw.

The II Polish Corps began their attack on Cassino on the night of May 11th, 1944. The key to the German defense had been their ability to shift from sector to sector and successfully counterattack any offensive. General Anders' plan was to capture a number of key hills simultaneously, thereby preventing the Germans from coordinating their fire, and forcing them to disperse their reserves. This forced both sides to fight to exhaustion with the stronger will prevailing. Hardened by Siberia and determined to regain their homeland, Anders' men took Cassino in seven days. Despite this, you will have to search hard to even see Anders' Army mentioned in Western textbooks on the battle for Italy in WWII

Speech by General Alexander, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Armies in Italy

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