MONTE CASSINO 1944

The Battles of Monte Cassino between January and May 1944
represented something of an anomaly in the conduct of the war in
Europe. In an unusually static period of warfare, the Allies took five
months and four separate battles to break through the German Gustav
Line, anchored around the position at Monte Cassino.

Despite the breakthrough, the opportunity to destroy the Germans in Italy was missed and the slog up Italy would continue for another year. Italy surrendered to the Allies on 8 September 1943. The British Eighth Army had already crossed the Straits of Messina five days before, and on 9 September the Fifth Army, a mixed US-British force, landed at Salerno. The near successes of the German counterattack against the Salerno beachhead convinced Hitler to follow the advice of Field-Marshal Albert Kesselring and resist the Allied advance as far south as possible. He also issued orders for the construction of the Gustav line south of Rome. This stretched from the Adriatic to the Tyrrhenian sea.  Tge key to the position was the entrance of the Liri valley, wihich offered the most obvious moute to Rome. Monte Cassino dominated the approach, overlooking the rivers that crossed the mounth of the valley. The Germans built pillboxes and dugouts across the LIRI, established positions in the surrounding mountains, fortified the town of Cassino and flooded the rivers. It was probably the most formidable defensive position in Europe.

ANZIO LANDINGS

Operation Shingle, a planned landing at Anzio behind the Gustav Line, forced the Fifth Army to push on to draw the German reserve from the Anzio area. General Mark Clark the Fifth Army commander, launched the French Expeditionary Corps against the German position north of Cassino while the British X Corps attempted to cross the river Garigliano to the west in mid January. Neither operation was wholly successful, although they did draw the Germans south. Then Clark committed US II Corps against the Cassino position. The 36th Division had two regiments destroyed trying to cross the Gari river between 20 and 22 January. The Anzio landings took place virtually unopposed on 22 January. Clark knew the Germans would throw everything available at the beachhead. so he committed his final division, the 34th Red Bull, north of Cassino to maintain the pressure. The 34th attacked on the night of 24 January. It took them three days to establish themselves in stregth across the rapido river On 29 January, the division pushed into the high ground behind the monastery and managed to secure a foothold in the outskirts of the town. It then inched its way across the Cassino massif before the attack petered out on 12 February. Despite the extraordinary efforts of the US infantry, the town and monastery remained in German hands. Despite misgivings, the Allied commander in Italy, General Harold Alexander authorized the bombing of the monastery. On the morning of 15 February, more than 250 bombers destroyed the abbey, However, due to an appaling lack of coordination, the lead formation of 4th Indian Division was unable to attack until the night of 16/17 February, by wich time German paratroopers had occupied the ruins. On 17 February, the New Zealanders attacked the town from the east, managing to seize the railway station, but they were unable to advance further.

GERMAN COUNTERATTACK

Despite the efforts against Cassino, the Germans launched a massive attack on the Anzio beachhead. Still desperate to maintain pressure on the Gustav Line, Alexander ordered freyberg to attack again. This time 4th Indian Division would attack the monastery on a slightly different axis, above the town through Castle Hill, while the New Zealanders attacked the town from the orth. After air raids and a massive bombardment, the two divisions attacked on the morning of March 15 and managed to size the railroad station, but were unable to advance further. Again the German paratroopers put up fierce resistance, and even though the New Zealanders managed to clear most of the town and 4th Indian Division took Castle and Hangman's Hills, The Allies were not able to gain complete control of Cassino or capture the monastery. Having achieved very little, Freyberg called off the offensive.