Cassino World War 2
Monte Cassino was the last major action the original 100th completed. After that, the battalion received replacements from the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and headed for Anzio. Italy, showing Monte Cassino and the Gustav Line. A view of the rebuilt abbey on Monte Cassino, taken from one of the war cemeteries at Cassino. Design 'Battle Of Monte Cassino - World War 2 / WWII' on Men's T-Shirt in black + more colours, size S-6XL at Spreadshirt ยป customizable easy returns. Of the Cassino story. If he had got that support - either then or later when General Francis Tuker of the 4th Indian Division was urging a similar strategy - perhaps the resulting bloodbath could have been avoided. Monte Cassino, The Story of the Hardest-fought Battle of World War II, by Matthew Parker was published by Headline in 2003. One interesting detail about the Battle of Monte Cassino is how everyone fighting for it perceived it. Monte Cassino had significant cultural importance because of the paintings, literature and other works of art located there. So before the war reached Monte Cassino German leadership decided to move these priceless treasures to a safer place.
Salerno to Cassino
by Martin BlumensonCENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY
UNITED STATES ARMY
WASHINGTON, D.C., 1993
. . . to Those Who Served
Monte Cassino World War 2
(As of 15 June 1967)
Washington and Lee University | Industrial College of the Armed Forces |
San Jose State College | U.S. Continental Army Command |
Swarthmore College | U.S. Army War College |
Northwestern University | U.S. Army Command and General Staff College |
Harvard University | United States Military Academy |
Tulane University | |
World War 2 Battle Of Cassino
Brig. Gen. Hal C. Pattison, Chief of Military History
Cassino World War 2
| Chief Historian | Stetson Conn |
| Chief, Histories Division | Col. Paul P. Hinkley |
| Editor in Chief | Joseph R. Friedman |
Contents
| Foreword | vii | ||
| The Author | viii | ||
| Preface | ix | ||
| Chapter | Page | ||
| PART ONE Background | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| I. | The Origins | 3 | |
| The Strategic Background | 4 | ||
| Toward a Decision | 8 | ||
| II. | The Choice | 16 | |
| The Concept | 16 | ||
| The Decision | 21 | ||
| The Place | 25 | ||
| III. | The Preparations | 27 | |
| Forces | 28 | ||
| Lift | 37 | ||
| IV. | The Start | 43 | |
| The Plans | 43 | ||
| The Preliminaries | 51 | ||
| V. | The Opposition: The Germans in Italy | 58 | |
| PART TWO Salerno | |||
| VI. | The Landings | 73 | |
| The Last Few Miles of Sea | 73 | ||
| The Initial American Waves | 76 | ||
| The American Beaches | 85 | ||
| The Results of the First Day | 90 | ||
| Slapstick | 94 | ||
| VII. | The Beachhead | 96 | |
| German Build-up | 96 | ||
| The Beachhead Developed | 99 | ||
| The German Attack | 112 | ||
| VIII. | The Crisis | 118 | |
| Allied Build-up | 118 | ||
| Stand-off | 125 | ||
| The Avellino Mission | 131 | ||
| IX. | The End of the Battle | 133 | |
| The Crisis Resolved | 133 | ||
| The Eighth Army Role | 138 | ||
| Some Miscellaneous Matters | 143 | ||
| Command | 148 | ||
| Summary | 152 | ||
| X. | Beyond Salerno | 154 | |
| Problems and Plans | 154 | ||
| The Flanking March | 158 | ||
| The Main Effort | 162 | ||
| Naples | 166 | ||
| Foggia | 170 | ||
| PART THREE The Winter Campaign | |||
| XI. | The Strategy | 175 | |
| Allied Intentions | 175 | ||
| The German Decision | 182 | ||
| Allied Problems | 184 | ||
| XII. | The Volturno Crossing | 188 | |
| The Immediate Situation | 188 | ||
| The Attack Down the Calore Valley | 194 | ||
| The Main Crossings | 196 | ||
| The Crossing on the Right Flank | 200 | ||
| The Crossings on the Left | 203 | ||
| XIII. | Into the Winter Line | 207 | |
| Mountain Warfare | 208 | ||
| The Second Volturno Crossing | 210 | ||
| The Upper Volturno Valley | 213 | ||
| The Coastal Zone | 214 | ||
| More Mountain Warfare | 217 | ||
| The Third Volturno Crossing | 220 | ||
| The Germans at the Bernhard Line | 223 | ||
| Into the Bernhard Line | 226 | ||
| XIV. | The Shape of Things to Come | 235 | |
| Allied Reappraisal | 235 | ||
| Hitler's Decision | 243 | ||
| The Cairo and Tehran Conferences | 246 | ||
| The Lull | 248 | ||
| XV. | In the Winter Line | 257 | |
| The Sangro Front | 257 | ||
| Plans To Breach the Mignano Barrier | 260 | ||
| The Camino-Difensa-Maggiore Complex | 262 | ||
| XVI. | San Pietro | 270 | |
| The Conditions | 270 | ||
| The First Attack | 274 | ||
| The Second Attack | 277 | ||
| The Aftermath | 285 | ||
| The Other Fronts | 288 | ||
| PART FOUR Anzio and Cassino | |||
| XVII. | The Decision for Anzio | 293 | |
| XVIII. | The Preliminaries for Anzio | 305 | |
| Toward the Rapido-Garigliano River Line | 306 | ||
| The German Situation | 310 | ||
| Closing to the River Line | 313 | ||
| Crossing the Garigliano | 315 | ||
| XIX. | The Rapido River Crossings | 322 | |
| XX. | The Anzio Landing | 352 | |
| Preparations | 353 | ||
| The Landing | 357 | ||
| German Reaction | 360 | ||
| XXI. | The Attacks on Cassino | 366 | |
| XXII. | The Opening Battles at Anzio | 385 | |
| The Allied Attack | 385 | ||
| The First German Counterattack | 394 | ||
| XXIII. | The Bombardment of the Abbey of Monte Cassino | 397 | |
| XXIV. | The Test at Anzio | 419 | |
| The Major German Attack | 419 | ||
| Change of Command | 424 | ||
| The Last German Attack | 429 | ||
| XXV. | The Bombing of Cassino | 433 | |
| XXVI. | Results and Prospects | 449 | |
| Appendix | |||
| A. | Table of Equivalent Ranks | 457 | |
| B. | Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross | 458 | |
| Bibliographical Note | 461 | ||
| Glossary | 465 | ||
| CODE NAMES | 468 | ||
| Basic Military Map Symbols | 469 | ||
| Index | 473 | ||
| Illustrations | |||
| Theater Commanders | 11 | ||
| Lt. Gen. Mark W. Clark | 29 | ||
| Maj. Gen. Ernest J. Dawley | 30 | ||
| Maj. Gen. Ernest N. Harmon | 30 | ||
| Maj. Gen. Fred L. Walker | 31 | ||
| Maj. Gen. Charles W. Ryder | 32 | ||
| Maj. Gen. Troy H. Middleton | 32 | ||
| General Sir Bernard L. Montgomery | 35 | ||
| Vice Adm. H. Kent Hewitt | 36 | ||
| Part of the 45th Division Boarding LST's at Palermo, Sicily | 51 | ||
| DUKW's Crossing the Strait of Messina | 52 | ||
| Troops Cheer the News of Italy's Surrender | 55 | ||
| Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring | 61 | ||
| Generaloberst Heinrich von Vietinghoff genannt Scheel | 65 | ||
| A Panorama of the Salerno Bay Landing Area | |||
| Tanks Moving Ashore, Salerno | 88 | ||
| LST With Improvised Flight Deck | 88 | ||
| Troops of the 36th Division Advancing on Red Beach, Salerno | 89 | ||
| Lt. Gen. Sir Richard L. McCreery With General Dwight D. Eisenhower and General Clark | 101 | ||
| The Tobacco Factory | 105 | ||
| The Ancient Temple of Neptune, Paestum | 111 | ||
| U.S. Equipment Burning on the Beach at Salerno | 121 | ||
| Maj. Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway | 135 | ||
| Civilians Clearing the Ruins of Eboli | 139 | ||
| Maj. Gen. John P. Lucas | 158 | ||
| Engineers Repairing a Bridge Near Acerno | 160 | ||
| Wreckage in the Dockyards, Naples | 167 | ||
| Pier Across the Hull of a Sunken Ship, Naples | 169 | ||
| Triflisco Gap | 193 | ||
| Self-Propelled 105-mm. Howitzer on a Ponton Treadway Bridge at the Volturno | 202 | ||
| Removing a German S Mine | 221 | ||
| Rescue at the Volturno | 223 | ||
| Mignano Gap | 226 | ||
| British Soldiers Hugging Side of Hill, Monte Camino | 228 | ||
| Troops of the 30th Infantry Division Moving Out To Attack | 230 | ||
| Pack Train on a Mountain Trail | 232 | ||
| Stranded Vehicles at the Volturno | 250 | ||
| War Against Mud | 250 | ||
| Maj. Gen. Geoffrey T. Keyes | 251 | ||
| Maj. Gen. William W. Eagles | 253 | ||
| General Alphonse Juin | 254 | ||
| Brig. Gen. Robert T. Frederick | 256 | ||
| British Troops on Monte Camino | 264 | ||
| 2d Moroccan Infantry Division Troops Around a Campfire | 268 | ||
| Monte Sammucro, With San Pietro on the Right | 271 | ||
| Evacuating the Wounded | 284 | ||
| German Pillbox on Monte Lungo | 285 | ||
| Paratroopers Approaching San Pietro | 287 | ||
| Medical Corpsmen at San Pietro | 287 | ||
| General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson | 295 | ||
| Lt. Gen. Sir Oliver Leese | 296 | ||
| Lt. Gen. Jacob L. Devers | 296 | ||
| Christmas Dinner on a Haystack, Somewhere in Italy | 299 | ||
| Men on Monte Porchia | 309 | ||
| The Liri Valley | 311 | ||
| Mud and the 36th Division Supply Dump, Mignano Area | 312 | ||
| German Box Mine | 314 | ||
| Forward Observer on La Chiaia | 314 | ||
| British 10 Corps Troops Shuttling Ambulances Across the Garigliano | 317 | ||
| The Rapido, Viewed From Monte Trocchio | 324 | ||
| Monte Cassino and the Benedictine Monastery | 325 | ||
| Bringing Casualties Back From the Rapido | 344 | ||
| Ships Off Anzio Awaiting Signals To Move to Shore | 359 | ||
| Men and Equipment Move Ashore South of Anzio, D-Day | 360 | ||
| The Anzio-Nettuno Area | 362 | ||
| Men of the 504th Parachute Infantry at the Mussolini Canal | 364 | ||
| The Cassino Area | 367 | ||
| The Monte Cassino Monastery and Its Environs | 368 | ||
| Bogged-Down American Tank Near the Rapido | 369 | ||
| Remains of the Barracks | 377 | ||
| Mortar Squad Firing Into Cassino | 379 | ||
| 240-mm. Howitzer | 380 | ||
| Troop Position on a Rocky Hillside Near Cassino | 381 | ||
| 34th Division MP Directing Traffic From a Roadside Dugout | 382 | ||
| Aiming a Bazooka at a Stone House | 384 | ||
| Ruins of the 'Factory' | 388 | ||
| Civilian Refugees in the Cassino Area | 398 | ||
| Cassino: The Monastery, the Castle, and the Town | 400 | ||
| Lt. Gen. Sir Bernard Freyberg | 403 | ||
| Maj. Gen. Alfred M. Gruenther | 405 | ||
| Monastery Under Attack [1] [2] | 410 | ||
| Artillery Aimed at the Monastery | 412 | ||
| Monastery in Ruins | 412 | ||
| Archbishop Don Gregorio Diamare, Abbot of Monte Cassino, and Generalleutnant Fridolin von Senger and Etterlin | 415 | ||
| German Troops Inside the Ruined Abbey | 416 | ||
| M7 Self-Propelled 105-mm. Howitzers | 422 | ||
| Smoke Screen and Observation Plane Near Ammunition Dump, Anzio | 424 | ||
| German Prisoners Marching to the Rear | 426 | ||
| Maj. Gen. Lucian K. Truscott, Jr | 429 | ||
| Wine Cellar That Served as VI Corps Headquarters | 430 | ||
| Bombing of the Town of Cassino | 440 | ||
| Ruins of the Continental Hotel | 443 | ||
| German Long-Range Artillery Shell Hits a Nettuno Hotel | 453 | ||
| Revetted Hospital Tents, Anzio | 454 | ||
| Illustrations are from Department of Defense files, with the exception of photographs on pages 101, 403, and 415, which are reproduced by kind permission of the Imperial War Museum, London. | |||
| Maps | |||
| No. | Page | ||
| 1. | Invasion Plans | 12 | |
| 2. | The VI Corps Holds, 13-14 September 1943 | 128 | |
| 3. | The Situation at the Volturno, 7 October 1943 | 189 | |
| 4. | 10 Corps Drive to the Garigliano, 26 October-4 November 1943 | 216 | |
| 5. | VI Corps Advance, 26 October-4 November 1943 | 218 | |
| 6. | Fifth Army at the Winter Line, 5-15 November 1943 | 227 | |
| 7. | First Attack on San Pietro, 8-11 December 1943 | 272 | |
| 8. | Second Attack on San Pietro, 15-17 December 1943 | 278 | |
| 9. | Crossing the Garigliano and Rapido Rivers, 17 January-8 February 1944 | 323 | |
| Maps I-VII are in accompanying map envelope | |||
| I. | Fifth Army Landings, 9-13 September 1943 | ||
| II. | Advance to the Volturno, 20 September-6 October 1943 | ||
| III. | Fifth Army Crosses the Volturno, 12-14 October 1943 | ||
| IV. | The Fifth Army Advances, 14-25 October 1943 | ||
| V. | Advances at Anzio, 22-31 January 1944 | ||
| VI. | Enemy Offensive, 16 February-3 March 1944 | ||
| VII. | Stalemate, Spring 1944 | ||