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Brief History of the Battles

The Abbey of Monte Cassino. The Abbey was built early in the 6th century over a heathen temple to Apollo. Its founder St. Benedict established a monastic order based on his simple and humane Rule of Order which spiritualized the Church and civilized medieval Europe. Throughout the Middle Ages Benedictine monks were a political force, as well as an educational and humanizing influence. The Monastery has been the home to a world-famous library and invaluable religious and secular art.

The Four Battles of Monte Cassino. Late in 1943, Allied troops continued their protracted fight up the mountainous spine of southern Italy. The focus of Allied strategy, however, had shifted from Italy, as preparations were being completed for the invasion of Normandy. Nevertheless, Allied commanders were convinced they could win Rome before their forces were shipped off to fight in France. Germany, though, had had three months to construct an impregnable defensive line that bisected Italy at the southern entrance to the Liri Valley with the Abbey of Monte Cassino at its center. Dozens of Allied divisions were jammed along the narrow entrance to the Liri Valley beneath the fortress-like walls of the Abbey of Monte Cassino. This multi-national force consisted of soldiers from over 30 nations. Allied generals ordered their troops to attack the very center of the German line and were convinced that the battle for Monte Cassino would last only a few weeks. But it would take over five months to break through Germany's Gustav Line. They fought over open ground, much of it flooded and deep in mud, against well defended river lines and up mountain ridges controlled by an entrenched enemy which could see all their movements.

The First Battle. In January and February, 1944, British and American Divisions attacked the Gustav Line with few successes. The U.S. 36th (Texas) Division was nearly annihilated on the Rapido River. The U.S. 34th (Red Bull) Division fought to the Abbey walls but was beaten back. The French Expeditionary Force had some successes in the mountains north of the Abbey but was ordered by Gen. Mark Clark to turn south and aid in the American attack on Monte Cassino.

The Second and Third Battles. In March, responsibility for winning Monte Cassino was turned over to the New Zealand Corps made up of New Zealanders (including Maoris), British, and Indians (Sikhs, Punjabis, Mahrattas, Rajputs and Gurkhas of Nepal). Allied soldiers were convinced that the Germans were using the Abbey as an observation post for their deadly accurate shelling. After months of fighting, the soldiers' ebbing morale demanded its eradication . The world debated the Abbey's fate. Overwhelming consensus held that soldiers' lives were more precious than stone and brick, regardless of religious, scholarly or aesthetic significance. Unfortunately , bombing accomplished little or nothing: Most first-hand accounts and historians of the war agree that probably there were no combat German soldiers within the Abbey. Inside the Abbey another story was unfolding. The last German general to visit the Abbey warned Abbot Diamare of the approaching disaster and urged immediate evacuation. But panicked parents and their children who had taken refuge beside and within its walls remained, trusting that no one would touch the famous and most holy monastery. In mid-February, the bombardment was carried out by over 200 U.S. large and medium bombers killing hundreds of civilians who had been trapped inside. No Germans were killed. Directly following the bombing, German Paratroopers occupied the Abbey ruins and held it for three more months.

The Fourth Battle. By May, the Allied command decided on a new approach--a broad offensive along the entire Gustav Line: The Americans attacked on the coast to the west; the French moved through the Arunchi Mountains; the British advanced across the Rapido River and into the Liri Valley and then turned towards the Monte Cassino high ground; the Poles stormed the Germans in their Abbey strong hold, suffering enormous losses.

Aftermath of the War. The re-building of the Abbey, paid for by the Italian state, began soon after the war and took a decade to complete. Since then thousands of Cassino battle veterans and civilians have returned to the Abbey. Two British veterans groups with opposing points of view on war have grown out of these experiences: The Monte Cassino Veterans Association reviles German atrocities and celebrates Allied victories and heroism. In contrast, The Monte Cassino Federation for Remembrance and Reconciliation (MCFRR) has worked since the mid 1980s for world peace through a policy of forgiveness and global unification. In May, 1997, the MCFRR organized the installation of the seventh of a set of richly designed stained glass "peace" windows in the Abbey's ancient Chapel of the Prophets, in honor of the Jewish Brigade which fought in Italy. Previous windows were sponsored by veterans' organizations whose members fought at Monte Cassino, including Americans, Poles, British, New Zealanders, Indians, Frenchmen, Italians, and Germans. Many thousands of veterans and their families from all over the world gathered in Cassino this last May, 1999. Grand Island Film cameras were there. Due to the advanced age of these former soldiers, these ceremonies will probably be the last major gathering of WWII veterans at Monte Cassino.

The eighth and final "peace" window planned for spring, 2000, will be sponsored by S. Africa. If funding becomes available Grand Island Films will cover this event, also.

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