WORLD WAR 2 BATTLE OF MONTE CASSINO .
The battle of Monte Cassino is often overshadowed by the invasion of Normandy which took place almost directly after the conclusion of Cassino. It is quite ironic that Crete was often classed as a hollow victory for the German paras and so Monte Cassino must be classed as a hollow victory for the allies as the losses and the hardships incurred by them far out weighed the gains made. .
WHAT WERE THE AIMS OF THE FORCES WHO FOUGHT IN THE BATTLE OF MONTE CASSINO? .
The German allies invaded the Italian mainland in September 1943 giving Hitler two options to choose from. These were a planned withdrawal to the north or a fighting retreat up the peninsula, he decided on the 4th of October to fight south of Rome near a town called Cassino. Once the decision was made to fight the Anglo-American armies south of Rome it was immediately obvious that the main line of defence would be the famous Cassino position. This defensive line became known as the Gustav Line, which was extremely important in the Germans main aim of holding up the allied advance on Rome. The entire Gustav position was of great natural strength as the natural features for advancing armies were truly formidable. The feature of the town Cassino other than the Gustav line was the massive Benedictine Monastery, this became the main obstacle in the path of the allied advance. .
On the other hand the allied forces landed in southern Italy in September without a clear strategic aim other than to advance on Rome. They considered landing at airfields around Rome with Italian involvement. However, they wisely discarded this plan as too risky. In Italy, the allies now found themselves committed to a campaign, which had possessed great political attractions but now offered obvious military disadvantages. .
WHAT WERE THE MAIN EVENTS THAT UNFOLDED DURRING THE BATTLE? .
The battle of Monte Cassino consisted of four main battles lasting five gruelling months of fighting.
Benedict on Monte Cassino in the province of Samnium. ... This war lasted thirty-two years during which Charlemagne oversaw only two battles for that was about as many as there were, because after those two battles the Saxon Army was pretty much depleted. The reason that the war lasted so long was that the Saxons would only fight battles where they had a severe advantage. ...
