The Battles of Cassino, 1944

On 3 September 1943 the Allies invaded the Italian mainland, theinvasion coinciding with an armistice made with the Italians who thenre-entered the war on the Allied side.

Progress through southern Italy was rapid despite stiff resistance but,by the end of October, the Allies were facing the strongly fortifiedGerman winter defensive position known as the Gustav Line whichstretched from the river Garigliano in the west to the Sangro in theeast. During the early months of 1944 Cassino saw some of thefiercest fighting of the Italian campaign, the town itself and thedominating Monastery Hill proving the most stubborn obstaclesencountered in the advance towards Rome.

Commonwealth

War Graves

Commission

The Four BattlesAn attack launched on 12 January 1944saw the French gain some ground in themountains north of Cassino whileCommonwealth forces seized abridgehead across the Garigliano nearthe coast, but the Americans wereunable to hold ground across the Garisouth of the town. Lack of progress atCassino meant that the surprise landingof Commonwealth forces behind theGerman lines at Anzio on 22 Januarycould not be capitalised upon.

In mid-February the sixth-centurymonastery was levelled by heavybombers in anticipation of an assault bythe New Zealand Corps and IndianDivision but, in the face of stiffopposition and difficult terrain, resultswere again disappointing. A furtherattempt by the Indians and NewZealanders in March saw further gainsbut the key positions remained inGerman hands. It was not until May anda major Allied attack in strength that thebreakthrough was achieved. TheGermans ordered a general withdrawaland on 18 May the Polish Corps enteredthe ruins of the monastery. In all, thefight for Cassino cost the Allies 45,000killed and wounded.

The site for Cassino War Cemeterywas originally selected in January 1944,but the development of the battle duringthe first five months of that year made itimpossible to use it until after theGermans had withdrawn from Cassino.The majority of the 4,266Commonwealth servicemen buried inthe cemetery died in the battles duringthese months. Cassino War Cemeteryis the second largest Commonwealthcemetery in Italy.

Within the cemetery stands the CassinoMemorial which commemorates morethan 4,000 Commonwealth servicemenwho took part in the Italian campaignand whose graves are not known.

The Commonwealth WarGraves Commission

The Commonwealth War GravesCommission is responsible formarking and maintaining the gravesof those members of theCommonwealth forces who diedduring the two world wars, forbuilding and maintaining memorialsto the dead whose graves areunknown and for providing recordsand registers of these 1.7 millionburials and commemorations.

For further informationcontact:Commonwealth War GravesCommission2 Marlow RoadMaidenheadBerkshireSL6 7DXUnited KingdomTel: +44 (0) 1628 507200Fax: +44 (0) 1628 771208E-mail: casualty.enq@cwgc.org

or:Commonwealth War GravesCommissionWestern Mediterranean AreaViale F.T. Marinetti No 22100143 RomeItalyTel: +39 (0) 6 5099911Fax: +39 (0) 6 50524593E-mail: wmaoffice@cwgc.org