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The Bombing of the Abbey on Monte Cassino, War Transforms the Landscape

As the Allies advanced northward in Italy, the invasion forces encountered resistance on both sides of the Gustav Line. Despite assumptions that Germans used Monte Cassino as a fortified position, Martino Matronola, a monk, asserted otherwise.

February 15, 2024

Nestled close to the hearts of numerous Italians, Monte Cassino, a Catholic monastery perched high on a rocky hill above Cassino, served as a symbol of peace and grandeur for centuries. However, in 1944, this religious sanctuary underwent a transformation into a haunting reminder of Allied struggles, stalemate, and the steep toll of war.

Founded by Benedict of Nursia in 529 AD, the initial monastery of his order found its home on this promontory. Even before Benedict, the site held significant historical importance, with a road leading to the monastery that had existed for over a millennium, hosting an ancient Roman temple of Apollo in Benedict's time. As monasticism spread across Europe, more Benedictine monasteries adhering to the rigorous standards of Monte Cassino were established. Inside the Abbey, monks diligently worked to preserve both contemporary and ancient texts, safeguarding valuable documents and manuscripts from the ravages of time.

Despite facing natural disasters and sieges leading to multiple rebuilds, the structure remained a hub of historical scholarship. The complex standing above Cassino during World War II was primarily constructed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. While many manuscripts were evacuated before the fighting, the Abbey itself succumbed to destruction.

As the Allies advanced northward in Italy, the invasion forces encountered resistance on both sides of the Gustav Line. The Italian campaign reached a stalemate in January 1944, marked by a failed landing at Anzio and fierce fighting at the Battle of the Rapido River. Numerous unsuccessful attempts were made to capture the mountain and its shrine, dampening morale. The battle of Cassino earned a reputation as one of the most grueling and tragic phases of the war in Italy, where the all-Nisei 100th Infantry Battalion earned the nickname "Purple Heart Battalion."

Despite assumptions that Germans used Monte Cassino as a fortified position, Martino Matronola, a monk, asserted otherwise. The bombing on February 15, 1944, led to the destruction of much of the Abbey, with the surviving monks witnessing the devastation.

Eisenhowers Order Protecting Monuments of Cultural Significance.

The decision to bomb Monte Cassino, coming just months after Eisenhower's Protection of Cultural Property Order, stirred debates and mixed emotions. The destruction became a contentious issue, with Americans questioning the sacrifice of lives to save a building. The ruins became a focal point for German propaganda, portraying the Allies as enemies of ancient and religious traditions.


On the morning of February 15, 1944, the bombing mission unfolded with precision, involving 142 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers, followed by 47 North American B-25 Mitchell and 40 Martin B-26 Marauder medium bombers. This formidable fleet dropped a staggering 1,150 tonnes of high explosives and incendiary bombs on the abbey, transforming the summit of Monte Cassino into a billowing mass of ruins. In between bomb runs, the II Corps artillery relentlessly pounded the mountain, amplifying the devastation. The spectacle drew cheers from many Allied soldiers and war correspondents who witnessed the destructive display. Later that afternoon and the following day, a relentless follow-up of artillery fire and a raid by 59 fighter bombers inflicted additional damage. Despite the widespread destruction, the German positions on Point 593, situated above and behind the monastery, remained unscathed.

Subsequent investigations into the aftermath of the bombing on Monte Cassino have confirmed that the sole casualties within the monastery were 230 Italian civilians who sought refuge within its walls. There is no substantiated evidence supporting the notion that the bombs targeted and killed German troops within the monastery on that fateful day. However, owing to the inherent imprecision of bombing during that era, with an estimated 90 percent of heavy bomber ordnance missing the intended target from high altitudes, unintended casualties occurred. In fact, bombs landed elsewhere, claiming the lives of both German and Allied troops alike. Notably, sixteen bombs struck the Fifth Army compound at Presenzano, approximately 17 miles from Monte Cassino, narrowly missing General Mark Clark's trailer, where he was engrossed in paperwork at his desk.

In the aftermath of the bombing, at daybreak on the following day, most surviving civilians evacuated the ruins. Approximately 40 individuals remained, including the six monks who sought refuge in the abbey's deep vaults, their 79-year-old abbot Gregorio Diamare, three tenant farmer families, orphaned or abandoned children, the severely wounded, and the dying. Following subsequent artillery barrages, renewed bombing, and assaults on the ridge by the 4th Indian Division, the monks, alongside others capable of movement, chose to abandon their shattered home at 07:30 on February 17. Guided by the elderly abbot, the group descended the mule path towards the Liri valley, reciting the rosary. Upon reaching a German first-aid station, some critically wounded individuals carried by the monks were transported away in a military ambulance. Subsequently, the monks, following a meeting with a German officer, were evacuated to the monastery of Sant'Anselmo all'Aventino by German forces. While one monk, Carlomanno Pellagalli, briefly returned to the abbey, sightings of him wandering the ruins later prompted German paratroopers to mistake him for a ghost, after April 3, he was never seen again.

In the aftermath, the destruction proved detrimental to the Allies, as German forces occupied and fortified the site, impeding subsequent assaults. Polish troops finally captured Monte Cassino on May 18, 1944, concluding a five-month-long and bloody campaign, four months after the monastery's destruction.