Appreciated, but I'm hoping to make out faces of the men in the more distant sangar. I may just have to bite the bullet and cough up fifty or sixty quid for the IWM if I decide I want a proper copy.
I think you may have lost the plot (fifty or sixty quid) for the IVM. No proper copy is worth that much coin! The guys that where in the sangar, whats left of them, I'm sure they are pleased that the IVM are willing to make money. I'm just getting my head around the battles at Cassino. Regards Stu.
I've seen a lot of photographs of the castle in 1944, but never this one. Does anybody have any remarks about the (seemingly unexploded) bomb/projectile in the foreground?
Not my subject but the numbering and shape of the device suggests perhaps a Luftwaffe cluster bomb? Perhaps an AB 500-1? DCS Bf 109K-4 Missing Ordnance Resources - Bombs - ED Forums
The only detail I have about it is that--by context of discovery--it was likely taken by a Pole. And given that it's daylight that has to be after the end of the 4th battle. It's a good find from my perspective as it shows the crumbling NW-ish corner of the castle that was patched up with rocks and wire and was the site of some of the fiercest fighting (see plans earlier on this thread)--incredibly close to German positions.
Charley, i thought i would attach this. Better late than never. Its from a book on the 2/7 Middlesex Regiment. Edit, it looks as if the Nos are different on the cannister. Regards Stu.
I've been looking for some close-up shots of the route up Castle Hill / Rocca Ianula and have come up with the following (again, provenance unknown, but previously unseen by me--click for zoom). That castle really did have hell blown out of it...
James. I think that is it troops from 1 Gds Bde in the hills to the south west of Cassino on the otherwise of the Liri Valley. Monte Cerasola area perhaps. Regards Frank
It somehow looks like another photo I have seen (but can't find) of some Poles behind the lines at Cassino... Here's another for you to ponder. This is labeled as 'Eighth Army Soldiers in the Crypts of Cassino'. Eighth Army sounds creative, but what do you reckon about the location--any clues? And here we have 'British Soldiers Advance at Cassino: 15/1/44'. Most of the 'action' shots from Cassino are--as we know--mock-ups recreated after the close of the 4th Battle (there are lots of the New Zealanders), but this does look plausible at least. The date, however, is dubious if the location is Cassino. When do the first British units arrive?
James. The one is the crypt is of officers from the Battalion HQs of 3 GREN GDS and 2 COLDM GDS during their time with 1 Gds Bde occupying the ground in Cassino town in Apr 44 until just after the fall of the Monastery on 18 May 44. The crypt is from the church, since rebuilt, that sits just off Route 6. Regards Frank
James. British units arrive in the first week of Feb 44 - 2 NZ Div to take over positions from 36 US Inf Div in the valley floor where they had just failed to cross the Gari/Rapido and 4 Ind Div to take over positions from 34 US Inf Div up on Snakeshead Ridge and at Caira. Regards Frank
Charley, according to THE GRENADIER GUARDS 39-45 Volume two by NICOLSON your first photo reads. The Crypt in Cassino. Combined HQ of 3 Grenadiers & 2 Coldstream Guards (Crown copyright) Stu.
Charley, I've taken these scans from the Official History of the New Zealand in the Second World War Vol 1. 39-45. Not the easiest thing to scan. The Sangro to Cassino by N. C. Phillips.. Its a original copy that i obtained for a good price. Quite cheap considering.. You may well have a copy that is in full. If so, could you please send me one? I have had to faff about with resizing etc. Regards Stu.