"The Battle for Monte Cassino"- Then and Now.

Matt

you can add the 70 odd KIA's from 25th Tank Bde on the first day alone but still contend that the month long Gothic line

was worse for casualties….

Cheers

 

Tom. . There is no doubt it pales in comparison to the Bloodbath in the North in the fall of '44 which can only be made worse by the fact that there were virtually no re-enforcments for the period.
Thanks for filling that blank in. That does then put the numbers around 320 for the day. In a battle a great many Canadians and I dare say a great many more from the UK have never heard of. and 2 weeks before "the D-Day"

Matt

 

Matt

That lack of knowledge in both Canada and the Uk lays at the feet of the media - who were gearing up for the fall of Rome

which was inevitable as was the D Day thing so the minute D Day was happening - the media disappeared from Italy leaving only

one or two to report the action in the Valley - and an almost total silence of the Gothic Line and beyond - this as well as the

fatal lack of reinforcements made our lives more difficult - hence the main reason to break up so many good units in order to

fill the gaps in the regular regiments - I keep on pointing out that the Gothic line " Month of Hell" cost 8th Army 14,000 KIA's

and 16,000 wounded -That's TWO divisions - this - after sending Seven divisions from 5th Army to the abortive South of France

landings - I often wonder how we managed to win at times…

Cheers

 

Matt.

23 May 44 was the worse day for 2 Cdn Inf Bde in the whole of the war. I was not aware that CO PPCLI resigned after the battle but I am not surprised. Whilst the battle was a dark day for the PPCLI and their supporting British armour from the NIH, in the scheme of things it did not prevent 1 Cdn Inf Div from reaching either its Phase 1 or Phase 2 lines nor did it prevent 5 Cdn Armd Div from pushing through on time and reaching the River Melfa as intended.

What did it for PPCLI was the ground that they and NIH had been allocated for the assault. It was like walking up a bath tub from the tap end with the Germans positioned all around the rim with MGs and anti-tank weapons all the way up. Throw in some anti-personnel minefields, some anti-tank minefields, an enormous anti-tank ditch and nowhere to go left or right, and you have the makings of a bloodbath. Hence, the high casualty rate for PPCLI and, behind them, the Loyal Edmontons who inadvertently got drawn into the same fight because they came far too far forward.

The only indication that the site was once the scene of some horrible fighting is a small marble monument at the crossroads to the west of the position, erected at some point by the locals.

Regards

Frank

 

Frank

The real miracle on that day was that the 5th CAD managed to get through to the Melfa as after leaving Prezanzano

- they were pushed up by an AGRA limiting their range - then they bumped into 6AD coming back to refuel as their trucks

couldn't get through the traffic jam - then a tussle with 78 Div and finally the Melfa - while we who had sat beside them

in Prezanzano were in stitches following them- the Seaforths took a belting that day as well- as in my last battle at San

Martino at the Coriano Ridge they could only raise 100 men from TWO companies - then they lost some more…

Cheers

 

Tom We can agree a lot of fine young men lost their lives that day. I will; however, refer you here for a responce on the rest of your comment http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/38359-5th-canadian-armoured-division-in-italy/page-3#entry641054.
Matt

 

Am very pleased to find that Amazon are still selling this at £29.22 and charge only another £8.50 to send the whole 400-odd pages halfway around the world to me.

A word to the writers/publishers, however: I buy a lot of books online for both work and pleasure, and when push comes to shove and I'm comparing multiple titles, the one that has sample pages available online has a massive advantage - I haven't checked the publisher's site, but there's nothing on Amazon, which is now unusual for a modern publication.

Seeing as how I have to wait ten to fifteen days for it to traverse the globe, can anybody whet my appetite as to content pertaining to the 1/4th Essex, the Castle, Wadi Villa and Hangman's Hill - any newly uncovered or especially interesting photos?

Edit: I did notice that Ropey left a bundle of research material online here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/116791327858629552151

Some interesting stuff from the War Diaries.

 

Sorry for the necro. Just to say that we have made a note of the embarrassing mistakes that Owen pointed out above, and will correct them should there ever be a reprint. If you find more let us know and we will record them for changes as well.

Perry