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Monte Cassino: The Hardest Fought Battle of World War II
Monte Cassino is the true story of one of the bitterest and bloodiest of the Allied struggles against the Nazi army. Long neglected by historians, the horrific conflict saw over 350,000 casualties, while the worst winter in Italian memory and official incompetence and backbiting only worsened the carnage and turmoil. Combining groundbreaking research in military archives with interviews with four hundred survivors from both sides, as well as soldier diaries and letters, Monte Cassino is both profoundly evocative and historically definitive. Clearly and precisely, Matthew Parker brilliantly reconstructs Europe’s largest land battle–which saw the destruction of the ancient monastery of Monte Cassino–and dramatically conveys the heroism and misery of the human face of war.
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
94 people are currently reading
739 people want to read
About the author
Matthew Parker
68 books77 followersI'm the author of a number of books including Monte Cassino, about the Western Allies' hardest battle against Germany in WWII, Panama Fever/Hell's Gorge, the epic story of the building of the Panama Canal, The Sugar Barons, about the rise and fall of the British West Indian sugar empire, Willoughbyland, the story of the forgotten English colony in Suriname, exchanged with the Dutch for New York and Goldeneye, about the influence of Jamaica on Ian Fleming's creation of James Bond. My new book is called One Fine Day: Britain's Empire on the brink. It is a snapshot of one day - 29 September 1923 - when the British Empire reached what would turn out to be its maximum territorial extent. It was the sole global superpower, but it was also an empire beset with debts and doubts.
When not reading, writing or staring out of the window, I love making sushi, pubs, growing stuff and visiting remote places.
I'm a member of the Authors Cricket Club, and wrote a chapter of A Season of English Cricket from Hackney to Hambledon. I am also a contributor to the Oxford Companion to Sweets.
I live in East London with my wife, three children and annoying dog.
When not reading, writing or staring out of the window, I love making sushi, pubs, growing stuff and visiting remote places.
I'm a member of the Authors Cricket Club, and wrote a chapter of A Season of English Cricket from Hackney to Hambledon. I am also a contributor to the Oxford Companion to Sweets.
I live in East London with my wife, three children and annoying dog.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
September 14, 2022
A great overview of the battles around Monte Cassino.
I read this book right after I finished Lloyd Clark's Anzio: Italy and the Battle for Rome — 1944 and although they both covered the battles in same general area, they both felt very different. This one reminded me of Feifer's TennozanThe Battle of Okinawa: The Blood and the Bomb in a sense that this was more of a complete study of the battle than just a cursory recollection of events. Parker's focus is very tight, he doesn't go too much into the bigger picture nor the higher ups, Clark, Churchill, Kesselring and Alexander don't get much coverage. Instead Parker writes about the experiences of the troops, local civilians, the treating of wounded and about the different nationalities that gathered to fight for the massif to name a few topics.
I wouldn't say this is an essential book to read, but one of the better ones in terms of describing what war is to the people experiencing it first hand. It's more complex type of military history, something that I wish would be written more often.
The book has good and plentiful maps but my edition lacked images which could've helped in imagining the terrain and the difficulties caused by it.
I read this book right after I finished Lloyd Clark's Anzio: Italy and the Battle for Rome — 1944 and although they both covered the battles in same general area, they both felt very different. This one reminded me of Feifer's TennozanThe Battle of Okinawa: The Blood and the Bomb in a sense that this was more of a complete study of the battle than just a cursory recollection of events. Parker's focus is very tight, he doesn't go too much into the bigger picture nor the higher ups, Clark, Churchill, Kesselring and Alexander don't get much coverage. Instead Parker writes about the experiences of the troops, local civilians, the treating of wounded and about the different nationalities that gathered to fight for the massif to name a few topics.
I wouldn't say this is an essential book to read, but one of the better ones in terms of describing what war is to the people experiencing it first hand. It's more complex type of military history, something that I wish would be written more often.
The book has good and plentiful maps but my edition lacked images which could've helped in imagining the terrain and the difficulties caused by it.
January 9, 2013
Monte Cassino, The Hardest Fought Battle of World War II by Matthew Parker
First Anchor Edition, May 2005
414 pages with maps and pictures
My son loaded me up with books from my wish list for Christmas 2011 and I finally got around to reading the last one around Christmas time 2012. The last one was Monte Cassino, The Hardest Battle of World War II by Matthew Parker.
In some ways it was the best for last.
The book begins with an outline of the Italian Campaign strategy that led to the epic Battle(s) of Monte Cassino.
The Italian Campaign in general was Churchill's idea. The reasoning was that Italy was the "soft" underbelly of Nazi-occupied Europe and that an invasion of Italy would take Italy our of the war and thus drain German Divisions from elsewhere to defend Italy . The British further thought that once they fought their way into Northern Italy they could "swing to the right" so-to-speak and liberate Greece before the Communists did. Churchill also had aspirations to get to Vienna before the Russians.
The Americans thought otherwise believing that victory would come by taking the shortest distance to Berlin and to them that meant what would become the Normandy Invasion. The debate between the two great allies was not pleasant and the resulting Italian Campaign was not helped by the fact that the American led Fifth Army was led by General Mark Clark who did not like the British and was as jealous of them as he was egotistical.
Personally, I think from a big picture point of view the Churchill plan had merit. I think President Roosevelt and much of the American top brass had a rather naïve view of Stalin and Russians while Churchill had them pegged. Churchill was proved correct when the Iron Curtain fell across Europe by 1948 not be lifted until 40 years later. Letting the Russians get to Berlin first is another indication of American short-sightedness and naïve willingness to trust Stalin, a dictator who was as bad as Hitler but has suffered far less bad press.
This does not automatically mean the Italian Campaign was a good idea since the Allies clearly underestimated the terrain difficulties and the resolve of their German enemies to defend the inhospitable terrain. The Germans also had the advantage of having some of their best Generals in Italy. These included Field Marshal Albert Kesserling, Major General von Senger und Etterlin and Major General von Vietinghoff, generals who used the terrain to maximum advantage to offset the huge advantage the allies had in men and material.
The Allied Army in Italy was multi-national. It consisted of Americans, British, South Africans, New Zealanders, Canadians, Indians, Poles and Free French, the majority coming from France's North African colonies. The poly-got nature of the multi-national force brought problems of its own especially since Clark was dedicated to the idea that Americans should be the first to enter Rome (so Clark got the glory). This vain glorious approach to warfare is not helpful in building a coalition of allies.
Some of the better Generals on the allied side did not come from the US or British but from the FEC (French Expeditionary Force) led by General Juin and Polish Corps led by General Anders.
The Polish Corp story was as interesting as it is tragic.
Perhaps few people today know that Stalin and Hitler were allies at one time. When Germany invaded Poland from the west the Russians invaded it from the east (after the Germans did most of the fighting).
The Russians transported thousands of Polish soldiers (and the officers they did not kill in the Katyn Forest Massacre) to labor camps. Many died but enough survived long enough to experience a kind of liberation when the Germans invaded Russia in June, 1941. The Russians allowed the surviving Poles to travel through Iran to be enlisted in a free Polish Army sponsored by the British. Little did these brave Poles know that the western allies would let Stalin keep Poland. An indication of just how many Poles hated the Russian Communists just as much as the German Nazis is the fact that very few chose to return to a Russian occupied Poland after the war. Most chose instead to immigrate to Britain, the US and Commonwealth countries. A sad story indeed. Parker does well in providing details like this for all the divisions involved in the Monte Cassino debacle.
There were actually four battles of Monte Cassino. To give the reader some idea of the multi-national force the author has provided an Order of Battle for each of the four battles of Monte Cassino. I'll summarize here to illustrate the multi-national effort to take Monte Cassino the lynch pin of the Italian Campaign:
1st Battle
US 5th Army
British 5th Infantry Division
British 46th Infantry Division
British 56th Infantry Division
US 34th Infantry Division
US 36th Infantry Division
US 1st Armored Division
French 2nd Moroccan Infantry Division
French 3rd Algerian Infantry Division
Versus
German 10th Army
44th Infantry Division
29th Panzer Grenadier Division
3rd Panzer Grenadier Division
15th Panzer Grenadier Division
71st Infantry Division
94th Infantry Division
5th Mountain Infantry Division
2nd and 3rd Battle
US 5th Army
2nd New Zealand Division (part infantry, part armored)
4th Indian Division
78th British Infantry Division
Versus German 10th Army as above
4th Battle
British 8th Army
4th British Infantry Division
6th British Armored Division
8th Indian Division
1st Canadian Infantry Division
5th Canadian Armored Division
3rd Polish Carpathian Infantry Division
5th Polish Kresowa Infantry Division
2nd Polish Armored Regiment
6th South African Armored Division (reserve)
US 5th Army
85th Infantry Division
88th Infantry Division
French 2nd Moroccan Infantry Division
French 3rd Algerian Infantry Division
French 1st Division de Marche
French 4th Moroccan Mountain Infantry Division
Versus
German 10th Army
XIV Panzer Corps
29th Panzer Grenadier Division
3rd Panzer Grenadier Division
71st Infantry Division
94th Infantry Division
305th Infantry Division
334th Infantry Division
26th Panzer Grenadier Division
LI Mountain Corps
44th Infantry Division
5th Mountain Infantry Division
15th Panzer Grenadier Division
114th Jager Infantry Division
1st Parachute Infantry Division
In as much the order of battle gives some idea of just how many divisions were involved in the Monte Cassino battles it is not the main strength of the book.
The book is largely based on the reminisces of the ordinary soldiers.
Frankly, the book is a book of horrors. Any romantic or heroic notions of war are dashed to pieces in reading this book. It took the allies three months to finally take the Monte Cassino monastery, a monastery set in some of the roughest terrain in Europe.
Both sides could not adequately evacuate their dead and so both sides frequently fought around the bodies of their decomposing dead friends. The soldier's reminiscences nearly always mention that factor. The huge causality rate suffered by both sides seems to have more in common with the trench warfare of the first war rather than any notions of mobile warfare of the 2nd.
I found it to be an extremely sad book, yet a necessary book that documents that extraordinary sacrifices of soldiers who just wanted to end the war and go home.
I found that the book was not so much about great battles, but about the great people who have to fight them and by that I do not mean the Generals, though some did not throw their men's lives away thoughtlessly. I do mean the rank and file soldiers often led by company grade officers who knew full well what that superiors did not seem to know and that is trying to prevail in a task that proved impossible time and time again.
I give Parker 5 stars for what I'd call a definitive study on the Monte Cassino battles.
First Anchor Edition, May 2005
414 pages with maps and pictures
My son loaded me up with books from my wish list for Christmas 2011 and I finally got around to reading the last one around Christmas time 2012. The last one was Monte Cassino, The Hardest Battle of World War II by Matthew Parker.
In some ways it was the best for last.
The book begins with an outline of the Italian Campaign strategy that led to the epic Battle(s) of Monte Cassino.
The Italian Campaign in general was Churchill's idea. The reasoning was that Italy was the "soft" underbelly of Nazi-occupied Europe and that an invasion of Italy would take Italy our of the war and thus drain German Divisions from elsewhere to defend Italy . The British further thought that once they fought their way into Northern Italy they could "swing to the right" so-to-speak and liberate Greece before the Communists did. Churchill also had aspirations to get to Vienna before the Russians.
The Americans thought otherwise believing that victory would come by taking the shortest distance to Berlin and to them that meant what would become the Normandy Invasion. The debate between the two great allies was not pleasant and the resulting Italian Campaign was not helped by the fact that the American led Fifth Army was led by General Mark Clark who did not like the British and was as jealous of them as he was egotistical.
Personally, I think from a big picture point of view the Churchill plan had merit. I think President Roosevelt and much of the American top brass had a rather naïve view of Stalin and Russians while Churchill had them pegged. Churchill was proved correct when the Iron Curtain fell across Europe by 1948 not be lifted until 40 years later. Letting the Russians get to Berlin first is another indication of American short-sightedness and naïve willingness to trust Stalin, a dictator who was as bad as Hitler but has suffered far less bad press.
This does not automatically mean the Italian Campaign was a good idea since the Allies clearly underestimated the terrain difficulties and the resolve of their German enemies to defend the inhospitable terrain. The Germans also had the advantage of having some of their best Generals in Italy. These included Field Marshal Albert Kesserling, Major General von Senger und Etterlin and Major General von Vietinghoff, generals who used the terrain to maximum advantage to offset the huge advantage the allies had in men and material.
The Allied Army in Italy was multi-national. It consisted of Americans, British, South Africans, New Zealanders, Canadians, Indians, Poles and Free French, the majority coming from France's North African colonies. The poly-got nature of the multi-national force brought problems of its own especially since Clark was dedicated to the idea that Americans should be the first to enter Rome (so Clark got the glory). This vain glorious approach to warfare is not helpful in building a coalition of allies.
Some of the better Generals on the allied side did not come from the US or British but from the FEC (French Expeditionary Force) led by General Juin and Polish Corps led by General Anders.
The Polish Corp story was as interesting as it is tragic.
Perhaps few people today know that Stalin and Hitler were allies at one time. When Germany invaded Poland from the west the Russians invaded it from the east (after the Germans did most of the fighting).
The Russians transported thousands of Polish soldiers (and the officers they did not kill in the Katyn Forest Massacre) to labor camps. Many died but enough survived long enough to experience a kind of liberation when the Germans invaded Russia in June, 1941. The Russians allowed the surviving Poles to travel through Iran to be enlisted in a free Polish Army sponsored by the British. Little did these brave Poles know that the western allies would let Stalin keep Poland. An indication of just how many Poles hated the Russian Communists just as much as the German Nazis is the fact that very few chose to return to a Russian occupied Poland after the war. Most chose instead to immigrate to Britain, the US and Commonwealth countries. A sad story indeed. Parker does well in providing details like this for all the divisions involved in the Monte Cassino debacle.
There were actually four battles of Monte Cassino. To give the reader some idea of the multi-national force the author has provided an Order of Battle for each of the four battles of Monte Cassino. I'll summarize here to illustrate the multi-national effort to take Monte Cassino the lynch pin of the Italian Campaign:
1st Battle
US 5th Army
British 5th Infantry Division
British 46th Infantry Division
British 56th Infantry Division
US 34th Infantry Division
US 36th Infantry Division
US 1st Armored Division
French 2nd Moroccan Infantry Division
French 3rd Algerian Infantry Division
Versus
German 10th Army
44th Infantry Division
29th Panzer Grenadier Division
3rd Panzer Grenadier Division
15th Panzer Grenadier Division
71st Infantry Division
94th Infantry Division
5th Mountain Infantry Division
2nd and 3rd Battle
US 5th Army
2nd New Zealand Division (part infantry, part armored)
4th Indian Division
78th British Infantry Division
Versus German 10th Army as above
4th Battle
British 8th Army
4th British Infantry Division
6th British Armored Division
8th Indian Division
1st Canadian Infantry Division
5th Canadian Armored Division
3rd Polish Carpathian Infantry Division
5th Polish Kresowa Infantry Division
2nd Polish Armored Regiment
6th South African Armored Division (reserve)
US 5th Army
85th Infantry Division
88th Infantry Division
French 2nd Moroccan Infantry Division
French 3rd Algerian Infantry Division
French 1st Division de Marche
French 4th Moroccan Mountain Infantry Division
Versus
German 10th Army
XIV Panzer Corps
29th Panzer Grenadier Division
3rd Panzer Grenadier Division
71st Infantry Division
94th Infantry Division
305th Infantry Division
334th Infantry Division
26th Panzer Grenadier Division
LI Mountain Corps
44th Infantry Division
5th Mountain Infantry Division
15th Panzer Grenadier Division
114th Jager Infantry Division
1st Parachute Infantry Division
In as much the order of battle gives some idea of just how many divisions were involved in the Monte Cassino battles it is not the main strength of the book.
The book is largely based on the reminisces of the ordinary soldiers.
Frankly, the book is a book of horrors. Any romantic or heroic notions of war are dashed to pieces in reading this book. It took the allies three months to finally take the Monte Cassino monastery, a monastery set in some of the roughest terrain in Europe.
Both sides could not adequately evacuate their dead and so both sides frequently fought around the bodies of their decomposing dead friends. The soldier's reminiscences nearly always mention that factor. The huge causality rate suffered by both sides seems to have more in common with the trench warfare of the first war rather than any notions of mobile warfare of the 2nd.
I found it to be an extremely sad book, yet a necessary book that documents that extraordinary sacrifices of soldiers who just wanted to end the war and go home.
I found that the book was not so much about great battles, but about the great people who have to fight them and by that I do not mean the Generals, though some did not throw their men's lives away thoughtlessly. I do mean the rank and file soldiers often led by company grade officers who knew full well what that superiors did not seem to know and that is trying to prevail in a task that proved impossible time and time again.
I give Parker 5 stars for what I'd call a definitive study on the Monte Cassino battles.
September 14, 2014
Another educational and entertaining read from Matthew Parker, I really can't say enough good things about this guy.
Monte Cassino was one of the bloodiest battles of the war but it had the misfortune of taking place right before D-Day and was thus overshadowed by the historic mainland Europe landing. A soldier's song dripping with sarcasm addresses this:
"We are the D-Day dodgers, out in Italy
Always on the vino, always on the spree
Eighth Army skivers and the Yanks
We go to war, it ties like swanks
We are the D-Day dodgers, in sunny Italy"
In truth it was a terrible battle with huge casualties on both sides. Parker tells a great story interspersed with letters and interviews and really weaves a fantastic narrative.
The propaganda war was both funny and alarming. Both sides knew exactly which buttons to push, German leaflets targeting British soldiers read:
"While you are away....the Yanks are lend leasing your women..."
Bitter pill to swallow on a couple of different fronts, the wage disparity between US and other soldiers was often an issue and of course there was always the issue of the Dear John letter.
Truly horrific like war always is, the book is at times very graphic and often very bloody. Here is a quote that made me think about the battle in a certain light:
"I was at Stalingrad and I had never thought to endure worse." - German solider captured at Monte Cassino
That is quite a statement.
Recommended to any history fan and almost a must read for any fan of WWII!
Monte Cassino was one of the bloodiest battles of the war but it had the misfortune of taking place right before D-Day and was thus overshadowed by the historic mainland Europe landing. A soldier's song dripping with sarcasm addresses this:
"We are the D-Day dodgers, out in Italy
Always on the vino, always on the spree
Eighth Army skivers and the Yanks
We go to war, it ties like swanks
We are the D-Day dodgers, in sunny Italy"
In truth it was a terrible battle with huge casualties on both sides. Parker tells a great story interspersed with letters and interviews and really weaves a fantastic narrative.
The propaganda war was both funny and alarming. Both sides knew exactly which buttons to push, German leaflets targeting British soldiers read:
"While you are away....the Yanks are lend leasing your women..."
Bitter pill to swallow on a couple of different fronts, the wage disparity between US and other soldiers was often an issue and of course there was always the issue of the Dear John letter.
Truly horrific like war always is, the book is at times very graphic and often very bloody. Here is a quote that made me think about the battle in a certain light:
"I was at Stalingrad and I had never thought to endure worse." - German solider captured at Monte Cassino
That is quite a statement.
Recommended to any history fan and almost a must read for any fan of WWII!
October 22, 2014
So I have now carried out my Father's dying wishes and visited the scene of his baptism of fire as an artillery officer in the British Army, aged just 23. He spoke very seldom about the horror he had witnessed but there was this Gurkha knife, called a 'Kukhri' that he kept under lock and key and would only get out on rare occasions when pressed to do so, and he told me and my two brothers that a Gurkha soldier, once he had drawn his knife, ( more like a small scimitar sword) that he would draw blood before replacing it in its scabbard.
On his death bed aged 91 he was delirious and he said through his increasing confusion, 'What happened to the other two ? There were three of us, weren't there ?'
Caught in a German barrage an enemy shell exploded overhead and he and his two Nepalese batmen were thrown to the ground. After the smoke and dust had cleared he stood up but the other two didn't. Taken to a nearby filed dressing station they were examined. His two Gurkha batmen had died, in all probability shielding my father's body from the blast. This is part of their code of honour. But traumatised by the whole event he never spoke about these things as they were just too raw and painful, I suppose. But on his death bed the memories came flooding back to haunt him.
So now aged 64 I have fulfilled a lifetime ambition to visit Monte Cassino. The British Commonwealth Cemetery in Cassino is filled with graves of brave young men killed in the fighting. British, Canadian, New Zealand, Indian and Nepalese, aged from 18-46, all of them someone's sons, brothers, husbands, fathers, boyfriends.
As an artillery officer with the 1st Field Artillery father was seconded to the 4th Indian Division of the British Eighth Army and he crossed over from North Africa to Sicily, and then on to the Italian mainland pursuing the retreating German Army that formed an impregnable defensive position spanning the whole southern Italian peninsular, known as the Gustav Line. With two batteries of twenty five pounders (6 field guns in each battery) so 12 guns and 48 men under his command, and promoted to be a Major at just 23, fathers '25 pounders' 's gave covering fire to advancing Indian & Gurkha troops who suffered heaviest casualties as they stormed German defensive positions up the craggy hillside beneath the Benedictine Abbey at Monte Cassino.
The Gurkhas were used as assault troops as their military qualities were understood to be superior to those of the civilian soldiers conscripted into British Army - like Dad - who were too gentlemanly to suddenly lose their civilian inhibitions and become killing machines ! Not in their nature !
Castle Hill, Snakes Head Pass and Hangman's Hill - three positions underneath the monastery all heavily defended by well dug in and very brave German paratroopers with their machine guns and clear fields of fire. Brutal fighting ensued over six months with appalling casualties on both sides.
Now with Matthew Parker's excellent definitive work, with copious eye witness accounts as my companion, I visited the abbey and now I understand the nature and full horror of the fighting, and why Father was so reluctant to open up old wounds and talk about savagery he witnessed and traumatic experiences he must have suffered on this killing ground.
On his death bed aged 91 he was delirious and he said through his increasing confusion, 'What happened to the other two ? There were three of us, weren't there ?'
Caught in a German barrage an enemy shell exploded overhead and he and his two Nepalese batmen were thrown to the ground. After the smoke and dust had cleared he stood up but the other two didn't. Taken to a nearby filed dressing station they were examined. His two Gurkha batmen had died, in all probability shielding my father's body from the blast. This is part of their code of honour. But traumatised by the whole event he never spoke about these things as they were just too raw and painful, I suppose. But on his death bed the memories came flooding back to haunt him.
So now aged 64 I have fulfilled a lifetime ambition to visit Monte Cassino. The British Commonwealth Cemetery in Cassino is filled with graves of brave young men killed in the fighting. British, Canadian, New Zealand, Indian and Nepalese, aged from 18-46, all of them someone's sons, brothers, husbands, fathers, boyfriends.
As an artillery officer with the 1st Field Artillery father was seconded to the 4th Indian Division of the British Eighth Army and he crossed over from North Africa to Sicily, and then on to the Italian mainland pursuing the retreating German Army that formed an impregnable defensive position spanning the whole southern Italian peninsular, known as the Gustav Line. With two batteries of twenty five pounders (6 field guns in each battery) so 12 guns and 48 men under his command, and promoted to be a Major at just 23, fathers '25 pounders' 's gave covering fire to advancing Indian & Gurkha troops who suffered heaviest casualties as they stormed German defensive positions up the craggy hillside beneath the Benedictine Abbey at Monte Cassino.
The Gurkhas were used as assault troops as their military qualities were understood to be superior to those of the civilian soldiers conscripted into British Army - like Dad - who were too gentlemanly to suddenly lose their civilian inhibitions and become killing machines ! Not in their nature !
Castle Hill, Snakes Head Pass and Hangman's Hill - three positions underneath the monastery all heavily defended by well dug in and very brave German paratroopers with their machine guns and clear fields of fire. Brutal fighting ensued over six months with appalling casualties on both sides.
Now with Matthew Parker's excellent definitive work, with copious eye witness accounts as my companion, I visited the abbey and now I understand the nature and full horror of the fighting, and why Father was so reluctant to open up old wounds and talk about savagery he witnessed and traumatic experiences he must have suffered on this killing ground.
March 30, 2008
Some of the most brutal fighting had to have occurred here in Italy. This is a great read, for those interested in history, war, World War 2, or any combination of those three. Following the infantry grunt, this book takes you through their misery, unable to dig in on the rocky hillsides, and taking some really heavy casualties. Western Europe seems to get all the WW2 hype, but Italy had some of the most brutal fighting of the War too. I didn't know anything about this part of the campaign to free Europe, and especially the details surrounding the famous Monte Cassino and the controversy during it's bombing. Read the book to find out just how effective this was for the Allies, and how tough the Germans fought to give up Italy. Great book.
April 7, 2021
Buy.
In-depth, fluent and informative. Unfortunately I didn't find the writing to be excellent but it is still good. My major takeway was how I didn't realise that so much of the battles and the final engagements were fought by Allies (UK, Canadians, Poles, Indians, Gurkhas and Kiwis) other than the Americans. I think popular culture and likely Mark Clark's need for attention has made us think this was primarily an American effort and that couldn't be further from the truth.
In-depth, fluent and informative. Unfortunately I didn't find the writing to be excellent but it is still good. My major takeway was how I didn't realise that so much of the battles and the final engagements were fought by Allies (UK, Canadians, Poles, Indians, Gurkhas and Kiwis) other than the Americans. I think popular culture and likely Mark Clark's need for attention has made us think this was primarily an American effort and that couldn't be further from the truth.
September 7, 2024
A very clear history of what can be a confusing series of battles. The book is 20 years old now and it will be interesting to see how James Holland’s new book (pub 2024) covers the same subject. Very critical of the allied leadership, probably with justification, with the lessons on WW1 being forgotten and troops being left in exposed positions in appalling weather for weeks on end. Perhaps too uncritical of the Germans with the Nazi Super-soldier trope. As been pointed out. Hiding in a hole and shooting whoever comes towards you is a lot easier than attacking. When they did counterattack the Germans got mauled. Very clear diagrams and maps. Recommended.
November 18, 2015
Some books jump to the top of my 'to read' list as soon as I open them. This, loaned by a good friend, was definitely in that category - it might be because the D-Day Dodgers song appears near the beginning! It's told with such clarity and fluency that you rip through 400pp in a couple of days. Monte Cassino lasted 5 months and was a sprawling battle, by many measures the biggest of the war, and considered by many on the German side to be worse than Stalingrad. It was also an incredible combination of the modern and the medieval. On the allied side, a veritable United Nations were attacking up the lethal mountainside - Americans, British, New Zealand, Polish, French, but also African, Arab, Indian and Gurkha. Yet much of the fighting, around the Cassino Castle and the Monastery ruins was little different to a medieval siege. Bodies lay unburied for weeks in the sun and rain. It's very questionable now what real purpose was served by the slaughter and destruction, apart from the nebulous one of keeping German soldiers tied up and making the Russians feel happier. Parker blames Churchill's outmoded view of geography for this 'soft underbelly' fixation which caused loss of life almost as wasteful as Gallipoli in World War One. Numerous myths are debunked. The Polish division lost nearly half their total numbers in futile attacks on the Monastery, but I found that it was eventually captured by one of their patrols without firing a shot. Following the incredible heroism of the Royal Engineers in pushing the Amazon bridge across the Rapido under constant fire, and the breakout from Anzio, the Germans had finally decided to surrender and withdraw. This is a wide-ranging and superbly organised book, always easy to follow. Military jargon is explained adequately. The maps are usually in the right places in the text. Dates are clear and straightforward. And best of all are the eye-witness accounts from people who were there, nearly all of whom (13 years since first publication) would no longer be with us. God bless them - whatever side they fought on.
February 17, 2012
An impressive account of the battle(s) of Monte Cassino, named after the ancient monastary that loomed over the Allied troops as they tried to fight their way up the leg of Italy after the 1943 landings at Salerno and the Italian armistace.
Through interviews with an varied selection of veterans - including Germans, Brits, French, North Africans, USAmericans, Canadians, Gurkas, New Zealanders, infantry, engineers, artillery etc - and even civilians, as well as through other historical documents, Parker builds up a comprehensive picture of this horrific combat, where the Allied approach was stalemated by the German defenses of the Winter Line, specifically the Gustav Line, which included the town of Cassino (though the monastery itself, above the town, was apparently not garrisoned, hence the enormous controversy of its destruction by Allied bombing).
Effectively, the combat took on the form of that most commonly associated with the First World War - throwing men at defenses, with terrible losses. In reference to the British forces at Sant Angelo, Parker refers to "attrition... in other words, their ability to take more casualties and keep bringing up fresh troops – to batter their way forward...", though the same wasteful 'tactics' were used for much of the battle.
Parker effectively analyses the battle(s) and provides a modern evaluation of not just the combat and context, but also subsequent historical discourse, how history has treated Monte Cassino.
Military history is of course never exactly a cheery genre, but this makes for pretty grim reading. If, like me, you didn't know too much about this chapter of WWII beforehand, the shear waste of life and resources that Parker describes is jaw-dropping.
Through interviews with an varied selection of veterans - including Germans, Brits, French, North Africans, USAmericans, Canadians, Gurkas, New Zealanders, infantry, engineers, artillery etc - and even civilians, as well as through other historical documents, Parker builds up a comprehensive picture of this horrific combat, where the Allied approach was stalemated by the German defenses of the Winter Line, specifically the Gustav Line, which included the town of Cassino (though the monastery itself, above the town, was apparently not garrisoned, hence the enormous controversy of its destruction by Allied bombing).
Effectively, the combat took on the form of that most commonly associated with the First World War - throwing men at defenses, with terrible losses. In reference to the British forces at Sant Angelo, Parker refers to "attrition... in other words, their ability to take more casualties and keep bringing up fresh troops – to batter their way forward...", though the same wasteful 'tactics' were used for much of the battle.
Parker effectively analyses the battle(s) and provides a modern evaluation of not just the combat and context, but also subsequent historical discourse, how history has treated Monte Cassino.
Military history is of course never exactly a cheery genre, but this makes for pretty grim reading. If, like me, you didn't know too much about this chapter of WWII beforehand, the shear waste of life and resources that Parker describes is jaw-dropping.
February 25, 2009
One of the bloodiest and the toughest battles in World War II. It lasted nearly four months and caused over 350,000 casualties before finally on sunrise of May 18 the Cracovian Hymn (Hejnał Mariacki) announced that Polish troops captured the monastery. The Battle of Monte Cassino is often neglected cause the Normandy invasion started two weeks later. Well written.
January 7, 2024
I would gladly have given 4 stars for such a comprehensive and balanced account of this battle, however the paucity and basic dark quality of maps meant I found it difficult to visualise and to connect the narrative with movement within the territory fought over.
Pleased to see the text of the song beginning “ We’re the D-Day Dodgers, out in Italy…” included in the Introduction. I sang this to fellow passengers on a D-Day Landings coach tour a couple of years ago and the book drives - hammers- home the sentiments of the song.
Pleased I read this book and it certainly better informed me, but - as seems appropriate- a long, hard read!
Pleased to see the text of the song beginning “ We’re the D-Day Dodgers, out in Italy…” included in the Introduction. I sang this to fellow passengers on a D-Day Landings coach tour a couple of years ago and the book drives - hammers- home the sentiments of the song.
Pleased I read this book and it certainly better informed me, but - as seems appropriate- a long, hard read!
April 1, 2022
Matthew Parker paints a vivid picture of the grisly conditions faced by those at Monte Cassino.
This book was meticulously researched, and throughout provides an unflinching insight into the horrors that faced those unfortunate enough to be part of this conflict.
This book captures and explores not only the physical fatigue and torture those present had to suffer through, but often reflects in the immediate and delayed psychological damage inflicted.
Well worth a read for those interested in ww2, and for those interested in the humanity at the heart of almost unimaginable peril.
This book was meticulously researched, and throughout provides an unflinching insight into the horrors that faced those unfortunate enough to be part of this conflict.
This book captures and explores not only the physical fatigue and torture those present had to suffer through, but often reflects in the immediate and delayed psychological damage inflicted.
Well worth a read for those interested in ww2, and for those interested in the humanity at the heart of almost unimaginable peril.
December 21, 2024
Excellent account of one of the hardest fought battles in WWII. Hard to grasp the suffering the troops went through on both sides during this long drawn out battle for the Monastery and the surrounding hills and towns. Sad to see how many soldiers on the Allied side suffered and died due the incompetent of senior officers in charge. It also shows the bravery of the German paratroopers who fought until they were told to abandon the Monastery and surrender.
March 2, 2018
If you have had relatives who fought in Italy in World War II this book by Parker and those by Zuehike are must reads.
Persons mentioned in these battles you will find mentioned by both authors in their books great reads.
Persons mentioned in these battles you will find mentioned by both authors in their books great reads.
September 13, 2020
Miserable men fighting on mountains. Woven into the narrative are harrowing first hand accounts sourced from interviews and correspondence with the participants from both sides. Fine compassionate writing.
October 11, 2023
A brutal campaign that went through many ups and downs, at great cost to the attackers and defenders. The reporting of the roles of the Indian Army and specifically the Nepalese Gurkhas was illuminating, which perhaps is lost in the overall literature.
April 28, 2018
A very good account of this battle.
July 21, 2019
I had the veteran friends who fought at Cassino, my biggest regret was not reading this magnificent account before they had all past away. A fantastic account!
December 4, 2020
Me dejó los sentimientos a flor de piel, casi siento que estoy agazapado en alguna parte de la ladera de ese monte.
March 17, 2022
Great book on the Battle of Monte Cassino. Numerous veteran accounts of the battle from both sides.
October 30, 2024
Excellent. I wanted to read this because my dad was one of the British soldiers who found in this battle and survived but still had nightmares until he died aged 69!
March 22, 2024
Very interesting I thought as my dad fought in the battle and said how awful it was I thought I’d have a read and it was as awful as my dad had said.👍😀❤️🙁🙁
July 17, 2015
A tough read about the "tough old gut".... I read quite a lot of WW1 books and sometimes during this account I thought I was back there. So much for all the advances in three decades!
I knew a fair bit about this part of the war despite it being overshadowed by other campaigns especially D-Day that came soon after the fall of Rome. But this book really opens your eyes to the ferocity of warfare in WW2. It is saddening reading through one failure after another... and then the usual boasting of how it would be a walkover lads... reminded me of what they said before the Somme.
Quite how the German paras withstood the hurricane of shellfire and bombs will never be known. Yet when it stopped out they came again to defend to their utmost.
All that behind the most fiendish of defences made representatives of just about all the Allied fighting forces struggle like never before or since.
I learned much from this book - about the heroic success of the French and how it was sometimes tainted by certain of their troops... How we owe so much to soldiers from other places such as India and Nepal, from Poland, from "down under" and across the Atlantic... all took their turn in the hell that was Cassino.
Well done Mr Parker... if I said I enjoyed your book I think I would be leaving this with a troubled mind. You opened up a door to scenes humanity should long remember and swear it must never happen again.
I knew a fair bit about this part of the war despite it being overshadowed by other campaigns especially D-Day that came soon after the fall of Rome. But this book really opens your eyes to the ferocity of warfare in WW2. It is saddening reading through one failure after another... and then the usual boasting of how it would be a walkover lads... reminded me of what they said before the Somme.
Quite how the German paras withstood the hurricane of shellfire and bombs will never be known. Yet when it stopped out they came again to defend to their utmost.
All that behind the most fiendish of defences made representatives of just about all the Allied fighting forces struggle like never before or since.
I learned much from this book - about the heroic success of the French and how it was sometimes tainted by certain of their troops... How we owe so much to soldiers from other places such as India and Nepal, from Poland, from "down under" and across the Atlantic... all took their turn in the hell that was Cassino.
Well done Mr Parker... if I said I enjoyed your book I think I would be leaving this with a troubled mind. You opened up a door to scenes humanity should long remember and swear it must never happen again.
February 21, 2016
This book details the six month battle for Monte Cassino in Italy during WW11. This city was important because it stood along the best route to Rome. The allied force consisted of the US fifth army under Gen Mark Clark and the British 8 th army. The British army contained units from New Zealand, India and Africa. There were also French and Polish battalions. This battle was reminiscent of the trench warfare of the First World War. It was extremely hard fought and casualties were high on both sides. The city was part of the Gustav Line devised by Kesselring to halt or delay allied advances in Italy. Dominating the city was the centuries old monastery of Cassino run by the Benedictine Order this monastery was eventually bombed into ruble by the allies but it still did not dislodge the Germans. The author tells the story using letters, memoirs, and interviews which greatly enhances the book. The ordeal suffered by troops of both sides is amazing. One aspect that is really brought out is the cases of "battle fatigue " now known as PTSD. It was often treated as shirking or cowardice rather than a medical condition brought on by combat. The Italian theater has long been overshadowed by the war in France, but this book does much to shed light on this part of the war.
November 6, 2008
I don't like this title much - was it tougher than Stalingrad?
But this is an excellent book about what Churchill thought would be the "soft underbelly" of Europe and instead was a "tough old gut."
Ask GIs who were in Italy and they'll tell you the commanders weren't worth much. It was definitely fubar.
My dad was there in the Army Air Force. He thought his unit's officers were great, but the generals in charge were worthless.
The landings at Anzio and Salerno were messed up and could have been catastrophic.
Monte Cassino was awful. The Allies bombed this beautiful old abbey -- killing no Germans. It was a very bloody campaign.
But this is an excellent book about what Churchill thought would be the "soft underbelly" of Europe and instead was a "tough old gut."
Ask GIs who were in Italy and they'll tell you the commanders weren't worth much. It was definitely fubar.
My dad was there in the Army Air Force. He thought his unit's officers were great, but the generals in charge were worthless.
The landings at Anzio and Salerno were messed up and could have been catastrophic.
Monte Cassino was awful. The Allies bombed this beautiful old abbey -- killing no Germans. It was a very bloody campaign.
August 1, 2016
If you like reading the history of World War Two then this is certainly worth reading. I found that as i grew older there were parts of history that seemed to have been glossed over and the invasion of Italy was one of them. The book is thoroughly researched and has interviews with Allied and Axis servicemen and from Italian civilians living there at the time. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in this period of history.
Now, my only gripe... i bought the ebook and as i have a crappy old kindle all the maps were unreadable.. i wish i had bought the hard copy but as i travel it is not convenient. So, my problem, not yours!
Now, my only gripe... i bought the ebook and as i have a crappy old kindle all the maps were unreadable.. i wish i had bought the hard copy but as i travel it is not convenient. So, my problem, not yours!
June 7, 2014
Very interesting detail of the 6 month long battle to take Monte Cassino, Italy by the Allies in 1943-44. The maps showing how each of the 4 battles to the take the mountainous area were very helpful as were the interviews with verterans on both sides. The conditions that winter were horrendous and the mistakes made by the Allied leaders made the battles seem so disastrous for the soldiers. It had to be done but surely there could have been better ways to do it with less senseless loss of life on both sides.
July 5, 2016
What an eye-opener. I've read a lot of WWII books and none have come close to portraying how awful it was to be in the trenches as this book has done. I just kept shaking my head in amazement at what these men went through at the insistence of those high in command. And they knocked down the monastery to boot. It's a shame that more people aren't aware of these battles in the Italian campaign. If all you know about Monte Cassino is that the monastery was bombed, then read this book. Highly recommended.
June 13, 2012
Just the right detail to get an overview of this monumental battle. Personal recollections blended with the author's narrative really brought the events to life. Combine this with Atkinson's "Day of Battle" and you will have a vivid account of the Italian Campaign and its horrors. With much of the post-war historical analysis lavisihed on the D-Day landings (and rightly so), its equally important to honor the brave men (on both sides of the battle lines) who fought their way up "the boot".
August 22, 2011
What a story of a great battle to be told. Unfortunately, author fails as good narrative historian, story unwraps slowly with too much of unimportant details (like exact placement of each soldier in the chain of command down to almost a squad level). Book has few good moments but overally, I was disappointed and I will keep looking for another book about Monte Cassino.
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