75th Anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino and Northern Italy (Gaming The Battles)

This project isn’t dead, it’s just been on a covid hiatus! Although by the time I play out all of the battles, it could well be the 80th anniversary!

Time to play out a new battle in the Allied assault on Monte Cassino and the Adolf Hitler line.

In the last two battles, we fought out the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade’s crossing of the Garigliano river to allow the push into the Liri Valley and then, a few kilometres to the East, the Polish II Corps final assault on the monastery atop Monte Cassino. With Monte Cassino captured, the German defenders began falling back northwards up the Liri Valley toward their prepared defences on the Senger Line (renamed from the Hitler line at Hitler’s demand to avoid embarrassment and propaganda if the line fell). To cover the retreat, defensive positions had been prepared along the valley.

From the 18th May 1944 onwards, with a bridgehead established across the Garigliano and Rapido rivers, the British 8th Army began moving troops and tanks across the rivers to begin pushing North. On British 8th Army’s West flank, the US 5th Army were making progress, albeit slowly, up the coast with the aim of relieving the parts of the 5th Army that had landed at Anzio in late January, but had been encircled and contained in their beach head since.

Allied intelligence had identified a German defensive line arranged along a road connecting Aquino and Pontecorvo some 6KM North West of the town of Cassino and protecting Route 6 which led North, up the Liri Valley, to Rome. The Allies were desperate to secure Route 6 to ensure that their advance could proceed, so this defensive line needed to be broken. The assault on this position was assigned to 1st Canadian Infantry Division supported by the North Irish Horse tank regiment and the 51st Royal Tank Regiment. I bought the following to get a better understanding of the battle:

The map below shows the defensive line (in red) with the 1st Canadian Infantry approach, to the East of the now captured town of Cassino. The Orange arrow shows the Polish II Corps assault with elements of British Infantry looping around Cassino to the West after the bridgehead was established and then meeting up with the Polish atop Monte Cassino. However, as the Candian’s advanced, they were well aware that the mountain to the North of Cassino, Monte Cairo, had yet to be taken, giving the German artillery spotters the ability to see the Allied advance. This required Allied movements to take place at night but also created a potential problem for the assault itself.

The assault was due to start on 0600 on 23rd May. The North Irish Horse (NIH) linked up with the 1st Canadian infantry during the night of 22nd/23rd and the attack was launched on time. The assault took place across a 3000 yard front with 2nd Brigade NIH on the right and 3rd Brigade with 51st Royal Tank Regiment on the left. Accompanying the tanks were two brigades of Canadian Infantry.

The assault was launched after a 600 gun artillery barrage. While this helped keep the defenders head’s down, it signalled the direction of the assault and allowed counter artillery fire to land behind the allied barrage into the advancing infantry, inflicting heavy casualties and slowing the advance. 

The defensive line was well prepared. The area leading up to the Aquino/Pontecorvo road was heavily wooded although single track paths had been cut through the trees. These were heavily mined and at least two Churchill tanks were lost to these. A number of MG nests and other strong points were placed into the woods as well as snipers, some of which had strapped themselves into the trees. This, along with visibility limited to just 10 yards at times due to the dust, took a heavy toll on the assaulting troops. By 0730, the allied advance had covered just 500 yards.

Enemy tanks were also in the area. A number of these were engaged by the Canadians and the NIH and two Panzer IVs and a Panther were reported knocked out. This is the first recorded kill of a Panther on the Western front. 

By 0800, the assault had reached the edge of the tree line and Allied advance were faced with a 400 yard gap to the Aquino-Pontecorvo road over open terrain. B Squadron of the NIH advanced on the objective but were fired upon by a number of anti tank guns and a panther turret emplacement, which accounted for the loss of 5 further tanks. Once again, the smoke and dust rapidly reduced visibility and helped play some part in allowing B squadron to reach the objective. They quickly linked up with a platoon from the Canadian Seaforths who were taking heavy fire from a farm house some 200 yards beyond the road. B squadron was able to engage, and destroy, the defenders and secure the initial objective.

By 1200, German tanks moved forward to try to plug the defensive gaps and, with continued anti tank fire, the NIH repositioned and attacked again. Good intelligence and aerial photography allowed a composite force made up of B and C squadron to avoid a prepared tank killing ground but they were hit first by artillery fire and then by anti tank rounds and lost a number of tanks. They were forced to fall back. 

As the afternoon wore on, the Canadian Infantry, supported consistently by the NIH continued to overrun the defensive positions and by 1600, the German defenders began to retreat. By the end of the day, 1st Canadian Division had suffered around 1000 casualties and the NIH horse had lost 25 tanks and lost 34 men. These were heavy losses but it allowed the Allied advance to continue and exposed route 6.

Following the battle, the Canadian Infantry requested that the NIH dead be buried at the head of the cemetery to recognise the bravery and persistence that the NIH had fought with. Furthermore, both the NIH and the 51st RTR were given the honour of wearing the Maple Leaf in recognition of the service that they had given.