Monte Cassino Campaign.Battle of Rapido River

DATE: 11/07/2024

TIME (GMT): 18:00

ERA: WW2

MAP(S): Monte Cassino

TYPE: COOP

TEAMSPEAK: ts1.biaarma.com

GAME: Arma 3

EVENT: Official

AUTHOR(S): Aris and Lord for Brothers in Arms

SLOTS: 59 / 90

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RATING: (16)

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The Battle of Monte Cassino,was a series of four military assaults by the Allies against German forces in Italy during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The objective was to break through the Winter Line and facilitate an advance towards Rome.

In the beginning of 1944, the western half of the Winter Line was anchored by German forces holding the Rapido-Gari, Liri, and Garigliano valleys and several surrounding peaks and ridges. Together, these features formed the Gustav Line. Monte Cassino, a historic hilltop abbey founded in 529 by Benedict of Nursia, dominated the nearby town of Cassino and the entrances to the Liri and Rapido valleys. Lying in a protected historic zone, it had been left unoccupied by the Germans, although they manned some positions set into the slopes below the abbey's walls.

Repeated artillery attacks on assaulting allied troops caused their leaders to incorrectly conclude that the abbey was being used by the Germans as an observation post, at the very least. Fears escalated, along with casualties, and despite evidence, it was marked for destruction. On 15 February 1944, Allied bombers dropped 1,400 tonnes of high explosives, causing widespread damage.Fallschirmjager forces occupied the area and established defensive positions amid the ruins.

Between 17 January and 18 May, Monte Cassino and the Gustav Line defences were attacked on four occasions by Allied troops. On 16 May, soldiers from the Polish II Corps launched one of the final assaults on the German defensive position as part of a twenty-division assault along a thirty-two kilometres front. On 18 May, a Polish flag and the British flag were raised over the ruins.Following this Allied victory, the German Senger Line collapsed on 25 May, and the German defenders were driven from their positions.The capture of Monte Cassino resulted in 55,000 Allied casualties, with German losses estimated at around 20,000 killed and wounded.The battle has been described as a Pyrrhic victory.

The Battle of Rapido River was fought from 20 to 22 January 1944 during one of the Allies many attempts to breach the Winter Line.

On the night of 20 January 1944,the US 36th Infantry Division, under command of Major General Geoffrey Keyes, fired an artillery barrage of 31,000 rounds on German positions across the Rapido River, which resulted in only negligible damage. Feint attacks were conducted by the US 34th Infantry Division and 3^rd Polish Division to the north, near Monte Cassino, to divert attention from the main advance.After a few hours, the attack of the British 78th Division on the central sector of the front began.