Battle of Monte Cassino
1944 CE · Italy
The Battle of Monte Cassino was fought in 1944 CE in Italy between Allies (United States, Britain, Poland, France, New Zealand, India and others) vs Germany; Allied victory after four assaults; the Gustav Line was broken and the road to Rome opened.
Battle of Monte Cassino: quick facts
- Date
- 1944 CE
- Location
- Italy
- Belligerents
- Allies (United States, Britain, Poland, France, New Zealand, India and others) vs Germany
- Commanders
- Harold Alexander, Mark Clark and Władysław Anders vs Albert Kesselring and Heinrich von Vietinghoff
- Result
- Allied victory after four assaults; the Gustav Line was broken and the road to Rome opened.
- Casualties
- about 55,000 Allied and 20,000 German killed, wounded or missing
- Era
- 🪖 World Wars
- Quiz difficulty
- hard
What happened at the Battle of Monte Cassino?
Four bloody assaults over five months were required to break through the German Gustav Line at Monte Cassino, which blocked the Allied advance on Rome. The Allies controversially bombed the historic sixth-century Benedictine monastery, which the Germans then used as a fortified position. Troops from Poland, Britain, India, New Zealand, France, and the United States all fought and suffered heavy casualties before Polish soldiers of the II Corps finally captured the ruins in May 1944, opening the road to Rome.
Did you know?
The Allies controversially bombed the ancient Monte Cassino abbey, founded by St. Benedict in 529 AD. Ironically, the Germans had not been using it as a military position, but occupied the ruins after the bombing.
Sources and further reading
- Battle of Monte Cassino on Wikipedia for the full account, historiography and primary sources.
- How BattleGuess compiles and checks battle facts: see the About page.
Entry last reviewed 26 September 2026.