After seven days of fighting, the fourth Allied attempt to capture Monte Cassino in Italy is finally crowned with success, as the German paratroopers defending it retreat.
The entire Allied effort covered a large part of the Italian front in the so-called “Gustav Line” (where the Germans were defending) and involved a total of 20 Divisions, but the position of Monte Cassino with the historic monastery was crucial for the achievement of the line.
The capture was achieved when, threatened with encirclement by a pincer movement of the British 78th Division and the Polish II Corps, which were converging west of the monastery hill, the German paratroopers decided to withdraw. Only 30 wounded who could not be moved were left behind.
The first unit to reach the hill was a patrol of the 12th Polish Cavalry Regiment, which raised the Polish flag. The Battle of Monte Cassino cost the Allies 55,000 casualties and the Germans about 20,000. But the road to Rome was open.
