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Cassino Area, Feb 1944
Cassino Area, February 1944
bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Germany > MTO > Naples to Cassino/Anzio > Cassino #1, © 2025 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 26 Oct 2025

This webpage summarizes the First Battle of Monte Cassino, the first of four battles fought along the Gustav Line defenses on the western side of the Apennine Mountains in the winter and spring of 1944. 
Other Monte Cassino related webpages are listed above.

The Gustav Line

Background: In southern Italy in late 1943, the Allies had slowly advanced northward as they moved toward the main German defensive line, the Gustav Line. 
  • In the British Eighth Army sector in the east, British Commonwealth forces managed to penetrate the Gustav Line near the Adriatic Sea.
  • In the US Fifth Army sector in the west, British and US forces finished clearing the German strongpoints south of the the Gustav Line in the middle of January 1944.

Summary: From January to May 1944, Gustav Line strongpoints in the Cassino area stalled the Allied advance. These defenses guarded the entrance to the Liri Valley where Highway 6 led north from Naples to Rome.

The Allies attempted to bypass Cassino by an amphibious landing in January 1944 on the beaches near Anzio and Nettuno, further up the Italian peninsula and closer to Rome. This attempt failed, resulting in half of the US Fifth Army being caught for four months in an enclave called the Anzio Beachhead.

Back along the Gustav Line, the first three Battles of Monte Cassino were defeats.
  • The first and longlest battle was fought along a long front by British, American and French troops. The gains were slight compared with the heavy costs.
  • The second and third battles were fought in the streets of Cassino and in the mountains to the northwest and west by New Zealand and Indian troops and under Fifth Army control made little gains.
Despite their failure, the first three Battles of Monte Cassino were justified as attempts to relieve enemy pressure on the Anzio Beachhead.

Eventually Allied strength increased, German reserves shrank, and the 15th Army Group planned an offensive involving both the British Eighth Army and the US Fifth Army.
  • The fourth Battle of Monte Cassino, fought successfully by Polish troops, was part of Operation Diadem, this May 1944 offensive.​
At the Gustav Line
At the Gustav Line - the shaded area shows the gains from January up to 11 May 1944
Cassino in February 1944Cassino in February 1944

The First Battle of Monte Cassino

The First Battle of Monte Cassino consisted of three phases.
Phase 1 - The British Garigliano River crossings south of Cassino
  • 17 January 1944: The 5th and 56th Divisions of British X Corps successfully crossed the Garigliano River north of its confluence with the Tyrrhenian Sea on 17 January 1944.
  • 19 January 1944: X Corps' 46th Division attempted a crossing further north which failed.
Crossing the Garigliano River
Crossing the Garigliano River
Phase 2 - The failed US crossings of the Rapido River south of Cassino
This attack, by the 141st and 143rd Infantry Regiments of the 36th Infantry Division, a National Guard division from Texas, failed tragically.
  • 20 January 1944:
  • 21 January 1944: The US was able to maintain a presence on the north bank for 20 hours.
36th Division assault troops suffered over 2,000 casualties in dead, wounded, and prisoner of war.
The Rapido River Assault
The Rapido River Assault
Phase 3 - The first attack on Monte Cassino - 24 January to 11 February 1944
, About the first map on the right:
  • This map is in error. The assault was by the 34th Infantry Division, the Iowa-Minnesota National Guard division. However, the regimental numbers are correct.
  • The 36th Division's 142nd Infantry Regiment was attached to the 34th Infantry Division and  did participate in this phase from late January to 11 February.
  • FEC, attacking to the north, refers to the 2nd Moroccan Infantry Division and 3rd Algerian Infantry Division of the French Expeditionary Corps, which was part of the US Fifth Army.

As the second map shows, 34th Division infantry companies managed to occupy major portions of the mountains near Cassino. However, the German army brought in reserves and the Allies no longer had reserves to commit. Eventually the 34th Division strength was reduced to such a level that the US troops were withdrawn.
The US Plan
The Allied Plan
Progress of the US Attack
Progress of the US Attack

 █   Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead - WWII Germany > The MTO > Naples to Cassino/Anzio > Cassino #1   █ 02-02 - WWII Germany > The MTO > Naples to Cassino/Anzio > Cassino #1: (nine dead, updated 24 Oct 2025)
† Comley, George K., SN 20-705-562, US Army, Montgomery Co.
  • Co. F, 168th Inf. Regt., 34th Inf. Div., II Corps, Fifth Army; KIA 9 Feb 1944 north of Cassino, Lazio, Italy.
  • WWII Germany > The MTO > Naples to Cassino/Anzio > Cassino #1 @ the 34th Division Assault on Monte Cassino
† Doggett, Clair Quentin, SN 37-267-573, US Army, Montgomery Co.
  • 132nd Inf. Regt., 34th Inf. Div., II Corps, Fifth Army; KIA 8 Feb 1944 north of Cassino, Lazio, Italy.
  • WWII Germany > The MTO > Naples to Cassino/Anzio > Cassino #1 @ The 34th Division Assault on Monte Cassino
† Dunbar, Milo, SN 20-703-345, US Army, Monona Co. (WWII-DunbarMilo)
  • Co. L, 133rd Inf. Regt., 34th Inf. Div., Fifth Army; KIA 15 Feb 1944 Italy.
  • WWII Germany > The MTO > Naples to Cassino/Anzio > Cassino #1
† Hiley, Dean Anderson, SN 37-666-247, US Army, Pott. Co.
  • 141st Inf. Regt., 36th Inf. Div., II Corps, Fifth Army; KIA 21 Jan 1943 crossing the Rapido River south of Cassino, Lazio, Italy.
  • WWII Germany > The MTO > Naples to Cassino/Anzio > Cassino #1 @ The 36th Division Rapido River Crossing
† Kish, Lyman Herbert, SN 12-141-097, US Army, Pott. Co.
  • Battery D, 403rd AAA Bn., II Corps, Fifth Army; WIA 20 Feb 1944 near Cassino, Lazio, Italy; DOW 21 Feb 1944 11th Field Hospital, San Pietro, Italy, shrapnel wound.
  • WWII Germany > The MTO > Naples to Cassino/Anzio > Cassino #1
† Lang, Richard Waddell, SN 37-481-349, US Army, Cass & Carroll Cos.
  • Co. B, 135th Inf. Regt., 34th Inf. Div., Fifth Army; KIA 8 Feb 1944 north of Cassino, Lazio, Italy.
  • WWII Germany > The MTO > Naples to Cassino/Anzio > Cassino #1 @ The 34th Division Assault on Monte Cassino
† Overgaard, Andrew Bager, SN 37-045-092, US Army, Audubon Co. & Greeley Co., NE
  • Co. B, 168th Inf. Regt., 34th Inf. Div.; KIA 30 Jan 1944 north of Cassino, Lazio, Italy.
  • WWII Germany > The MTO > Naples to Cassino/Anzio > Cassino #1 @ The 34th Division Assault on Monte Cassino
† Troth, Russell Edwin, SN 39-280-003, US Army, Pott. Co.
  • Hq. Co., 2nd Bn., 168th Inf. Regt., 34th Inf. Div., II Corps, Fifth Army; KIA 14 Feb 1944, north of Cassino, Lazio, Italy.
  • WWII Germany > The MTO > Naples to Cassino/Anzio > Cassino #1 @ The 34th Division Assault on Monte Cassino
† Viether, Orville Otto, SN 36-478-542, US Army, Cass Co & Rock Island Co., IL
  • 143rd Inf. Regt., 36th Inf. Div., II Corps, Fifth Army; WIA 17 Jan 1944 the Rapido River, south of Cassino, Lazio, Italy; DOW 24 Jan 1944.
  • WWII Germany > The MTO > Naples to Cassino/Anzio > Cassino #1 @ The 36th Division Rapido River Crossing
 
 █  Sources for Big Pigeon's WWII Germany > The MTO > Naples to Cassino/Anzio > Cassino #1 webpage​   █​