Monte Cassino
Title
Monte Cassino
Description
A vertical aerial photograph of the abbey after the bombing. It is captioned with detail of the operations.
The photograph is captioned '5008 12PB 412 3PG 15th Feb 1944//1600/F12"/3900'.
The photograph is captioned '5008 12PB 412 3PG 15th Feb 1944//1600/F12"/3900'.
Date
1944-02-15
Temporal Coverage
Coverage
Language
Type
Format
One b/w photograph
Conforms To
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
PClaptonG20010008
Transcription
5008. The beginning of the first offensive (Vol:5 p.389)
‘The monastery dominated the whole battlefield, and naturally General Freyberg wished to have it heavily bombarded from the air before he launched the infantry attack. The Army Commander, Gen: Mark Clark, unwillingly sought and obtained permission from Gen: Alexander, who accepted the responsibility. On Feb 15 therefore, after the monks had been given full warning, over 450 tons of bombs were dropped, and heavy damage done. The great outer walls and gateway still stood. The result was not good. The Germans now had every excuse for making whatever use they could of the ruins, and this gave them even better opportunities for defence than when the building was intact.’ This vertical of 15 Feb at 3900 ft. was taken immediately after the bombing.
[photograph]
5008
12PR412 3PG 15th FEB 1944/1600/F12”/3,900’
‘The monastery dominated the whole battlefield, and naturally General Freyberg wished to have it heavily bombarded from the air before he launched the infantry attack. The Army Commander, Gen: Mark Clark, unwillingly sought and obtained permission from Gen: Alexander, who accepted the responsibility. On Feb 15 therefore, after the monks had been given full warning, over 450 tons of bombs were dropped, and heavy damage done. The great outer walls and gateway still stood. The result was not good. The Germans now had every excuse for making whatever use they could of the ruins, and this gave them even better opportunities for defence than when the building was intact.’ This vertical of 15 Feb at 3900 ft. was taken immediately after the bombing.
[photograph]
5008
12PR412 3PG 15th FEB 1944/1600/F12”/3,900’
Collection
Citation
“Monte Cassino,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed June 16, 2025, https://ibccdigitalarchive.omeka.net/collections/document/34410.