Atlas of Battles

battle, landmark, interwar and Second World War

Battle of Monte Cassino

Battle of Monte Cassino was a battle fought on 17 January 1944 at Monte Cassino, in what is now Italy; it lasted 4 months. It was part of World War II, which ran from 1939 to 1945. The recorded result: Allied victory. Recorded strength: 240,000 men; 1,900 tanks; 4,000 planes against 140,000 men.

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The ruins of Cassino, May 1944: a wrecked Sherman tank and Bailey bridge in the foreground, with Monastery Ridge and Castle Hill in the background. View of Cassino after heavy bombardment showing a kn
The ruins of Cassino, May 1944: a wrecked Sherman tank and Bailey bridge in the foreground, with Monastery Ridge and Castle Hill in the background. View of Cassino after heavy bombardment showing a kn. War Office official photographer, Tanner (Capt), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought17 January 1944lasted 4 months
WhereMonte Cassino, Italy41.490N, 13.814E
OutcomeAllied victory
BelligerentsUnited Kingdom; British Raj; Dominion of Newfoundland; United States; Free France; Polish government-in-exile; Canada; Dominion of New Zealand; Union of South Africa; ItalyagainstNazi Germany
Part ofWorld War II1939 to 1945

Where it sits in World War II

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313 placed engagements of World War II in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date17 January 1944
to 18 May 1944
PlaceMonte Cassino, Italy
41.490N, 13.814E
KindBattle, interwar and Second World War
Territorial changeMonastery destroyed
Strength240,000 men; 1,900 tanks; 4,000 planes140,000 men
Casualties and losses55,000 – 105,000 casualties~20,000 – 80,000 casualties (at least): (see Casualties section); 2,000 civilian deaths
Commanders
Battle of Monte CassinoBattle of Monte CassinoBattle of San GermanoBattle of Rapido RiverBattle of San Pietro InfineBattle of Monte la DifensaBattle of CisternaBattle of Monte la DifensaNaplesSalernoPescaraL'AquilaBeneventoCivitavecchiaCasertaVatican City100 km41.490N, 13.814E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of Monte Cassino
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 50 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of Monte Cassino today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2023-07-19. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2023.

The recorded site stands at about 473 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 25 to 1,306 m, 1,280 m of relief, mountainous country and today it is 50% tree cover, 17% built-up, 12% shrubland.

tree cover: 50%built-up: 17%shrubland: 12%grassland: 12%cropland: 8%tree cover 50%built-up 17%shrubland 12%grassland 12%cropland 8%
west to east, 10.0 km37 to 492 mnorth to south, 10.0 km42 to 522 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

Contested ground: this site was fought over 3 times between 1815 and 1944.

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1944

Combat data (CDB90)

Attacker: US 143RD RCT (+), 36TH INF DIVDefender: GER 3RD/104TH PGR, 15TH PGD
Strength7,5381,800
Casualties575 (7.6%)13 (0.7%)
Mission accomplishment, 1 to 1028
Outcomedefender won
Duration2 days
Front width1 km1 km
Attacker advanced0.8 km

From the US Army Concepts Analysis Agency Database of Battles (CDB90, battle 608), public domain, in the CC0 tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold. Figures are the database's estimates, compiled in 1990 from published histories, and may differ from the Wikipedia infobox above.

Battle of Monte Cassino is one of 2,997 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 942 in present-day Italy.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q335288, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Monte Cassino, revision 1384220512, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.