The Kiwis Attack MTO (id:#56639)

Avalon Hill (AH:The General # 29.6 ID: GD-B)   [next]   [previous]

Cassino, Italy 1944-03-15 (5 others)

Overview:

Following a series of relatively unsuccessful and extremely bloody assaults by the New Zealand Corps during the period of 15-18 February, heralded by the destruction of the famous Monte Cassino monastery above the town, a month-long lull set in as both sides regrouped. On the morning of 15 March, to clear Cassino of the stubborn German paratroopers, for three-and-a-half hours, 500 heavy bombers dropped more than 1000 tons of explosives into an area less than half a mile square. When the bombing stopped, over six hundred Allied artillery pieces opened fire, churning the ruins for yet another hour. The net result was to turn the town into a mini-Stalingrad, full of rubble, craters and shellholes. The New Zealand troops advancing on Castle Hill and the town jail reached the outskirts with little difficulty. But as the Kiwis turned toward the next objectives, the Nunnery and the Hotel des Roses, German opposition appeared.

Defender: German (Bataillon II, Fallschirmjäger Regiment 3)  

Errata (source)