Photo:  View of Monastery Hill from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery in Cassino.

Monte Cassino was arguably the most perfect defensive position in Europe, its impregnable heights blocking the Allied advance on Rome in early 1944.  It was here that the Germans made their stand.  The rocky, often precipitous terrain rendered heavy armour ineffective: most of the fighting was conducted using infantry and artillery assault.  The bloodbath that ensued - redolent of the worst moments of World War One – left over a quarter of a million men killed or wounded in the six month struggle. The battle for Monte Cassino was Britain's bitterest and bloodiest encounter with the German Army on any front in World War Two.

Matthew Parker, Monte Cassino.  Headline Books 2003.

The Battle of Anzio was nightmarish.  In its pure awfulness it stands comparison with any other battle of the Italian Campaign.  Over four months the Allies lost 7,000 killed and 36,000 wounded or missing (totalling one third of the total VI Corps strength) and a further 44,000 non-battle casualties who were hospitalised due to injuries and sickness.  German losses were at least as heavy.  But whilst these statistics alone are suggestive of a ferocious battle, they fail to do justice to the intensity of the fighting.  For a fuller picture one needs to consider that around 300,000 troops, together with the guns and fighting machines gave battle along a mere sixteen miles of front.

Lloyd Clark, Anzio, the friction of war.  Headline Books 2006.