2-612-006 - Keystone Archives/Heritage Images

New Zealand anti-tank gun crew in action, near Cassino, Italy, World War II, 1944. The site of a monastery in the Appenine Mountains of central Italy, Monte Cassino was the linchpin of the German defensive line known as the Gustav Line, built to stop the Allied advance northwards through Italy. The monastery itself was not actually occupied by the Germans but, believing it was, the US Air Force destroyed it by bombing on 15 February 1944. German troops then occupied the ruins, which were the scene of fierce fighting until Allied troops finally captured Monte Cassino on 18 May. The nearby town of Cassino was almost totally destroyed in the battle.