Name: Mount Trocchio The German Barrier
Brand: Monte Cassino War Tours
SKU: Trocchio
Price: 90 Eur
Availability: InStock

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Mount Trocchio The German Barrier: WHAT TO EXPECT

Studying the Four Battles of Montecassino, to fully understand the different attacks, I revisited with fresh eyes all the places I had known for years. The first place I reached was the summit of Monte Trocchio. Let’s remember what happened here 81 years ago.

Mount Trocchio and the 34th Division attack

On January 9th, the battlefield shifted to the slopes of Mount Trocchio, where the battle began on January 10th. The 168th Infantry Regiment of the 34th Red Bull Division launched its attack from a small hill called Il Gallo and the surrounding ridges, but it wasn’t until January 11th that they were able to assault Cervaro, a small mountain town reduced to rubble. The 71st Panzer Grenadier Regiment, reinforced during the night of January 10th–11th by soldiers from the Hermann Goering Panzer Division, was well entrenched in the stone houses and cellars of Cervaro’s town center. Cervaro was captured on January 12th, but the enemy resistance did not collapse immediately, and the Germans eventually retreated.

Mount Trocchio, the German Barrier of the Hermann Göring Division

The 168th reached Le Pastenelle and the Rapido plain. The other regiments of the 34th Division supported the 168th, and by January 13th they were ready to assist in the attack on Mount Trocchio. The 135th reached Point 189, located between Cervaro and Mount Trocchio along Highway No. 6, where the 2nd Hermann Goering Regiment had established some dangerous pillboxes.

Mount Trocchio, the 36th Division attack

When the Germans were attacked by the 168th on one side and the 34th on the other, they retreated. The Allied forces then organized their assault: the 34th was to attack the northern flank of Mount Trocchio, the 168th from Le Pastenelle on the Highway No. 6 side, and the 141st Infantry of the 36th Texas Division from the south. However, the Germans had already withdrawn, and the Allies secured one of the best observation points they could have for the next three months: Mount Trocchio and its castle, which offered a perfect view of the entire Liri Valley.

Life magazine describing Mt. Trocchio assault

On February 14th, 1944, Life magazine published an article titled “Artillery and Infantry in Italy,” illustrated with photos by Margaret Bourke-White and Robert Capa. The article described the artillery action by focusing on the storming of Mount Trocchio.

“A good example is the storming on January 15th of Mount Trocchio, which was blocking the road to Cassino. During the early part of the night of January 14th, Allied artillery fire was only moderately heavy. At 5:30 a.m., however, a heavy barrage began.”

With deadly efficiency, the mountain was swept from bottom to top, east to west. In one hour, 5,000 rounds were fired from more than 200 guns. At 6:30 a.m., the barrage promptly stopped, and the infantry moved forward. By noon, the hill had been taken.

Although the hill was captured, there were great losses of life caused by German attacks on two medical dressing stations in the area.

Thanks to Alessandro Pistilli and Giuseppe Giovini for the modern pictures of Trocchio hill and Thanks to the Facebook page called War Memories-Memorie di Guerra, for the old ones.