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Item # 697721

February 15, 1944

FITCHBURG SENTINEL, Mass. Feb. 15, 1944

* Battle of Monte Cassino Abbey - Kingdom of Italy
* Allied bombing air raid of Benedictine Monastery


The front page has a nice banner headline: "U. S. PLANES BOMB CASSINO ABBEY" with subheads and related photo. (see images) Nice for display.
Complete with 10 pages, light toning at the margins, a little spine wear, generally good.

wikipedia notes: On 15 February 1944 the abbey was almost completely destroyed in a series of heavy, American-led air raids. General Sir Harold Alexander, with the support of numerous Allied commanders, ordered the bombing, which was conducted due to several reports from British Indian Army officers suggesting that German forces were occupying the monastery; the abbey was considered a key observation post by all those who were fighting in the field. However, during the bombing no German troops were present in the abbey. Subsequent investigations found that the only people killed in the monastery by the bombing were 230 Italian civilians seeking refuge there.

Category: The 20th Century