Jonny Hun Posted November 18, 2002 Share Posted November 18, 2002 someone posted a quote (i paraphrase) "i dont know if there were any nazis in that monastery or not, but if there weren`t, those monks were the best damned shots ive ever seen" (referring to Monte Cassino) i wanted to ask if i could use it as a sig (not quite sure of the etiquette of these things) oh, and could you let me have the quote again. your granddad had a way with words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yank Posted November 19, 2002 Share Posted November 19, 2002 Howdy Jonny. He he he that's funny. I'm not the one who posted that , but I noticed your request was getting lost in the shuffle. So here's a bump Good luck finding the person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScouseJedi Posted November 19, 2002 Share Posted November 19, 2002 Does this quote mean that before the bombardment the Germans had men inside the monastery? This goes against my (less than perfect) recollection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted November 19, 2002 Share Posted November 19, 2002 There were, apparently, none there before the bombing that preceeded teh New Zealand and Indian attacks, but once it was reduced to ruins by the Allies the Germans figured "why not?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Dorosh Posted November 19, 2002 Share Posted November 19, 2002 Originally posted by Mike: There were, apparently, none there before the bombing that preceeded teh New Zealand and Indian attacks, but once it was reduced to ruins by the Allies the Germans figured "why not?"They found that the rubble made better defensive terrain than the standing monastery would have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScouseJedi Posted November 19, 2002 Share Posted November 19, 2002 Thats what I thought but the 'monks were the best damned shots' implied that there were Germans and Monks in the monastery at the same time. Given the fact that the German commander was a devout Catholic and had pledged to keep his forces away from the building I thought this was the case. After the destruction though all bets were off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted November 19, 2002 Share Posted November 19, 2002 Originally posted by ScouseJedi: Thats what I thought but the 'monks were the best damned shots' implied that there were Germans and Monks in the monastery at the same time.The destruction of the Benedictine Monastary was a tragedy to rate right up there with ... all the other tragedies between 1939 an 1945. Having said that, and regardless of whether there were any Germans in the Monastary or not, the Allied soldiers in the valley below believed there were soldiers and observation posts in there. That, I think, is the basis for the quote. The detruction of the monastary was thought to be, and in fact was, a huge morale lift for the units going into the attack. Regards JonS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellros Posted November 19, 2002 Share Posted November 19, 2002 IIRC, the monks and abbot took shelter in catacombs beneath the monastery and remained there throughtout the bombing and following battle, emerging after it was over. I read that in some historical text about the battle, but can't remember the title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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