To the editor:

David Shribman is right in pointing out that the Benedictine Abbey at Monte Cassino (Italy), containing great cultural treasures, was not occupied by German troops, as Allied military commanders assumed. Therefore, its destruction by carpet bombing in March 1944 was a tragic mistake (Journal-World, March 22).

This is only a fragment of the whole story. The Monte Cassino heights, which controlled the Liri Valley and thus the land route to Rome, formed the key position in the German “Gustav Line.” The abbey itself, located on the heights, was bombed in February. The heights were held by the elite German 1st Parachute Division, positioned around the monastery and in it after the February bombing; that division was bombed in March.

The Germans inflicted great losses on the Allied forces before and after these bombings as they tried to take the monastery in the course of four major battles. The Allied forces directly involved were American, New Zealand and Indian divisions, also the Polish 2nd Corps (part of the British 8th Army). The Poles finally secured the heights and the abbey on May 18.

Anna M. Cienciala,

Lawrence