The Grim Reapers Roll at Monte Cassino
The battle for Monte Cassino in World War 2 was a series of assaults vs the “Gustav Line” the Germans held in Italy during the mountain campaign. It started with the Allied landings in Sicily and culminated with an attack on the Abbey of Monte Cassino. Bill Bailey and Joe Schelten of PaintballToGo near Roodhouse, Illinois run a great scenario reenactment of the battle. We started out in mock landing craft with the German side firing directly into us. Using smoke and typical Reaper tenacity, we pounded their defensive line on the left flank drawing the flanking fire away from the center allowing our center force to take and defend the 1 st flag. As the gun sounded to end the first hour, and his left flank secure, General Michael Fisher secured the high ground by flag 2 and held it for the entire 2nd hour . The Germans were tenacious and hit us with coordinated infantry and tank attacks, but the Allies held. This is how the g...