High Stakes! A StuG in Cassino

During the winter and early spring of 1944 Monte Cassino, a mountain monastery built in the 15th century became a center piece of an Allied military strategy of the Italian Campaign. The Campaign’s goal was to retake Rome, and to do this, (among many other objectives) they needed to break through the Winter Line. It was a tough line to take with difficult river crossings, deep valleys and steep mountains already occupied by experienced German forces. The monastery on the mount was founded in 529, the city had been there since Roman times. As with many religious sites under Nazi control it was capriciously deemed a “protected” historic zone and left unoccupied by the Germans. Either way, the Allies were convinced that the Germans were using the abbey as an observation post. There was no evidence of this, but it was marked for destruction and on February 15th, 1944, Allied bombers leveled the area with 1,400 tons of ordinance. Over 200 Italian civilians seeking refuge in the abbey were killed, and zero German soldiers. Yikes! Ironically, the destroyed abbey created the perfect defensive outpost for the Germans, which they took full advantage of. Fallschirmjäger forces Woo, can you turn that into a Wiki link (German paratroopers) were dispatched and established an effective defense amid the ruins. They also created an important observation post! It took 4 months in the Winter/Spring of ’44 and 4 separate attacks to finally break through the German defenses. The Allies suffered almost 3 times the casualties of the Germans, 55,000 Allied vs. 20,000 German casualties. Historically, it is considered a Pyrrhic victory.

This diorama depicts a scene soon after the February air-bombardment of Monte Cassino. Even though the operation was a strategic failure, it still sent a message that the Allies were continuing to bear down. The Germans mobilized their defenses, and they had a lot of firepower; AFVs like the StuG were pivotal.
Here we are on the war-torn outskirts of Cassino, an ancient city a couple kilometers from the eponymous monastery on the mount. A StuG commander is speaking to a passing soldier; perhaps he is getting directions, or news of recent activities, or wine intel. One of the titles I thought up for this diorama was “Bist du sicher?”…”Are you sure?” Depicting the conversation between the Panzer commander and the Wehrmacht infantryman. The mood is subdued, or at least subdued enough for a smoke or two, which the StuG’s driver and the sitting soldier are enjoying; for now, he is unburdened of the MG 34, it must be a relief. There is an injured mechanic hitching a ride, presently rehydrating; perhaps they need him for something, good insurance in case of a breakdown.

This is the first WW2 diorama I’ve done in 1:16 scale. It was enjoyable, but finding the buildings and accessories in the scale proved difficult. I spent a lot of money just to get an object to use out of some unrelated kit, I even utilized doll-house accessories. I did find the brazier, modified from a fuel-drum on eBay and had fun turning it into a functioning smoking brazier…one of the advantages of a larger scale. For the smoke, I burned incense in a metal, mini wine cap which worked well indoors, but not outside with wind. Oh well…I was thinking dry ice might work better. Since the smoke mostly blew away, I did some smoky photoshop enhancements on a few photos.