WWII

Monte Cassino: Remembering the brutal four-month Second World War battle 80 years on

Watch: Claire Sadler explains why the campaign took four months and four attempts.

The battle of Monte Cassino was a pivotal event in the Italian campaign during the Second World War.

It was one of the bloodiest engagements of the war, and was infamous for its destruction of the monastery.

Monte Cassino eventually resulted in an Allied victory, but it cost 55,000 Allied casualties and the deaths of 2,000 civilians.

Why did it take the Allies four months and four attempts to capture it and secure the route to Rome? Claire Sadler's video above explains.