Hi guys!

This might be a bit fare fetched, but here goes!

I’ll be doing a Cassino vinette’ish thing soon and I’m using this photograph from a book as a reference for a building. On the web I found a picture taken moments earlier on the same spot.
Thing is, I’d really like to know what’s outside the top of the frame, how to complete the building above the arches?!

At the German Bundes Archive, where I found the second picture, the picture text said “innerhof” which means inner courtyard. The courtyard in the monastery, or in the town itself???

I also have a picture, which was probably taken in the town of Cassino. The doorways are similar to the ones on the “courtyard” pic. Could it be the same building or was that just the only model they had at Doors “R” Us in Cassino at that time?…

So anyway, does anyone know where this is? Does someone have other pictures of similar places in Cassino? Has anyone been to the monastery and seen this particular inner courtyard?

I’ve tried just about every thing, even gave Google maps a try hoping to find the door. But it was probably demolished during the fighting or afterwards…

I know I'm probably on a wild goose chase...

Ole

The arches -and those wrought-iron gates- are of a standard model seen all over Italy (and in both the M-C monestary and on town buildings). The colour pic is not, however, of the same scene as those BW shots. The BW pics clearly show a corner within a structure (hence appropriate to label as the "innerhof" in a building), whereas the colour building has 2 portals depicted side-by-side.

I believe the BW pics depict within the monestary proper. The main German obs positions and central point-of-contest was the monestary. The town lies mostly down-slope, If I recollect from my visit there in '76 right, of that monestary complex which figures so much in history.

It would certes make a neat dio! I'll never do anything remotely like this... my figures always look quite amateur clown-like and even crappy! Better to leave this sort of thing to folks with talent!

Hi Bob, thanks for your reply! Yes I know that the colour pic isn’t the same motive as the B Ws. Just thought that the B Ws could have been the inner courtyard of that particular building.

As you say, I too recon that it’s somewhere inside the monastery. I had a look at some satellite pictures of the place, trying to locate the place inside the complex, but with no success.

Maybe I should hop on a plane and go just there myself this coming weekend!

As for the dio project, I won’t be doing the figures like in the picture. I thing I’ll be using Dragons “Monte Cassino Defenders” in some configuration. But then again, the scene in the photo would make a cool dio…

Hi Ole, Here are a couple of links of Monastery photos that may help you.....Vince
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Monte_Cassino_abbey.JPG
http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q=monte+cassino+monastery+photos&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=asogTOaVJoKC8gaGkuCAAQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CA8QsAQwAA

Thanks Vince!

Way too late to help, but for anyone who stumbles across this thread...

The colour pic is of Palazzo Bruno which was on the north side of the same square as the famed (but mis-named) Hotel Continental stood on. The square was known as the Fischmarkt (fishmarket) by the Germans, and Piazzo Ciano by the Italians both of whom go to see it before the bombing. I'm sure it was known as 'that flatter bit of rubble strewn ground' to the Allies. The square stood on the corner where Route 6 turned from an E-W direction to S-N, and this corner of the town was the last bastion of the German defenders. Palazzo Bruno was rebuilt in a more modern style.

The arched doorways were a common feature of Cassino, as was the grillwork so they could be anywhere. Anywhere except the monastery that is, as these features were not a part of its design. There are other pics in this series that show the building to be somewhere within the town itself. However I have not been able to narrow down where that might be.

See The Battles for Monte Cassino: Then and Now by Jeff Plowman and myself for more detail and pics.

The film sequence makes it certain that these are in Cassino, but you have reinforced that the features are common all over Italy

Hi Ole

Fabio Mosca, an italian modeller of Alfamodel club (Rome) has done the same dio which you want to depict

http://www.dalvolturnoacassino.it/asp/doc.asp?id=016



He's done also a diorama which depict the Hotel Continental strike



http://www.dalvolturnoacassino.it/asp/doc.asp?id=230

In the links you can find his E-mail
I don't know him but I think you should write to ask more information about his jobs

I hope this is useful for you

Haha that’s funny! Great dio Fabio Mosca did there. Exactly the same, as my initial idea. Some time ago I decided to work on a different project. I did start on a Cassino dio, made a base and most of the figures, but somehow it wasn’t working for me. Maybe I’ll post a few pics here just to show you my idea.

Thanks for the posts guys!