The year 1944 entered the history by opening a new World War II front in France, Normandy. The Allies continued their crusade in the south before they attacked the West. When they came across the Monte Cassino monastery during the procession of Italy, they did not know that they will fight for its ruins in one of the most famous battles of the war. The Czech Mint commemorates this remarkable battle by issuance of the first gold coin from the miniseries War Year 1944.

The Benedictine monastery, standing atop the 520-meter high mountain, was a key strategic point. It was impossible to avoid the mountain. Who held it, controlled the way to the conquest of Rome and the overthrow of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. It is no wonder, that it was occupied by the elite German paratroopers who successfully resisted the first enemy attacks. The commanders of the attack considered the monastery, which was found by Saint Benedict in 529, as a support for the Germans, and they chose to bomb it out. They did not know that the Nazis had promised that the historic monument of incalculable values ​​would save warfare, and they would only be hidden on the slopes of the mountain. The air strike of 229 bombers transformed the complex into a maze of ruins that the Germans immediately occupied and used as a perfect defensive position. The tactical mistake of Allied commanders caused that the Battle of Monte Cassino took four months and became one of the longest and hardest encounters of the entire war. Soldiers of many nationalities fought on the side of the Allies, but the Poles, whose flag was eventually raised upon the monastery, distinguished the most. The domesticated bear Wojtek served in the Polish ranks and carried them the ammunition. Still, it was the Pyrrha's victory - Allied losses were five-fold than the German...

The reverse side of the coin was made by the medal maker and pedagogue Mgr. Petr Horak and presents Polish soldiers in British uniforms as they march from the rocky slopes of the mountain to the smoldering ruins of the monastery. Italian inscription presents BATTAGLIA DI MONTE CASSINO - Battle of Monte Cassino. The obverse side is common to the entire miniseries War Year 1944 and presents necessary details of the coin issuer and the flags of the states that participated in the operations depicted on four coins. Since the Pacific island of Niue provides the Czech Mint with the license to issue its own commemorative coins, they bear the name and the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, the nominal value of 5 DOLLARS (NZD) and the year of issue 2019.

You can save a collection of four war coins in a thematic metal etui.