[Shooter 2.5]

" My point is that the destruction of the abbey served no tactical purpose, and that this destruction was entirely elective and avoidable."

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
The picture I have from that book has the Abbot with four german soldiers, two of which look like they are highly ranked. The Abbot did survive by staying in one of the cellars. The person I'm trying to contact for my own information is the son of a man who commanded troops during the battle. I'm sure he would know where their command headquarters was located.

[Romulus]

Yes, the Germans got tremendous propaganda mileage out of the whole affair. The Abbot emerged from the rubble in a very unspititual mood, and told anyone willing to listen that he had had no Germans inside his walls; that the destruction of the Abbey was a war crime. the Germans, being no fools, were happy to give to distraught old man a platform.

You can read all about it in Owen Chadwick's magnificent Britain and the Vatican during the Second World War