It could be the way you define your environment in the DSL config I have similar setup: Grails 1.3.7 + Tomcat 6.0 this works great for me.
It had something to do with a bogus web-inf file that resided from a long time ago. This works correctly when that is not there.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.