N.Z. TROOPS AT CASSINO

Press, Volume LXXX, Issue 24187, 21 February 1944, Page 5

N.Z. TROOPS AT CASSINO

Strengthening sth Army’s Assault OBJECTIVE WON IN NIGHT ATTACK (8.0. W.) RUGBY, Feb. 19. “New Zealand troops, were rushed under conditions of strictest secrecy, from a place where they were resting’ in reserve, to strengthen the sth Army’s assault on' Cassino,” says an agency war correspondent at Allied Forces Headquarters, “Trained as night fighters, the New Zealanders went into the attack, employing devastating bayonet tactics, on Thursday night and in the early hours of Friday. “I am not allowed to state in which sector they are fighting; but as usual they got their objective.’’ The same correspondent reports; “Devastating attacks were launched by Allied troops along the Rapido river at the town of Cassino. Elements of the Allied forces now hold the railway station a mile south of Cassino. in all sectors of the Cassino front the Germans are resisting furiously. With’ the town almost completely surrounded, the Allied attacks continue grimly. The offensive is developing in ferocity hour by hour.” Saturday’s Allied communique said that troops of New Zealand and Indian formations were taking part in attacks in the sector west of Monte Cassino. “HARD FIGHTING AHEAD” MESSAGE FROM GENERAL FREYBERG (P.A.) WELLINGTON, Feb. 20. The 2nd New Zealand Division, which had some lime ago been moved secretly from the Bth to'the sth Army, has taken over a sector of the fighting front in the Cassino area. An announcement to this effect was made to-night by the Prime Minister (the Rl. Hon P. Fraser), who said that, in his latest report General Freyborg had indicated hard fighting ahead and referred to the excellent spirits of all ranks. “It may be assumed,” said Mr Fraser, “that this splendid New Zealand division will once again prove its outstanding worth in whatever task may he assigned to it.” “SITUATION IN HAND” WASHINGTON STATEMENT ON ITALY (Rcc. 10 p.in.) WASHINGTON, Feb. 19. The United States Under-Secretary for War (Mr Robert Patterson) declared: “The situation in Italy is in hand and the prospects are promising. There is no doubt at all about our ability to hold the Anzio beachhead.”

CONCENTRATION CAMPJTRIAL ALGERIAN VILLAGE MURDER AND TORTURE ALLEGED LONDON, Feb. 18. The trial of 11 men for torturing and murdering prisoners in the Vichy concentration camp at Colomb Bcchar, in Algeria, opened to-day, reports the Algiers correspondent of “The Times.” The former camp commandant (Lieutenant Snntucci) is among the accused who are six Frenchmen, two Germans, one Italian, one Russian, and one Algerian. The witnesses are of even more diverse nationalities. "This is plainly not merely a French affair but a world one; Nazism with its concentration camps and bestiality is on trial with the world lo witness against it,” says the correspondent. The list of charges, which covers four sheets, include murder accusations against five accused. It is a gruesome document. The atrocities alleged include the boating of wounded on their heads with truncheons, the refusal of access by the sick to doctors until too late,,and the starving of healthy men until they fell and aied. One prisoner, who was a Spaniard formerly with the Republican Army, was alleged to have been handed over to the guards with orders that ho should be disposed of within a week. Ho was described as a natural athlete, hard, and strong. He was beaten almost without respite for seven days. On the eighth day ho died. Atrocities are alleged to have been perpetrated against men of the Foreign Legion, mostly intellectuals, who joined up after the outbreak of war. "The admission of shocking treatment of internees at the Colomb Bcchar concentration camp electrified the Court. says the Algiers correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph,” The accused rclaied incidents of - prisoners so undernourished and starving that they ale grass, frogs, and snakes, of epileptics wrilhing round in fits being bludgeoned, of prisoners being forced to drink large quantities of salt water. "As the narrative of appalling conditions proceeded such loud murmurs of indignation arose in the Court that the judge had to exert his authority to maintain order. The prisoners on several occasions blamed each other for the acts of violence and tension sometimes ran so high that guards with fixed bayonets had lo prevent a clash.” Colomb Bcchar is in the heart of the desert, 14 miles from the Morocco border. It is 460 miles from the coast.

HIGHEST RUSSIAN AWARD FIVE ALLIED MILITARY LEADERS (8.0. W.) RUGBY, Feb. in. President Kalinin has announced that. Genera] Eisenhower has been awarded the highest Soviet military award, the Order of Suvorov “for outstanding successes in the direction of troops and in carrying out the landing and battle operations of (he British and American armed forces in North Africa and Italy against the common enemy of the Soviet Union and the United Slates.” Lieutenant-General Carl Kpaatz, MajorGeneral Ira C. Eaker, and LieutenantGeneral Sir Keith Anderson have received lesser awards. The Moscow radio has announced that Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser has been awarded the Order of Suvorov (first class) for a successful action in bringing the convoy (n Russia as the result of which the Scharnhorst was sunk. The Order of Suvorov (first class) has also been awarded to Admiral Sir John Tovey, General Sir Harold Alexander, and Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris for outstanding military operations and distinguished leadership in the war against the common enemy. ALLIED TROOPSHIP ■ SUNK BERLIN RADIO REPORT LONDON, Feb. 39. The Berlin radio has announced that an Italian troopship carrying British and American troops was blown up between Taranto and Brindisi. Several hundred American troops were killed. The radio did not specify the date or the sinking.