CAPTURE OF FAENZA

Press, Volume LXXX, Issue 24444, 19 December 1944, Page 6

CAPTURE OF FAENZA

— « — NEW ZEALANDERS’ PART OUTFLANKING MOVE (Official War Correspondent N.Z.E.F.) FORLI, Dec. 16. Assisted by the favourable weather which has prevailed since they began their attack the night before last, infantry and armoured troops of the New Zealand Division entered Faenza, cleared the main road for another three miles and a half, and in the process have administered a thrashing to the German 90th Panzer Grenadier Division, nearly 300 of which are now our prisoners. After yesterday’s successful push parallel with Route 9, our forces continued the advance at daylignt to-day, and against steady resistance wheeled right on to the road, which is now in our hands, to the Senio river. The extent to which the New Zealanders had gone beyond Faenza yesterday made it almost inevitable that the Germans would vacate the town, so that early steps were taken to-day to ascertain whether or not he had withdrawn.

Demonstrations by troops of another New Zealand infantry brigade on the eastern bank of the Lamone river opposite the town failed to draw fire, so during the morning a patrol was sent in to make closer reconnaissance. Over the remains of a demolished bridge oiled up with driftwood and planks, men warily crossed the river, climbed the far bank and entered the town. They made a circuit of one block without striking resistance, and the only persons they met were three civilians who informed them that all but a few Germans had left before daylight. Town Being Cleared Bringing the Italians back for interrogation, the patrol returned with this information, and in the early afternoon two companies of infantry crossed the river ana began a systematic clearing of the town.

Engineers were busy with mine detectors, and soon heavy trucks were rolling up from Forli with Bailey bridging gear on which the men will be working all night to enable wheeled traffic to enter Faenza at the earliest possible moment. It will be a big job, too, because a bridge of not less than 250 feet will be required. Meanwhile our forward infantry and armoured elements, dealing with machine-gun posts and opposition from tanks, forged steadily on to the eastern bank of the Senio, covering an additional 1000 to 1500 yards beyond yesterday’s advance. Then, swinging in a complete right turn, they moved up to the line of the Bologna road. Some German resistance came from a railway embankment running parallel and half a mile away, but the immediate objective of the two days’ attack had been achieved with the cutting of the road and the forcing of the enemy to withdraw from Faenza. Apart from the prisoners, a good many Germans were left dead above ground, and our gains have been made ■with only moderate casualties. A tribute to the fighting efficiency of the New Zealanders came to-day from a captured German officer who said the success of our initial night attack was due in large measure to the way our advancing infantry kept right up under the artillery barrage and were on the defending troops while they were still shaken by the concussion of the bursting shells.

Hard Initial Struggle Exploiting the' bridgehead established across the Lamone river nearly a fortnight ago, the New Zealanders put in their attack with the object of outflanking the German strongpomt at Faenza and thus loosening the entire enemy hold- on the country between the Lamone and the next river barrier, the Senio. . . . Although the attack did not begin ■until nearly midnight two days ago, our troops, before the final outflanking move, were established a good 2000 yards beyond their starting point. The New Zealanders knew when they started off that they were pitted against the 00th Panzer Grenadier Division, the successor of the celebrated 90th Light Division, so often fought in the desert and eventually captured in Tunisia. ' But they had been more than 19 months waiting to meet the reformed 90th. Instead. of the desert they fought in the hills and mud, and rim fell early, but bjr daylight the sun was shining and by. l oclock nature favoured us more than the Hun, Three times the Huns put in counter-attacks, but our infantry wiped them out.