N.Z. DIVISION IN ITALY

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24536, 9 April 1945, Page 6

N.Z. DIVISION IN ITALY

WITHDRAWAL TO BACK AREA . PERIOD FOR TRAINING AND RELAXATION

(N.Z.E.F. Official War Correspondent) DIVISIONAL H.Q., March 25. After three months in the line under severe winter conditions, the New Zealand Division has withdrawn to an area well removed from the battlefront tor rest and training. It was at the end of November that the division, after a month’s rest, took up a position along the Lamone river before Faenza, in a countryside of flat fields and vineyards waterlogged by heavy, incessant rain. A fortnight later■ when conditions improved somewhat, two successive brigade attacks were put in under heavy artillery barrages, v 2 The fltsk fwbich exploited a bndgeestablished "hcfoss the Lamone by an, English division, outflanked Faenza and f 6?ced the Germans to evacuate the town. The second was a sustained momentum of the drive which threw back the enemy to the line of the Senio river, the next water barrier on the road to Bologna, Nearly 500 prisoners resulted from these two operations. The winter line was established along the Senio. and the New Zealanders settled down to two months of an extremely monotonous type of warfare, enlivened only-by patrol clashes and occasional small engagements, with the high stopbank of the river as the main objective. Especially for infantrymen, it was a wearisome period, with successive spells in and out of the line, so that when the time came for the division to be relieved the men were more than ready for the relaxation they are now enjoying. The countryside where-the troops are located is a pleasant district in the foothills of the Apennines, and the perfect weather which has prevailed has provided ideal conditions for the strenuous training programme that has been undertaken in preparation for future operations. Opportunity has also been taken during the present break to hold ceremonial parades, at Which honours and awards won by officers and men of the division have been presented by General Freyberg. At one such parade yesterday ' the awards included two won in fighting in the Pacific, as the recipients had since joined the 2nd Division.