THE POLES AT MONTE CASSINO

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30325, 28 December 1963, Page 3

THE POLES AT MONTE CASSINO

[Revteicta Ov AR.) ! Monte Caasine. The Historic Battle. By Charles Connell. Elek Books. 207 pp. Crete and Cassino remain’ the two battles of the Second World War which are most discussed by New Zealanders. General Kippenberger com- i mented publicly on decisions: taken at Cassino. Simply because Cassino remains a sub-j ject of controversy, it re-j mains a matter of interest to many who were there and to many who have read what General Mark Clark or some' other general has said about it All those interested will! continue to argue the merits and demerits of such acts as the bombing of the famous' monastery. Little new evi-’ dence may come to light, but; the debate will go on.

Charles Connell's book is , not a particularly notable contribution to the growing l.’.erature on the series of. battles fought around Cassino i Aware of his own limitations and the immensity of the subject, the author has wisely concentrated on one aspect of the story, the contribution which the Poles made to the Allied victory at Monte Cassino But he does make some general observations, which may well spark off further arguments. On the vexed question of the bombing of the Abbey, after pointing out that the attack could be condemned as an act of wanton destruction and one which helped the Germans by transforming the Abbey into a fortress. Connell suggests that his readers should try to see the issue through the eyes of (General Freyberg, the man on the spot “and undoubtedly in the best position to weigh the pros and cons.” He argues:

■ He knew hia men and quite rightly refused to commit the psychological blunder of launching them against a defensive system dominated by a huge building incongruously intact in an area where all else had been pounded into debris The very fact that it was there justified his attitude. Occupied by the Germans or not. the massive structure inspired awe and uncer’atnty. It represented the unknown. By cutting it down to size General Freyberg was s-nply ensuring that his soldiers would start the battle with the usual quota of fearlessness and confidence."

Connell is in good company when he applauds the attitude of General Juin, who criticised the attempt to crack the Gustav Line by attacking

it at its strongest point, Cassino. Juin advocated concentration on A*ina as likely to be less costly in men and material and more productive of results. In the May. 1944. attacks, the French advance in the Aurunci mountains “played a vital part in the

stemmed from the Cassino break-through revolves round the consequences which might well have accompanied the blocking of the enemy’s escape route and then the striking at the enemy positions in the Balkans. That the enemy were not cut off, but I lived to fight another day and I to prolong the war both inj Italy and in Europe generally was due. Connell holds, to the fact that General Trus-j cott’s Anzio troops, well positioned for closing the trap, were ordered to head for Rome. He says: “The blame for this short-sighted manoeuvre can be placed squarely on the shoulders of General Mark Clark. . . . There is something almost childish in Clark's attitude on this occasion. For him the advance up the leg of the Boot had become a race, with Rome as the winning-post.” Many New* Zealanders paid dearly for this decision, and for the subsequent unfortunate weakening of the Italian attack in favour of the landings in the south of France.

overall Allied strategy atj Cassino." Their blows at a. weak point of Gustav Line: broke that defensive system! and showed that more than' one road led to Rome. Sup-i port is thus given for Liddell' Hart's advocacy of “the in-, d.rect approach” as the strategy most worthy of support. tn his concluding chapter,: Connell makes his most strik-. ing and provocative state-' ments. Claiming that the final balance sheet of the Cassino battles could have “shown a tremendous profit." he insists that they might have resulted In the encirclement of the German 10th Army, and the total German defeat in 1944 and “could have been the prelude to a campaign that would have changed the whole pattern of East-West relations after the cessation of hostilities.” His argument that|fese results might have

But to pick on these points, interesting though they are,! is to pass over the main purpose of this book which is to bring out the full importance of the efforts of the 2nd Polish Corps in the battles of Cassino. The earlier fighting in which the Americans and New Zealanders played a prominent part is only very sketchily covered, as the bulk of the book is devoted to the preparations made by General Anders and his subordinates for the two

attacks launched by the Poles. While some of the chapters on the administrative arrangements follow the operation orders too closely, the sections devoted to personal accounts of Polish participants in the fighting are firsti class. The spirit of the Poles and their esprit de corps were : probably never at a higher : pitch than during their 1 assault on the German posi- | tions at Cassino. “The men ! of the 2nd Polish Corps fought that particular battle with I reckless bravery and an utter disregard for personal safety. They were inspired, dedicated. possessed.” They made ‘ an important contribution to I victory there but, in so doing, nearly 4000 Poles were killed or wounded.

As history, this book does not compare very favourably with the official New Zealand war history written by Professor N. C. Phillips. As a dramatic account of the fighting, it falls short of the standard reached by F. Majdalany In “The Monastery.” But it succeeds in bringing home to its readers the qualities i shown by General Anders and his men under desperately trying conditions. “Passer-by, tell Poland that we fell, faithful to her service” are the words inscribed | on the entrance to the section of the Cassino cemetery where over a thousand Poles lie buried. Justice may not have been done to these Poles in the post-war reorganisation of I their country, but a worthy tribute has been paid to their i efforts at Cassino.