EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNT

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 16, 20 January 1944, Page 5

EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNT

NIGHT LIT UP BY GUNS

Rec. 11.50 a.m. RUGBY, Jan. 19. The first place of the crossing of the Garigliano River is at Suio, a village on a height of 1500 feet just across the river a mile from Castelforte and seven miles inland. The second is near the Capua-Rome railway, four miles east of Minturno, and the third is at Arento, near the mouth of the river. The crossings were made in the face of heavy mortar and machine-gun fire. Despite fierce opposition, the bridgeheads have been maintained, and fighting continues. A correspondent who watched the assault writes: "The flooded approaches of the river near the sea and the mountains that rise as the river widens inland together make the approaches to the stream extremely difficult, but along the banks themselves thick trees provide cover. The attack began, at 9 p.m. For 24 hours our men had been hiding in cramped positions, edging their way forward yard by yard with assault boats and collapse craft. Bofors guns firing tracer shells were the first to open up, followed by the sharp crack of 25-pounders. The hills behind were bright with gun flashes. Fires were started at two places on the opposite bank. The fierce blazes illuminated the whole scene. Artillery support was given as the infantry forged forward. The detonations only died away with the first light of dawn, when reports came back of a penetration along the whole line of attack and parties of prisoners came drifting back." On the Eighth Army front Canadian troops achieved limited objectives, withdrawing under cover of night to their original positions, another correspondent reports. At Ataletta, two miles south of San Angelo, the British encountered German ski troops. In the Orsogna area the Germans forming up to raid houses held by us were shelled and dispersed. Patrol activity and shelling are in progress all along the front in rainy weather and low cloud—B.O.W.