WIND AND RAIN

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 81, 3 October 1944, Page 6

WIND AND RAIN

BTH ARMY'S TRIALS (Official War Correspondent N.Z.E.F.) • EIGHTH ARMY FRONT, Sfpt. 29. ! Torrential rain squalls continue to handicap movement on this front, and New. Zealand infantry and tanks are surrounded by a a desolate stretch of soaked ground just south of the Fiumecino River. • The New Zealanders reached this position yesterday afternoon, driving the enemy from this side of the river. The enemy tried to infiltrate through our lines last night, some carrying bazookas and eyidently seeking our'tanks. An infantry screen halted them, and they were forced to retire.

The wintry weather has come upon us. quite suddenly, and the only protection many of the men have had against. it was the gas cape, usually used in Italy as a raincoat. Mortar tire was heavy, and natural cover, did not exist.; The men dug in, but as fast as they- dug the slit trenches filled with water,- and they had to take to the, water or be caught by shrapnel. It was small comfort to know that the discomfort of the enemy was -just as great. Later the majority of the New Zealanders found some shelter in shattered houses, but even there the. gale swept the rain through shellholes in the roofs and walls.. Further back, where bivouacs were erected; the wind and rain brought miserable conditions, many of the. bivouacs being flattened out. The tracks into camp areas are deep in mud, which clings to the boots in heavy lumps. The Fiumecino has risen considerably, and to bridge it would require aboul a hundred-foot span.. The banks are heavily mined and wired, so it forms' a formidable barrier. . Forces on oui left crossed the river yesterday, bui other troops are faced with strong defensive positions on the south side oi the river. The rain, has eased, but the gale continues.