BREAK INTO DEFENCES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 17 April 1944, Page 5

BREAK INTO DEFENCES

Part Played by Second New Zealand Division

REVIEW BY GENERAL FREYBERG Wellington, This Day. The part played by the Second New Zealand Division in recent operations at Cassino is reviewed by Lieutenant-General Sir Bernard Freyberg, V.C., in a report issued at the week-end by the Acting Prime Minister, the Hon. D. G. Sullivan. The report reveals that the New Zealand Division, which had the task of storming Cassino. is now commanded by Major-General G. B. Parkinson. General Freyberg states that the plan was to reduce the encounter battle to a minimum by the violence of the initial blow from the air, but the blitz bombing proved a double-edged weapon and produced obstacles which made speedy deployment of our armour impossible.

Though the strong defence? at Cas.mo have held, the main defensive system has been broken into and in the fierce battles there have been heavy enemy casualties. Many gallant exploits were performed by the British. American. Indian and New Zealand troops who fought over the steep hills and in the town. General Freyberg states: "I have the honour to report on the part played by the New Zealand forces in the recent operations at Cassino. Reports of the fighting from our war correspondents have been sent to New Zealand, and my purpose is merely to give a brief, connected picture of our operations during the last two months. "In earlier cables I reported to you that we had temporarily become a New Zealand Corps under the Fifth American Army for operations with the Fourth Indian Division, a British division and British and American armour and guns under the command. As stated in an earlier message to you. when our role was assigned to us we had no illusions about the difficulties of the task ahead. I indicated then: We are undoubtedly facing one of the most difficult operations of all our battles.’ "The Cassino position is a formidable one. and not for the first time in history it has barred the way to armies advancing into the Liri Valley, which leads to Rome. Cassino. once a substantial stone town, lies at the foot of Monastery Hill, which rises sheerly out of the plain not unlike; the rock of Gibraltar in steepness and height. The road and railway to Rome pass through Cassino. NATURAL FORTRESS "The narrow plain over which we had to advance was flooded, wired and mined, and the entire defensive system was covered by the small but swift-flowing Rapido River. From the vantage point of the monastery the enemy could watch and bring down fire on every movement on the roads or in the open country in the plains below. This natural fortress of the enemy's Gustav Line held up the American advance earlier in the year, and it was from the American Corps that we took over, after coming across from the Eighth Army front. "As we drove forward we saw the ideal defensive country from which the American. British and French troops of the Fifth Army had driven the enemy after months of heavy and most gallant fighting. At Cassino they attacked again and again, gaining important peaks to the north and a foothold in the northern edge of the town itself. These were the positions we took over, the Fourth Indian Division moving into the mountains to the north, while the Second New Zealand Division occupied the northern outskirts of Cassino. "Since the middle of February, we have maintained pressure on the Cassino front. The enemy has been attacked from the air and bombarded by artillery. and has been forced to emplay his reserves to meet the threat of a break-through. He put in the first available troops to hold Cassino, and the heights above it. but on 15th Februaiy the Benedictine Monastery was destroyed by heavy air bombardment, a step which was forced upon us because, in spite of enemy protests to the contrary. it was being used a s an observatory for military purposes. “Prior tj the main attack on Cassino itself the Fourth Indian Division fought a battle on steep, rocky slopes to the north of the monastery. They gained ground on Point 593 and have held it ever since, in spite of enemy counter-attacks, and very difficult conditions. The enemy had prepared their position in advance and their firing points blasted into rock had to be stormed at night with hand-grenades and bayonet. "On 17th and 18th February the 28th Maori Battalion carried out operations across the Rapido River south of the town. A bridgehead was won and the engineers were within an ace of getting demolitions repaired and bridges through after magnificent work but dawn came an hour too soon. By daylight the enemy could pick out their targets from Monastery Hill and further work was impossible under continuous fire. Supporting arms could not be got up and our bridge-head was driven back by an enemy tank at* tack. AIR AND ARTILLERY BOMBARDMENT "Meanwhile plans were made for a full-scale attack supported by very heavy air and artillery bombardment. This was to be followed by an infantry assault which, if fully successful, would make a break for the armour into the valley beyond. The attack on f Cassino and Monastery Hill by the Second New Zealand Division and the Fourth Indian Division, dependent as it wa* upon tank and air support, required firm going for the tanks and clear visibility for the bombers. This meant weeks of patient waiting, since weather conditions in February and March in Italy leave much to be desired. "At last, on 15th March, it seemed the weather was right and the attack was launched. Before dawn that morning the New Zealand troops on the northern outskirts of Cassino were withdrawn, and at 8.30 a terrific air attack began. For the first time heavy bombers of the strategic air force as well as medium and light bombers took part in a close air-support progiamme of unprecedented height. "From an observation post I watched already battered Cassino reduced to rubble. Squadron after squadron of Fortresses. Liberators. Mitchells and Marauders of the American Air Force came in with short intervals between the groups to allow the huge clouds of dust and smoke to clear. Flashes of flame from bursting bombs leaped from the buildings and from the slopes above the town, and explosions reverberated through the hills and shook the ground under our feet. No enemy aircraft appeared during the attack. "Enemy A.A. guns were neutralised by artillery, and none fired after 10.30. At 12 o'clock precisely, the last flight medium bombers planted their

bombs with impressive accuracy. I Twelve o'clock was zero hour. Heavy Allied artillery (under our C.C.R.A. Brigadier C. E. Weir) opened fire and the infantry attacked . Your division (under Major-General Parkinson) had the task of storming Cassino. During the air attack there had been no artillery fire on Cassino, as the dust and smoke would have obscured the target for the aircraft, but at zero hour between 500 and 600 guns of all calibres opened on the corps front a bombardment heavier than at Alamein. "Behind a creeping barrage the infantry engineers and tanks advanced into Cassino from the north. The approach was a bottleneck restricted by massive j mountains on the west and by the Rapido River in the east. Only one battalion could be deployed at a time a factor which was a great handicap to our operations. The positions we’ had withdrawn from were occupied without trouble. Our first objective Castle Hill a steep miniature of the monastery feature just north of the town was stormed and captured by the 25th Battalion and the 26th Battalion followed by the 19th Armoured Regiment attacked Cassino itself. “At first our attacks met with little opposition and casualties were very light. Prisoners taken were stunned and reported heavy casualties from the bombing. The town was completely wrecked and the whole area was covered with wide and deep craters up to 60 feet across which could not be crossed by armour. In some places where the bombs had missed buildings or had not penetrated the reinforced base there were snipers and enemy posts which were holding out. On the western edge of the town enemy position blasted into the base of the hill remained intact. From positions south of Monastery Hill enemy flame-throwers and trench-mortars came into action. Heavy artillery bombers and fighter-bombers engaged the enemy mortar areas and continued to attack in depth the enemy positions on Monastery Hill and in areas in the valley beyond. GOOD PROGRESS MADE "By evening good progress had been made and the stage was set for the next vital phase of the attack This was to take advantage of the enemy uisorganisation. During moonlight Cassino was to be mopped up by the New Zealand battalions and troops from the Fourth Indian Division were to take over Castle Hill from our 26th Battalion and then attack Monastery Hill. American and New Zealand engineers were to put a bridge over the Rapido on the main Rome road and clear the routes forward to bring the tanks through the town. "Up to this moment the operations had developed as planned. At nightfall however the weather broke and torrential rain fell throughout the night. Visibility was poor and the moon made little or no difference. It was an impossibility to keep control in the pitch dark and progress in Cassino was slow. “When the Fourth Indian Division moved the town of Cassino had not been cleared. As a result they could not deploy on the precipitous slopes of Monastery Hill and there was inevitable delay and loss of cohesion. In these conditions the achievement of the Gurkha Battalion in capturing ‘Hangman’s Hill,’ the point just below the monastery, before dawn was a magnificent one, but they were too thin on the ground to attack Monastery Hill. The engineers’ task of making the routes and bridging the gaps was also greatly hampered and slowed down by conditions. “Owing to the low-lying nature of the ground, craters were full of water and mud and bridges had to be built across the gaps. In spite of all the difficulties, however, the engineers built steel bridges over the Rapido River before dawn. “On the morning of the 16th Monastery Hill was still in enemy hands and Cassino had not been cleared. Indeed, the enemy had had the opportunity during the night to clear away debris and reorganise a number of strongpoints. It was clear that the hope of obtaining full advantage of the surprise attack and breaking through with the armour | had gont and that further progress would be slow. Cassino had to be cleared so that the New Zealand Division could link up with the Indian Division on Hangman’s Hill. At first light the New Zealand Infantry of the Sixth Brigade with tank support went on with the attack. “Apart from isolated posts, the main enemy resistance was in concrete defences in the south-west corner of the town, known as the Continental Hotel area, and at points at the foot of Castle Hill blasted into the face of the hill, where the enemy resisted fiercely. It was against these points that the New Zealand infantry concentrated during the following days. Close up behind the infantry the engineers built bridges and with bulldozers and had labour gradually cleared routes through. On the 16th tanks of the 19th Armoured Regiment were brought into the town and that morning our 26th Battalion, supported by a squadron of tanks, swung south and made an important advance, capturing the Cassino railway station after fierce fighting. Enemy tanks and anti-tank guns attempted to intervene but were dealt with by our tanks and artillery. MOST BITTER FIGHTING “From now on Cassino became the scene of most bitter fighting and our battalions of the Fifth Brigade under Brigadier Burrows) joined the Sixth Brigade (under Brigadier Bonifant) in | battle for the strongpoints. Our infanI try, closely supported by our tanks, fought forwai d from one heap of rubble to another and dug out snipers n ones and twos. Walls of houses in the west of the town where the enemy held out were literally blown down in sections by our tanks. On the 17th, 180 prisoners were taken from two strongpoints but the enemy still held the western edge of the town securely and was able to supply and reinforce "it by night. For a week, under cover of smoke by day and in waning moonlight by night, the battle went on. By day

and night the town was shelled and mortared by the enemy, while our own guns were continuously in action masking enemy observation points on Monastery Hill with smoke and breaking up enemy . formations and shelling his “While your division fought in Cassino. the British and Indian troops of the Fourth Indian Division fought back counter-attacks in the hills. We were forced off Point 165. but Castle Hill was firmly held by infantry from Essex and Kent. The garrison had already repulsed five counter-attacks made against it. The Gurkhas on Hangman’s Hill and a company of our 24th Battalion on Points 146 and 202 became isolated but held on with great determination. They were supplied by air by American dive-bombers and fighterbombers, which dropped ammunition, water and food in parachute containers with remarkable accuracy on to such difficult targets. Full success of our operation depended on our ability to clear Cassino and link up with these isolated garrisons u that the attack could go on to take the monastery. This could not be accomplished and eventually the isolated troops had to be withdrawn by night. “In an attack against an enemy position such as this the operation always divides itself into three phases: the break-in battle, the encounter battle, and the break-out. Our plan was reduce the second phase to a minimum by the violence of the initial air blow, but the blitz bombing proved a double-edged weapon, and produced obstacles which made speedy deployment of our armour impossible. At Alamein and in the battle of Mareth just one year ago the third phase was reached after several days' heavy fighting and decisive battles were won. “At Cassino the strong defence held and we have not reached the third phase.. We have, however, broken into his main defensive system and in the fierce battles which ensued we have caused the enemy heavy casualties. We have won and now hold part of our objective. We have a bridgehead over the main Rapido River, and we hold Castle Hill, the bulk of th e town and the railway station. “In this battle we have been fighting in the Fifth American Army. I would like to record here our pride in doing so and our deep appreciation of the help and co-operation we have had from General Mark Clark, his staff, and all the formations with which we have served. , “May I quote from a letter I have just received from our army commander: 'Undiscouraged by the hardships of unfavourable weather and extremely difficult terrain, and in the face of a desperate and stubborn enemy, your command has fought with outstanding valour and determination. The fine spirit of cooperation and team-work displayed by your corps, and by other components of the Fifth Army, has shown the enemy clearly that the Allies are truly United Nations and as such will fight together to final victory.’ “Many gallant exploits have been performed by British, American, Indian and New Zealand troops who fought over those steep hills and in the town. Units and individuals cannot be mentioned in this report, but some will be recognised when awards are announced. “I am adding this paragraph on returning from a visit to units in the line. After the hard battle the troops were tired out. but they were recovering quickly and are in good heart.”