REST PERIOD

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 9 April 1945, Page 4

REST PERIOD

N.Z. DIVISION IN ITALY WITHDRAWAL FROM THE LINE Divisional Headquarters, March 25. After three months in the line under severe winter conditions the New Zealand division was withdrawn to an area well removed from the battlefront for rest and training. It was at the end of November that the division, after a month’s rest, took up a position along the Lainone River before Faenza in waterlogged countryside. A fortnight later two successive brigade attacks were put in under heavy artillery barrages. The first, which exploited a bridgehead established across the Lamone River by an English division, outflanked Faenza and forced the Germans to evacuate the town. The second sustained the momentum of the dr.* and threw back the enemy to the line ol the Senio RivTfae winter line was established along 1 the Senio and the New Zealanders settled down to two months of an extremely monotonous type of warfare, enlivened only by occasional small engagements. When the time came for the division to be relieved Ihey were more than ready for the relaxation they are now enjoying. The countryside where the troops are at present 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.