ITALY SPANNED

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24826, 24 February 1944, Page 4

ITALY SPANNED

DISMAL START AT NIGHT JOURNEY TO VOLTURNO (N.Z.E.F. Official War Correspondent) ITALY, Feb. 21 Spanning the breadth of Italy in fast convoys by day, the New Zealanders moved by roads and mountain passes from the Orsogna sector to beyond the Volturno. The utmost secrecy was observed in the preparations while the division was still engaged against the enemy and when it actually moved only few high-ranking officers knew it was not just going out for a rest.

The trek started in a dismal, drizzling night, and as lights were forbidden the trucks inched forward between the dirty snowbanks at the roadside. The drivers could not afford a second's relaxation until lights could be used, and in the early morning a halt was called for a hot drink and two hours' sleep. At daybreak the convoy restarted over improving roads in bright sunshine and the men had an opportunity to observe the countryside. Signs of earlier battles about the approaches to Tringo. where the rich, rolling country was pitted, and the scars of war in the vicinity of Termili, were seen, and by mid-afternoon a dispersal area was reached in a fertile valley below the frowning old castle of Lucera. Here the troops' journey was finished, hut orders were issued to take on petrol for 200 miles, and next morning the convoy moved quickly off across plains unmarked by war and dotted thickly with communal farm settlements.

After miles of this the troops entered country like the New Zealand gorge districts, where the roads passed bushclad hills and swiftly-running streams. Old-world additions were the ancient stone villages and the hillside battlemen ted strongholds. The road led into the mountains, weaving and twisting through narrow passes and • beneath menacing cliffs. Late in the afternoon the last of the passes was cleared and the convoy entered better going, and by the end of the evening a turn-off was made in a grove of oaks and olives in the broad Volturno Valley, our temporary home.

ADVANCED HOSPITAL UNIT FORMER FASCIST BARRACKS (N.Z.E.F. Official War Correspondent) ITALY, Feb. 22 Within the sound of big guns is the Now Zealand hospital, the most, forward complete hospital unit on the Fifth Army front. It is a little more than an hour's run from the front line, with the result there is quick reception of wounded and sick personnel evacuated from the field ambulances and casualty clearing stations. Minor cases after treatment are returned to their units, via the reinforcement depot near by. and others, with the exception of very serious cases, are transferred to another New Zealand hospital 011 the east, coast when able to travel the 200-mile journey across Italy. Less than a month ago this hospital was operating in the Middle East and for a short time the staff with their equipment were quartered on the east coast of Itnlv, but within a week of receiving orders to move they Were again functioning as a hospital unit close to the Fifth Army front. The buildings they occupy were formerly a Fascist barracks and later a German military hospital. The buildings ore modern and the wards constructed in bays make it very convenient for the handling of patients. Under the present arrangements there is accommodation for (300 patients in five wards, but if required beds could be provided for the reception of close on 1000 men. Evidence of fascist teachings is found in many slogans adorning the walls. One slogan translated reads: "Battle is to man what maternitv is to woman." while another states, "\Ve are not born j for ourselves but for our country." I