NEW ZEALAND DIVISION IS IN ACTION AGAIN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 86, 12 April 1945, Page 5

NEW ZEALAND DIVISION IS IN ACTION AGAIN

THE SENIO RIVER IN ITALY

PART OF THE EIGHTH ARMY’S FORCE WHICH CROSSED THAT BARRIER

Reed. 11.30 p.m. London, April 11. The Bth Army’s new assault in Italy, which has crossed the Senior River and taken Luga and two other towns beyond, is going well. One report puts the Bth Army three miles on from the river. The New Zealand Division, under Lieutenant-General Sir Bernard Freyberg, V.C., took part in the initial assault, which forced the river. The build up at the crossings made is going well.

N.Z. DIVISION IN ACTION. The New Zealand Division is in action again on the Italian frojit and a message to all men under his command had been sent by LieutenantGeneral Sir Bernard Freyberg, said the acting Prime Minister of New Zealand (Mr. W. Nash) in a statement in Wellington yesterday. The message, which was published in orders before the division went into action, was as follows: “The news of the day is good—the coming news is better—the day for destroying the enemy is at hand. Every day is bringing new triumphs for the United Nations and everywhere the prospect of their complete victory has grown clearer, nearer and more substantial. Although operations may yet be hard and difficult and may still last some time in Germany and Jap.an, the armies of the British Commonwealth, the United States, Russia and other United Nations are gradually overwhelming the forces of the enemy. “The New Zealand Division is nowj entering a battle which probably wilr be the most crucial of the arduous campaign in Italy. The people and Government of New Zealand will tensely watch your operations with the greatest confidence. Time and again the New Zealand Division has proved, its mettle at the highest level of quality as a fighting force. You will do it again. Be yourselves once more and there can be no doubt of the victorious result. God speed to you all.” KESSELRING’S WARNING. Just before Kesselring left Italy he issued a statement warning the Germans that not one inch of ground must be given up without the bitterest struggle, as they were defending the fatherland itself in Italy. The German troops engaged in Italy, numbering 25 divisions, are all highly' experienced, and many of them are veterans of Stalingrad. Some are probably superior to any forces the enemy possesses in Germany itself. They had all winter to recover from their defeats last year, and their numbers are probably greater than t.hose of the divisions engaged on other fronts. The fact that thev cannot escape will force them to fight. The Po Valley is flat, but covered with canals, and over each one a battle will have to be fought. The terrain over which the Bth. Armv is fighting is similar to the canal-ridden land of Holland. mak : ng it one of the most, difficult battlefields in the world. The Senio River itself is bounded bv old dykes, and the Gormans in the area have built intricate defence nositions into its banks. The surrounding country consists of swamps, rivers and lakes, while a large flooded area, coupled with Lake Commacchio. blocks General McCrcery’s extreme right flank. WILL BE STIFF AND BLOODY. Reuter’s military correspondent says that the battle for north Italy is going to be stiff and bloody. The Germans have at least 25 well-armed divisions, and there is a hard crust provided by two paratroop divisions and by the 90th. Light. Infantry Division, which has figured in every battle since before El Alamein. General Clark’s army for the new offensive consists of American, New Zealand, South African, Indian. Polish and British divisions. Their first object will be 1o conquer the main German army rather than to make geographical gains. Recd. 12.30 a.m. London. April 11. Eighth Army troops following spearheads of flame-throwers captured Lugo, Fusignano and Cotignola in the opening phase of the thrust in the Adriatic sector, report agency correspondents in font-line despatches. The New Zealand Division under command of Lieut.-General Sir Bernard Freyberg took a prominent part in the advance. Fusignano, Lugo and Cotignola are major positions in the German defence line on the north bank of the Senio River. Bridges were constructed across the Senio River enabling tanks and heavy supporting arms to cross. Italian troops are advancing west of Alfonsine. More than 1200 prisoners were taken.

BOMBS BEYOND THE SENIO RIVER START OF THE OFFENSIVE GREAT CONCENTRATION OF ARTILLERY (Official War Correspondent—N.Z.E.F.) Granarolo, April 9. Backed by an air armada greater than that used prior to the assault on Cassino, a concentration of artiliery comparable with that of El Alamein is tearing the heart out of German defences beyond the Senio. From here I can see a little of the German-held territory boiling clouds of erupting smoke, through which appear bright flashes of bursting explosive. Just five hours ago the view from I the top floor of this five-storey sugar I refinery was one of complete peacefulness, despite the high barrier of the Senio stopbank just a few hundred yards ahead. The intervening ground was covered with vineyards and trees in the pale green o-f early spring, through which the occasional smoke of mortar bursts showed darklv. It was hard to realise that the village, the red roofs of which seemed scarcely more than 1000 yards away, was in enemy hands. Visible to the naked eye were two Red Cross flags which flapped idly above a building used as a dressing station by the enemy. In the distance the towers of Lugo, deep in German territory, were clearly visible. Then came the bombers. Heralded bv the steady roar of many motors, they moved majestically across the unbroken blue of the sky—phalanx after phalanx of gleaming silver I shapes, swinging in as they swung over Cassino over a year ago. But this time there is a difference. This time their bombload consisted of fragmentation bombs rather than devastating 1000 pounders. The sound of the bursts resembled muffled thunder as they methodically blanketed Germanheld territory some thousand yards north of the riverline. 'They would leave no deep impassable craters or easily defended wreckage. Lugo disappeared in a haze of smoke and dust. I Twenty-five pounders, 45's, 55’s, ana the ungainly 72’s, drew a wa’l of death along the stopbank which marked the forward German positions. A village in front threw its entrails to the sky in snouts of oily smoke and disappeared behind tiie all enveloping curtain. Through it all the stopbank stood out in bold relief against a background that was a sheer inferno. There was a brisk wind', but a wall of smoke, stippled with the black roseties of air bursts, was held there hour after hour by a continuous stream of shells. Il still hangs there and the i.Vjns still fire. They will cease only | when they have hurled 140,000 missiles into the comparatively small area of our immediate front. Slim, deadly Spitfires came screaming in at crazy angles, hosing cannon shells into known strongpoints in front land behind the stopbank. Other I pauses gave a cue to fighjer-ibombers, land artillery took up the tale again, as the smoke cleared. I The guns are still firing, but there •is a new tempo to the barrage, says I a later message. It is lifting and going forward, and right behind it the infantry are breasting the stopbanks. The sun hangs low in the west as a darkened ball of fire wreathed with the smoke of burning dumps. Fires have started along the enemy front. The very grass of the stop bank is burning with tiny flames. Soon the afterglow will fade and to the artificial moonlight of dozens of searchlights will pass the task of illuminating the advance. For the next few hours it will be the infantry’s battle.