Episode 4 – Cassino Part One

In Episode Four of Courage And Valour, we hear from veterans of the 2nd NZ Division who fought in the campaign at Cassino. This town was considered the gateway to Rome, if the Allies could take it they would open up the road (Route 6) and the railway link all the way to Italy’s capital city. The Allies needed to capture Cassino, the Germans needed to hold it.

Capturing Cassino however was never going to be an easy task. The landscape in which the town sits at the base of the mountains and with a narrow passage through to the Liri Valley had always presented a very strong defence against attackers in past centuries. It also had the vantage point of the Benedictine monastery on top of Monte Cassino, from where defenders could see virtually anything happening in the approaches to the town below for miles.

The Germans also strengthened the town and positions around the hillsides with concrete and steel structures to create strongpoints for their machine-guns and mortars. And around the town they had broken river stop-banks and flooded the pastures to ensure tanks and vehicles approaching could only use the roads, which of course the German artillery had “taped” firmly in their sights. Furthermore any attack on the town by the Allies would involve crossing the Rapido River  so the Germans had destroyed the bridges to make this more difficult.

In January 1944 the US Fifth Army (actually made up of troops from the USA, Britain, France and the French colonies in Africa) attempted to take the town, but had failed and were badly mauled.

So General Alexander and his staff brought across the 2nd New Zealand Division and the Fourth Indian Division form the Adriatic battlegrounds. These two divisions plus some British armoured, artillery and other units were formed into the New Zealand Corps, led once again by General Bernard Freyberg (he’d led a NZ Corps previously for a short time in the final stages of the North African campaign). Now it was the turn of the Kiwis and Indians to have crack at taking the town. The NZ Corps was attached to the US Fifth Army for this operation.

In this episode we hear about the move from the Orsogna Front to Piedemonte Alife where the NZ Corps formed and prepared. We hear how they moved into the lines at Cassino into areas already secured by the US, French and British troops. We hear about the initial patrolling and the capture of the first prisoner by a New Zealander in Cassino. And we hear about the bombing of the monestary and then the fateful attempt in February 1944 to take the Cassino Railway Station. And when this attack failed we hear of the wait for good weather so they can have another crack at it. And before the second attempt in March 1944, the town of Cassino is obliterated by the biggest strategic bombing raid of all time.

Featuring in order of their first appearance in this episode:
Morris Pratt (6th Field Comp, NZ Engineers)
Harry Hopping (24 Battalion)
John Bell (27 Machine Gun Battalion)
Jack Cummins (22 Battalion)
Pat Green (24 Battalion)
Galvan Garmonsway (24 Battalion)
Fred Blank (24 Battalion)
Norm Harris (24 Battalion)
Charlie Honeycombe (21 Battalion)
Ted “Bluey” Homewood (21 Battalion)
Colin Murray (24 Battalion)
Tom McClennan (7th Field Comp, NZ Engineers)
Aubrey Balzer (28 Maori Battalion)
Gordon Briggs (23 Battalion)
Bob O’Brien (24 Battalion)

See photos relating to this episode by clicking here
https://newzealandersatwar.com/Extra_Episode_4.html

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