World Battlefronts: CASSINO CORNER

Here is the grim ground where last week, in their third great attempt, the Allies again failed to crack the bottleneck in the road to Rome.

To the left lies the narrow Liri Valley, through which leads the only practical road—but it is not passable so long as the Germans can pour deadly fire from the hills behind Cassino. This was proved in the first attack last January. U.S. troops crossed the Rapido (in the foreground), only to be forced to retire after heavy casualties.

So the second attack was made on the monastery hill (from the right) after a two-day bombing of the abbey. But the attackers never quite gained the summit. Meantime, after many days of house-to-house fighting, U.S. troops had taken only a third of the town of Cassino.

The third attack, just completed, followed another plan. First the town was to be completely destroyed by terrific bombardment and quickly occupied by assault. Then the hills around the abbey were to be stormed, and with the German strong points thus neutralized, another large-scale crossing of the Rapido was to be attempted.

The town of Cassino was virtually destroyed (although the air bombing was apparently not so heavy as originally reported). New Zealand troops did storm three-quarters of the town. That night the hills back of the town were assaulted, but in a torrential rain the attackers became disorganized—some gained their objectives, others failed.

Next day the Germans poured in crack parachute troops and the battle degenerated into ding-dong fighting in the town and on the hills, each side gaining little and suffering heavy losses. Net result: the ugly situation shown above.

¶ In the ruined abbey on Mt. Cassino the Germans still clung lizardlike, watching every movement of Allied units and directing artillery fire on every attack.

¶ A force of Indian Gurkhas, which had fought to the summit of Hangman’s Hill, held it but were isolated. They got supplies only from planes that came over daily to drop parachutes and canisters with food and ammunition.

¶ New Zealand troops stormed Hill 435 behind the abbey. The ridge changed hands several times, but at week’s end it was back in German hands, as was Mt. Albaneta.

¶ The slopes of Mt. Castellone, which mark the Allied right flank, were held by French troops, who repulsed two German attacks.

¶ From the Roman amphitheater and the ducal palace reinforcements rushed into the town whenever needed.

¶ The Germans still held Hill 165, from which they poured a deadly mortar fire on the hard-fighting New Zealand troops in the town. Although Castle Hill, just behind it, is in Allied hands, tricky terrain enabled the Germans to infiltrate through a ravine to the rear whenever New Zealanders attempted to attack Hill 165. The Germans in turn were frustrated in several attempts to regain Castle Hill.

¶ In the town, where the main highway, No. 6, curves sharply and passes around the base of Mt. Cassino, the Germans held the Hotel Continental, somewhat protected from Allied artillery by the lee of the hill. Its roof is gone, and its heavy, pastel-tinted walls have been scored by shellfire and bomb blast, but from the dark empty sockets of its windows German guns spit with terrible effectiveness. Once the hotel was nearly captured: the Germans holding it surrendered. During an explosive bombardment the hotel filled up again with green-clad German paratroopers. Three German tanks fired from the lobby, occasionally sallying forth.

¶ German engineers may have discovered and improved a series of underground passages, built in the 16th Century, and connecting the ducal palace with several parts of town. There is also said to be a passage from the abbey to the vicinity of Castle Hill.

At week’s end the Germans held about one-quarter of the town, including a belt of ruined houses under the hill behind. Besides their guns on Hill 165, they had strong artillery positions along the base of Mt. Cassino. As the battle thundered through the desolate streets, huge 240-mm. (9 in.) U.S. guns added their voices to the siege.