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Our HQ squad called 'the Shower' happened to be on shift, May 11th, 4.00pm to 12.00pm.

As usual, the routine bombardment started up at dusk, all along the line. As usual it died down and everything became silent.

Within a few minutes a message came over from RHQ announcing that the attack was on, and our AP's were to be ordered back immediately. We all gathered at HQ and waited.

Suddenly at 11.00pm as first pip of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ time signal came over the air the combined might of Allied artillery opened up along all the front — some 1600 guns. Hundreds of shells rained down on every known enemy gun position, and harassing fire swept down on enemy infantry and the Monastery. The navy joined in with their heavies, from the Bay of Naples. The barrage went on all night.

Shells were constantly sweeping over us, the noise was intense, and the place shook. We turned on the recorder and managed to get a good length of film as a souvenir before the grids in the Mics shattered.

The Villagers seemed to go crazy rushing about in the streets. We assured them that all was well and they were to get back into their houses and stay there, if they didn't want to get shot.

In the meantime 100,000 allied soldiers were moving up and the assault divisions were scrambling up steep mountain tracks to reach their start positions.

As dawn was breaking the infantry went into the attack, behind the barrage which had changed to a creeping one. It was a concerted attack against the whole of the Gustav Line, British, Canadian, New Zealand, American, French Algerian and Moroccan, Gurkas, Indian and Polish troops taking on different sections.

At his request, General Anders and his Polish troops were allocated possibly the most difficult task, the storming and capture of the Monte Cassino sector.

The artillery became silent and then came overhead the might of the allied Air Force to attack enemy communications and troop movements behind the line, switching on occasion to clear a path in front of the infantry. Up to 3000 sorties were carried out.

Headquarters News. London

We heard that the attack along the whole Russian Front had taken place as planned and the push was going well.

Later on during the day as reports came in it became clear that our attack was not going so well as expected. The American 2 Corp. of the 5th. Army secured some ground but were then pinned down by effective enemy fire and came to a halt.

The French Moroccan Division seized their objective, Monti Fiato, but were then held on the climb up to Monti Gerofano, by flamethrowers, heavy mortar and machine-gun fire.

The British X111 Corp. ran into valley mist turned into dense fog by the smoke left by the barrage. When eventually finding the river, the Rapido's fast current proved too much for the flimsy canvas and plywood assault boats. When the mist cleared they were caught in heavy enemy defence fire.

The 36 US division, hampered by the dense mist, ran into one of their own minefields, which they had forgotten to tape.

South of Sant' Angelo the Indian sappers managed to build a bridge over the river before the mist rose. Two Canadian tanks managed to cross over but got bogged down in the soft ground on the far bank.

In their advance, the Poles met strong opposition and casualties were high, 1 in 5. They were forced to withdraw to their start position. General Anders, ever up the front with his men, reorganised his shattered force, ready for the next attempt.

In soldier's language, the general situation had developed into a 'bloody balls up'.

Against all calculation the enemy had managed to put up a spirited defence, in spite of very heavy casualties from the barrage. The crack troops including Panzers and Paras had managed to hold their fortified positions and even made a counter attack in one sector, which fortunately was repulsed.

In spite of all the difficulties the Allied Infantry persisted in the attack in all sectors and aided by the artillery that had been brought up, managed little gains, here and there.

The Allied Airforce kept up their daily sorties, bombing and strafing behind the line. The enemy situation behind became chaotic, communications were constantly being interrupted causing great confusion, reserve troop movement to the front was impeded, ammunition and food supplies were being delayed. Command HQ was actually bombed to the ground, although the German General managed to escape unhurt.

The Poles prepared for their next onslaught. On a moonlit night they silently sent in patrol parties to all parts of the sector. Creeping around they made feint attacks drawing enemy fire and locating the strongholds before returning. They brought up their artillery and saturated these positions for 4 days non-stop.

Immediately afterwards they went in to finish the job, together with their General, who had torn off his badges of rank and grabbed a gun. They took the surrounding area giving no quarter, no prisoners were taken. Then it was the turn of the Monastery itself. Working their way along the ridge they stormed the ruins. The remaining Germans left alive were mostly wounded and the Commander and thirty survivors surrendered. They were spared.

The Polish flag was broken over the Monastery at 10.20am on May the 18th.

The Gustav line was broken, route 6 to Central Italy lay ahead. The German Command ordered a withdrawal.

The battle of Cassino was over, and the barrage that started it goes down in history as the biggest of all time.

The Poles suffered terrible losses in injured and dead. The latter fund their final resting place very near to the Monastery itself and the vast Polish cemetery there bears witness to the great sacrifice that had been made, in a matter of a few days.

In our village things had been going on much as usual and we kept the base in action. Results became patchy, some days very slow but others very busy. We noticed that the firing from the other side had become somewhat haphazard, the enemy had lost their 'eyes' — the prominent mountain positions.

Our guns had moved up and one battery parked themselves much too near us for comfort.

On Cassino liberation day the village declared a fiesta and at midday there was another religious procession, the blessing of houses. Our billet was included as were the rest. The priest sprinkled holy water in each corner of our room, intoning the blessing. Each of us was then included with the sign of the Cross. It was expected to be a service to be paid for, we obliged by putting our offerings in the bag carried by an assistant.

The villagers somehow found some wine and in the evening we joined them in the celebration. They felt, for them, the war was almost over.

The next morning 39 American Liberators thundered over, on their way to cause more trouble for the enemy. For five hours during the evening an enemy long distance gun fired incessantly, the shells landing quite near, but no damage done.

We started having trouble with rats and mice in our billet. We wondered whether our 'landlady' had put them there on purpose to annoy us. We spent an afternoon concreting up all the holes we could find and blocked up the space at the bottom of the doors. This did the job, but we could still hear them at night.

A battery of 25 pounder field guns set up within 100 yards of our position, and carried out a programme of firing throughout the day. We used them to do a ranging shoot on a troublesome location we had found. It was confirmed later that the enemy gun position had been wiped.

In reply two enemy planes came over during the evening and dropped two bombs at the back of the village but were scared off by our AA guns.

More guns and tanks were now moving through and we thought it was about time we found a more peaceful spot.

In the meantime the enemy fought a rearguard action and fell behind their next line of defence — the 'Hitler-Senger Line'.

Hitler declared that the Hitler Line would never fall and henceforth it was to be known as Senger Line only!

On the 25th May, with the help of a few artillery barrages this line was broken by the infantry and the advance continued. The relief of Anzio beachhead followed, the 5th. Army linking up.

Two German gunners were found wandering in the village. They were deserters and were pleased to get a meal before being sent on their way, under escort.

We came out of action on June 1st and started dismantling the base and packing-up. Finishing the next day, we were ready for the 'off' and awaited orders.

Before leaving our village a few words could be said about hygiene. The village was similar to many in Italy, no piped water, no proper sanitation, and mice, rats and other insects appeared to be tolerated. When taking over rooms they had to be cleared out completely of all items. Then a liberal spray with Flit or similar, and floor and cervices dusted with insect powder. We never drank or used the local water, collecting safe water in our tanker from approved points, it was chlorinated. We only used our own toilets, setup in a field or garden, kept sweet with a generous amount of chemicals each day. In the mosquito season and away from the coast we took Mepacrene tablets daily, used a repellent cream and slept under mosquito nets. There were also the regular inoculations against typhoid and typhus. Taking precautions we remained reasonably healthy.

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