N.Z. TANKS IN THE SPEARHEAD

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 199, 20 May 1944, Page 7

N.Z. TANKS IN THE SPEARHEAD

Inside And Beyond Cassino EASY OCCUPATION OF TOWN (Official War Correspondent, N.Z.E.F.) CASSINO, May 18. Cassino was completely captured by New Zealand tanks and British infantry within half-an-hour after the direct assault on the town began at 10 o’clock thi's morning. All. the main strongpoints which held out through the New Zealanders’ battle for the town W’ere occupied without a shot being fired into them by tanks. The only prisoners, so far reported are a small party of Germans who came down the slopes of Monastery Hill under a white flag. It is believed that moSt of the German garrison of paratroops eseaped last night. LATER. New- Zealand tanks are now sitting astride the inland highway to Rome as a powerful barrier between the German paratroops at Cassino and their only route of retreat along the Liri Valley. So successful was the New Zealanders’ attack across the valley toward the highway early this morning that by sundown -they were reported to have formed a strong new section of the Eighth Army front and to be completely controlling one piece of road. Some of the tank crews who fought through the first days pf the New Zealanders’ attack on Cassino are now sitting well beyond the town ready to meet any attempt the Germans make to evacuate it. Since they crossed the Rapido River early in the Eighth Army’s assault on the Gustav Line these New Zealanders of a Wellington tank formation have been continuously in the forefront of the attack, pressing forward with each British infantry advance and holding firm against the enemy’s counter-attacks. This important achievement in cutting Highway 6 is the climax of five days of hard fighting.