POLISH DIVISION

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 201, 23 May 1944, Page 6

POLISH DIVISION

Share In Fighting On Gustav Line DETERMINATION AND COURAGE The Polish Consul-General, Count K. Wodzicki has received a cable message dated Mav 17 from the Polish Government headquarters in L ‘ >n^ f o "rp t l “ tl q^ e s” “-iTurn Eight S h P Army gave tt following 1 account, of the part the Polish forces played in the recent engagement ou the Gl ‘Tn V tlie opening P l,as ® of lbe r B p Armv attack against the Gustav hue, the mountain heights to the north-east of Cassino have been the most difficult ot all sectors in which to achieve any advance. It is here that the troops of the Polish Division fought with such courage and determination. Their progress toward Gasilina, the important road ahead of them, known as Highway 6, was checked bv the enemy in the early stages if our ‘attack, but the Poles inflicted very heavv casualties on the men of the I* irot Parachute Division, who were thrown in aS “When' I the Poles went into the attack on Friday last the German battalions against which they advanced wfere in the process of changing over. There can be some advantage in pressing the enemy at such a moment, for the chances of his being thrown into confusion are greater. The stern discipline and fanatical spirit of the German First Parachute Division, however, may have precluded any chance of confusion, but in any case simple arithmetic ultimately prevailed, and the Poles were, in effect, opposed by twice as many Germans as would ordinarily have beep there. Thus a single Polish company which captured positions on Phantom Ridge was attacked seven times, each successive attack increasing in strength till at last the Germans had thrown a whole battalion against a company of Poles. It was only then that the Poles withdrew. Phantom Ridge forms part of the height known ns Sant Angelo, north-west of Cassino and two miles east of Piedmonte San Germane. On the other parts of this height there was bitter fighting in the brave sustained effort that the gallant Poles made to prers ahead. Nearer Cassino the same Polish Division fought desperately along the rugged slopes of Albaneta, which is the height next to Monte Cassino ou the north-west side of the Abbey. “The Polish casualties have not been light, but they have taken toll of the enemy in greater numbers. Polish commanders and soldiers alike have accepted with readiness and, indeed, pride, the exceptionally difficult role that has been allotted to them in this attack. Their task mny eventually—perhaps speedily—be lightened with the pressure of the British forces northward through the Liri Valley. It seems probable, in any case, that we will see repeated here what was done at Sant’ Angelo in the Liri Valley last week—a powerful concentration of our forces against Key objectives to ensure that they are completely won.”