BATTLE OF MONTE CASSINO X CORPS ASSAULT

The three divisions suffered 4,000 casualties in the early days of this ill-fated advance

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The first attack on the Gustav Line was mounted by the British X Corps' 56th and 5th Divisions on the left of the Allied position, near the west coast. On the clear but freezing night of 17 January 1944, and after a major artillery barrage, the 56th crossed the Garigliano River in small boats, pulled across on a rope secured on the far bank.

The crossing itself was uneventful, but soon after they disembarked the troops came under machine gun and mortar fire from the defending forces of the German 94th Infantry Division, under Major General Bernard Steinmetz. Confusion reigned as the men became separated from their groups.

As 19-year-old Fusilier Len Bradshaw recalled later: "We didn't know what was going on. The night was very much like that."

Panic crossing

The 5th Division crossing nearer the coast was less successful. The Americans crewing the boats were supposed to be guided by landing lights, but the few lights that actually reached the crossing point arrived too late to make much of a difference. As they crossed the river estuary, Allied forces were met with German fire while they were still 200 yards from the bank. Several of the boats were swept out of the river mouth into open sea, and in the confusion a craft full of Fusiliers landed on the wrong bank and came close to attacking their own HQ. But others made it across successfully.

Stretcher bearer Jack Williams said: "We got out of the boats, and straightaway we had to get up to our objective, which was a farm on the right. We had to get down there immediately - we couldn't hang about on the bank. We could hear the shouts and screams of the people who were thrashing about in the water, who had been hit. It was a bit of a do at the time, and everyone was panicking."