THE BOMBING OF CASSINO on 15 March. Although it had been repeatedly bombed before, the town was heavily bombed and shelled that day in preparation for the attack by the New Zealand Corps, at this time part of the Fifth Army. About 1,200 tons of bombs were dropped and 195,969 rounds were fired by artillery ranging in size from 3-inch guns to 240-mm. howitzers. The enemy’s defenses were not destroyed. Protected by cellars, steel and concrete pillboxes, caves, and tunnels, the German troops suffered comparatively few casualties. The bombing and shelling neither overcame the enemy’s resistance nor noticeably reduced his morale. When the infantry moved in for the attack they were met by heavy mortar fire; when the Allied tanks appeared they could not advance because of bomb craters and debris. The attack was repulsed.] [Illustration] [Illustration: ITALY CASSINO AREA, looking along Highway 6. “Castle Hill,” in left foreground topped by tower, was in Allied hands for weeks before the town of Cassino fell. Below cliff are ruins of the town. The picture, made from the vicinity of the abbey, gives some indication of the enemy’s observation over Allied positions. The main drive through the Winter Line defenses started above San Pietro Infine. U. S. forces began the advance on 15 November 1943 and had fought their way to the outskirts of Cassino by 26 January 1944, a distance of eight miles in seventy days. The town fell on 18 May to the Eighth Army after several unsuccessful attacks. The drive on the southern front, to penetrate the Gustav Line, started on 11 May 1944, while that out of the Anzio beachhead started on 23 May.] [Illustration: ITALY HOWITZER. These pieces fired their first mission in Italy in Mignano Gap, 30 January 1944. They were used with good effect during the Gustav Line fight in and around Cassino. Vehicle towing weapon is converted General Grant tank M3 (top). Howitzer in position near San Vittore del Lazio, five miles southeast of Cassino (bottom). (240-mm. howitzer.)] [Illustration] [Illustration: ITALY THE ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS in March 1944 damaged a number of aircraft on fields in the vicinity. Fuselages and wings were pierced by fragments of rock hurled from the volcano. In foreground is a P-40 fighter-bomber.] [Illustration: ITALY BAILEY BRIDGE over bypass on Highway 7 near Sessa Aurunca. This is the coastal road between Rome and Naples; the inland road, through the Mignano Gap, past Cassino and up the Liri Valley to Rome, is Highway 6. The Bailey bridge was invented by the British, from whom the U. S. forces obtained it.] [Illustration: ITALY