JEEP PASSING A TRAFFIC CONTROL POINT in the northern Apennines. Rigid supervision of transportation over the crowded mountain roads was necessary if proper supply was to be made, tactical movements carried out, and vehicles conserved. To accomplish this, traffic control points were set up. Road movement approval was required for all convoys of ten or more vehicles. The traffic posts also served as a check on unnecessary or unauthorized use of military vehicles. Military police operated “chain points” where vehicles going into the mountains were stopped and beyond which the use of chains was mandatory.] [Illustration: ITALY RESTACKING HOWITZER AMMUNITION. German air activity by this time was so slight that dumps a few miles behind the front were not camouflaged. (Ammunition for 155-mm. howitzer.)] [Illustration: ITALY SIGNAL CORPS MEN checking wires outside the telephone exchange in a cave at Livergnano.] [Illustration: ITALY MAN CARRYING HOWITZER AMMUNITION to a battery high in the hills. These men were members of a division especially trained for mountain fighting. On 18 February 1945 this division, together with the Brazilian division under Fifth Army command, started an assault on German positions in the Monte Belvedere area west of Highway 64. The Monte Belvedere area dominated about ten miles of this highway. After severe fighting that lasted until 5 March 1945, the mountain mass was in Allied hands. (Ammunition for 75-mm. howitzer.)] [Illustration: ITALY REINFORCEMENTS MOVE UP toward the fighting in the Monte Belvedere area. The men are equipped with M1 rifles and carbines, special shoes, and rucksack type pack.] [Illustration: ITALY EVACUATING WOUNDED FROM MONTE BELVEDERE. As vehicles could not negotiate the mountain trails, stretcher bearers had to carry the wounded. Casualties from mines were numerous as the enemy had been in position on this dominating hill for several months and had mined and booby-trapped every likely avenue of approach as well as many of the farmhouses on the mountain slopes.] [Illustration: ITALY RED CROSS GIRL writing letter for wounded soldier. In addition to performing duties such as this, the American Red Cross operated clubs and motion picture theaters for the soldiers. The clubs served coffee, doughnuts, and ice cream, and sponsored musical programs, vaudeville shows, and dances. All was free of charge. The estimated attendance at the Red Cross clubs in the Arno Valley during February 1945 was 896,000.] [Illustration: ITALY