MONTE DELLA SPE AREA, looking toward the east. Highway 64 parallels the Reno River (in distance). The village of Vergato is shown on the west bank of the river. Monte della Spe is the rounded hill in foreground. It was taken on 5 March 1945 during an attack to secure a suitable jumping off place for the spring offensive. Vergato, which was an enemy strong point, and most of the surrounding territory remained in enemy hands after the capture of Monte della Spe. The main offensive, the attack toward the Po Valley, started from here on 14 April 1945 and by the 20th Allied troops had broken into the valley.] [Illustration: ITALY EASTER SERVICE 1 APRIL 1945.] [Illustration: ITALY RETURNING PATROL. As the spring offensive became imminent, patrol activities increased.] [Illustration: ITALY SOLDIERS MOVING UP into the line a few days before the start of the attack toward the Po Valley.] [Illustration: ITALY SELF-PROPELLED GUNS of a South African armored unit firing a mission a few days before the attack to break into the Po Valley. These vehicles are American Sherman tanks modified by the British as self-propelled guns. Prior to the jump-off, the units along the Fifth Army front had been engaged in a series of deceptive artillery fires.] [Illustration: ITALY NEGRO SOLDIERS FIRING HOWITZERS in support of the Nisei who were making an attack northward along the mountain ridges toward the towns of Massa and Carrara. The attack started on 5 April 1945. The Nisei were American soldiers of Japanese ancestry. (75-mm. howitzers.)] [Illustration: ITALY BODIES OF AMERICAN INFANTRYMEN killed during the opening of the spring offensive. Note stretcher bearer in background looking for casualties. The infantry was making an attack across the mountains toward Massa and Carrara on the west coast.] [Illustration: ITALY TANK DESTROYER speeding along Highway 1 through the town of Querceta during the spring offensive. The main effort of the army was along Highways 64 and 65.] [Illustration: ITALY BRINGING IN THE FIRST PRISONERS taken at the start of the main drive to reach the Po Valley. On 14 April at 0945 the offensive was started by U. S. mountain troops in the hills west of Vergato on Highway 64.] [Illustration: ITALY PIANORO ON HIGHWAY 65, looking south toward the hills occupied by the Allies for almost six months. Pianoro, at lower left, was one of the keys of the German defense systems barring entrance to Bologna and the Po Valley. The fight for Pianoro started on 16 April. Entering what was left of the town on the evening of the 18th, the infantry found it booby-trapped.] [Illustration: ITALY