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.
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.)
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.