GERMAN PORTABLE PILLBOXES. Some of these were found in the Gustav Line around Cassino and others were later found in the Hitler Line in the Liri Valley. These steel pillboxes, camouflaged and usually connected by communication trenches to well constructed bunkers, were impregnable to all but direct hits from artillery fire. (German mobile steel pillbox, being removed by tank recovery vehicle M31.)
ITALY
VALMONTONE ON HIGHWAY 6, twenty-five miles southeast of Rome. This was the main escape route of the enemy forces trying to retreat toward Rome from the Cassino-Liri Valley area. The enemy kept the road open until 1 June. U. S. forces found the village unoccupied on the morning of 2 June when a battle patrol entered the town.
ITALY
A TANK-INFANTRY TEAM entering Rome on 4 June. The burning vehicle is a German Tiger tank. The enemy had been evacuating the city for several days, but had left a strong rear guard equipped with tanks and artillery to hold the Allies in and below the city as long as possible. Since the streets of Rome were not suitable for conventional infantry attacks, small tank-infantry teams entered the city from several directions and by early morning of 5 June were in possession of the bridges across the Tiber.
