Third Battle for Cassino

German prisoners captured by New Zealand troops are held at gunpoint on a road beside a Sherman tank.

Again, General Freyburg's New Zealand Corps attacked from the north in the Cassino sector with the same objectives - the town of Cassino and the heights of Monte Cassino, including the monastery. The target this time for intensive aerial bombing was the town of Cassino. That was followed by an artillery shoot. Again, poor coordination resulted in the monastery being ommitted as one of the targets.

The heavy bombing of Cassino had consequences for both defender and attacker. The Germans took many casualties but the New Zealanders, due to the rubble resulting from the bombing, encountered problems in advancing armour to support the infantry advancing on Route 6. German defensive preparations across the battlefield were so thoroughly dangerous that any tactical misjudgement or error was heavily punished. The Commander of the New Zealand Division, Major General Howard Kippenberger, was climbing the slopes of Mount Trocchio, to gain an overview of the Cassino battlefield, when he triggered a landmine which resulted in the later amputation of the lower parts of both his legs.

Although the Indian Division on the right took Hangman's Hill (Point 435) and the New Zealander's, on the left, Point 202, as well as pushing through Cassino to seize the railway station south of the town, there was still no break through and Freyburg's exhausted divisions were halted.