'Stretcher-bearers': (29) Back to Cassino

Our rest period in Capua elapsed and we moved forward. (The speed of this advance soon became so hectic that I had to describe it mostly in note form.)
One night spent in new locality near Highway 6.
Moved again to noisier area showing much evidence of past mortaring.
Bivouacked in dry stream bed which spared us the task of digging in. Some ack-ack firing .
At 10.30 p.m. called out to relieve 217 Field Ambulance,. and crossed the Liri for the first time via Bailey bridge near midnight. Experienced some shelling, not serious.
Orders duplicated by mistake. 217 had not asked for a relief. We returned slowly by road which was blocked by a Bren gun carrier for two hours.
Next night noisy.
Moved yet again two nights later. A few APs (Anti Personnel) the chief danger. Some shrapnel.
Dug in nearly 2 feet. May be deep enough at present.

The full-scale of offensive for Cassino found us again somewhere near Highway 6. Much digging in. Much moving.
Our lorry is driving quickly over dusty, improvised roads littered with burnt out lorries, tanks and other vehicles.
This afternoon passed a blazing lorry - might have been struck by a mine. Dead lay by it.
Came to rest in a wheat field directly under Mt. Cairo, near Highway 6.
Our shells were exploding on a ridge north of the Monastery. We started digging into ground that yielded little after we had removed the topsoil.
Lingard and I decided to entrench the bivvy itself instead of digging slit trenches. We dug for about two hours with one pause, a break for tea. After striking rock we finished at a depth of about one foot six inches. This was not very satisfactory, but the battle now sounded in our favour and, in any case, we were safe from shrapnel and blast. We banked up the sides with earth and the back with a wooden plank which lay conveniently to hand.

(The date must have been May 18th, the day the Poles took the Monastery. This ties up, since it was the task of the 78th Division to cut off Highway 6 from the German retreat.)

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