The Years Back - 6, The Italian Campaign (Episode Six)

The New Zealanders were pulled out of Cassino before the battle was over. They were pulled out to rest, still within sight of the monastery. And it was with some bitterness that they watched Allied flags flying over Monastery Hill, without the New Zealand ensign.

– Presenter Bernard Kearns

Whatever the positions were that we had to attack, we seemed to be attacking like a staircase. The Jerry’s defences were built up and up and up behind the forward lines.

– Soldier Rangi Logan

The New Zealander, he’s really quite an interesting character to nurse, and it’s surprising what he’ll do for you. And you really didn’t have to have a tremendously strict discipline.

– Nurse E MacKay

As we were coming up to Padua one of the Italian liaison officers came up and said that the partisans had already bottled up all the Germans in Padua. So I said to him, ‘Look,’ I wasn’t too sure what he’d told me was true, I said ‘Look you ride on the leading tank and we’ll see what happens when you get there'.

– Major General Sir William Gentry