Cavendish Rd

Cavendish Rd was originally a mule track that had been improved by Indian sappers with some Kiwi help (including RM) until it was able to carry jeeps and even tanks to the top of the hills behind the Abbey. (Later it became known as the 'Road of the Polish Sappers' which is a bit bloody rude if you ask me.) On March 19, 1944 40 light and medium tanks attacked German positions after climbing this road in the previous days. On August 24, 2007 I also went looking for German positions.

J was forced to get up as early as I as she was driving me to the bottom of the track. She dropped me sometime between 7:30 and 8:00am then went home with the intention of going back to sleep. (She failed due to a chain-saw next door.) The road is in pretty good nick 60 years on, but is no longer complete. Two sections have washed out, and several have been overgrown. Sadly one of the most important sections historically, and the most photographed, is the worst overgrown. This section, known as Region A, was virtually impossible to get matches for because of the new vegetation. If I was in Cassino for any length of time I would make it a mission to clear some of it out. Time and a big knife is all it would require for the most part. In fact the road could be traversed quite easily by motorbike or quad bike, so these could be used for tours...

The actual climb didn't take long, but the photo taking did. I had started at about 8:00am and it was an overcast day but it still was causing me to sweat buckets and I discovered the frozen water wasn't thawing in the insulating back-pack! From the top of the track it would have been quite an easy walk along the valley, but I wanted to get up on Phantom Ridge, and if possible to M. Collerone at the top of the ridge. I found a track part way up but couldn't get to the peak. Instead I got as close as possible to Colle San Angelo, and then headed down Phantom Ridge to find some ruins known as Phantom House. It was quite a buzz to succeed in this, and to get some recognisable matches. As an indication of how dangerous the area had been for the infantrymen of both sides that were in these positions, there were 5 unexploded 3" mortar bombs that someone with a metal detector had obviously collected. On a smaller scale were the many fragments and ration tins lying around, and I did find a large shell casing that I later donated to Lorenzo.

At this point things got a bit sticky. I tried to find my way down the hill to Cavendish but got blocked by vegetation so doubled back. The map said there was a path and a track running parallel to the Ridge on its other side so I headed down the hill there. Sadly I had miss-read where my start point was so ended up crashing through brambles for half-an-hour or more. By the time I came out I must have looked like the wild man of Borneo. Thankfully I only saw one snake and it was heading in the opposite direction. Apparently the hills are alive with them on sunny days, and the vipers are particularly nasty.

I walked on to Massa Albaneta where I tried to meet with J, but she wasn't allowed through the gates. There were a few more shots back up the valley before I staggered out at about 5:00pm. J had been waiting since the abbey closed at 12:30 so was less than impressed. There's only so much looking at Polish graves that a girl can do! A few beers and several other drinks later and I'd partially recovered from a long, hot, exhausting, but ultimately personally rewarding day.

That night we shouted L and C out for dinner. It was a little awkward as we don't have enough language for an in-depth conversation. We have learnt very little about C and don't see much of her between the kitchen and looking after R. A very Italian life-style, but possibly not very rewarding for her. They finished the evening off by shouting gelati. There is a shop that is famous in Cassino for its gelati: Green Garden. There is always a crowd there at night and it has been busy enough everytime we've gone past. Delicious Lime as well as 'Bounty' flavour for me this time.