Lunch with Kiwis, and chasing river crossings

We had arranged morning tea with KS, her father and her friend. K lives in a tiny village called Caprile that is on the slopes of the same range as Cassino, but further north. It overlooks the Liri valley, and the area where her father rested after the 18th Armoured Regt chased the Germans through the hills. K thinks she found his billet just below her village - quite a coincidence. Her own house had been a German supply depot during the war, and there was still the odd reminder, such as the barbed wire in the cellar.

The morning tea extended to lunch as we were joined by an Italian historian, AC, and the women went off to the market. I have started to get to know quite an inter-connected bunch of people here. Everyone with an interest in the history seems to know everyone else. L knows A and R, who know K who knows J, and the bloke I met in Caspoli knows GB who also knows K and A and R and probably J. Lunch was more Kiwi style than Italian but still filled up the mid-day. It was lovely hospitality that we can't repay directly.

After lunch I prepared for the big hike up Cavendish Rd. I had to print off the dozens of relevant photos so I had them handy to try to match. Unfortunately the printer was sucking up ink at a great rate, so I didn't get finished.

Rather than do the climb unprepared, the next day (Friday) I went out taking matches for the DIADEM battles. I got some in towns along the route of advance that may be useful to JP as samples of the fighting, but it was not the exhaustive treatment I had hoped for when I headed over to Cassino. Some were easy and some I couldn't find even when the village was named. It appears that the photographers were not always accurate in their captioning... (There was one photographer who gave map-references, but I didn't get to that series at all.) It was still quite a satisfying day, for the matches accomplished and for the feel for the battlefield.

I find it a little strange that I have a better knowledge of the crossings than the local historians, although I have had access to the English archives that they haven't. On the other hand, it is a short trip to London for them...

J had found a place that sold refill ink for the cartridges so I was back in business. Many sheets later (two refills) and I had pretty much all that I needed. Frozen water, sunscreen, maps and so on completed the preparations, and I even allowed that shoes would be more sensible than jandals on this occasion. I was all set for the next day.