Evening star., 1944-06-06
By NEWBOLD MOVES, Jr.,
Star War Correspondent

InlrJy-tnlrd street NV, WASH
Iington, got his orders at 1:3
am. at the village of Finocchie
Secure bridges over the Tibe
above 68 grid in the city"
THE city" was Rome, IL mile
away.
Securing the bridges was tn
tactical end. But to the laymar
the message meant that the gen
eral, whose outfit spearheaded ou
forces on Italy's important Highwa
Six, had been given the job of tax
ing the Eternal City. If he sue
ceeded, it would be the first tim
in history that Rome had been tax
en- from the south. The genera
made his plans. He could not affor,
to commit at once his entire force
He would make the try with 2(
tanks from the First Armored Di
vision, eight scout cars and $50 in
fantry of his special Canadian
American formation. In addition t,
fighting troops, five jeep loads o.
correspondents were included in tn,
generals task force.
Expedition Forms.
Gen. Frederick was in good spirit.
as the expedition formed in ths
fields outside Finocchio. He wa.
nattily attired in an olive combat
uniform, white silk scarf and &
shiny black moustache. A few min.
utes before, a bloodred moon had
set behind Rome, which might bode
well for the day. He neither looked
nor acted like a man whose com.
mand post had been repeatedly
bombed and strafed during the
night. He remarked that he hac
not slept and that he felt fine.
I'm not tired at ALL" he said
This is like Christmas eve, wher
you don't want to 60 to bed at ALL
Chatting with correspondents, he
told them Of his two daughters
June, 13, and Anne. 9, now living
with their mother in Washington
He said he had formulated nc
specific plan for the days under.
taking, because he had no ides
what sort Of opposition he would
encounter.
Sees Long Gamble"
He said, This is a long gamble
We will just go out there and see
what happens. Probably I will have
to hold conference with Kessel-
ring at the city limits to decide
what will be done"
Asked by the correspondents
whether, on receiving the order, he
had said anything to his troops
like Damn the torpedoes. full speed
ahead" or Don't give UP tn.
ship" he said, Hell, no, didnr
have time, and anyway you don't
have to say stuff like that to these
boys"
AS the general was talking, the
tanks, doubly grim in the half light
Of dawn, were warming up their
motors and beginning to move
about in the field. The boys of
the infantry had already started
up the road.
"A cup Of hot coffee sure would
go good now" said one heavily
stubbled corporal, who was limping
Every man in the line looked as
though he agreed with the corporal
But each wore a long blue ribbon
stuck jauntily in the camouflage net
on his helmet, and somehow thai
seemed to make things better.
And then the tanks began to move
out onto the road, and the parade
was under way. Straight down
Highway Six they went, KNOWING
well that they were already veil
out in front of the rest Of ou,
troops, and that the enemy was
all around them. Some OF the in
fantry rode on the tanks, crouched
behind the turret. Several times
Sniper fire cracked at them from
the fields and the men stood up anc
fired back with rifles and tomm,
guns from the moving tanks. Once
when the fire around them was
particularly heavy, the tanks waited
until the rest of the infantry caught
up. The ground soldiers famed out
through the fields on either side
cleaning up the opposition. And
the column pushed ahead more than
once. Enemy vehicles ran into the
task force as they emerged from side
roads, surrendering in amazemsnt
They were sent to the rear in their
own transport under very Iieh,
guard, for the general could no,
waste men in the escorting OF
prisoners. His mission was else
where.
German Guns Open Up.
The leading tank passed q roae
sign which said in Italian that thl
was the city limit OF Rome. A mo-
ment later 1t crossed the crest O.
hill. There was the fiat crack O
an antitank gun, followed in clos.
succession by sickening swishint
whistle and blasting crunch tina
felt as bad in the pit of your stom
ach as 1t sounded in your ears. 1
moment later the lead tank wa.
ablaze, its paint blistering while it
ammunition exploded inside II
Marshal Kesselring had begun hi
conference with Gen. Frederick.
Wheeling clumsily in the road, tn
tanks took to the fields where the,
spread out and waited. They hat
not long to wait. In a constan
stream, one neatly spaced after tn,
other, the shells came in. The in
fantry cursed and took cover in tn
ditch and behind houses along tn
road. Gen. Frederick's thigh wa
grazed by shell fragment which
tore a hole in his natty comba
trousers. He took them of to in
spect the damage, revealing a spo
where the skin had been scraped bu
not broken.
That's Not Very Close"
Hell" he said, that's not yer,
close" Then he put his pants bacl
on and began doing a little con
ferring himself.
Reconnaissance revealed that tn
task force was now opposed by ,
force consisting of two or thre,
antitank guns, three or four tank
and about 300 infantrymen we'll dui
in and armed with machine guns