Denis Harding è un Veterano che ha combattuto a Cassino nelle file del Queen's Royal Lancers Regiment.

Dopo qualche tempo dalla sua visita al Cassino War Memorial, ci ha inviato il fregio da basco della sua unità. E' con un immenso senso di gratitudine che oggi lo esponiamo nel nostro Museo.

REGIMENT'S HISTORY

The Regiment arrived in Italy during the preparation phase for the assault on the Gustav Line, a defensive line running the entire length of Italy and hinged on Monte Cassino. The assault began on 11th May 1944 with the crossing of the River Gari. The 17th/21st moved to their bridge-crossing site 'Amazon' during the night only to find that the bridges had not been laid, due to all the engineer bulldozers having been knocked out. As a result the Regiment were forced to improvise, using their tanks to shunt a Bailey Bridge into position and thus effect a crossing. By the 14th the Corps had achieved nineteen crossings and by the 16th the pressure on the Germans proved so great that they were forced to abandon the Gustav Line. It took the Canadians a further five days to breech the Adolf Hitler Line after which the road to Rome was effectively clear.

The advance north of Rome proved itself even harder than in the south. There were only three routes capable of supporting armoured formations with the Germans covering all of them with direct and indirect fire. The delaying action the Germans fought was so effective it took the Allies four months to reach the Gothic Line. The winter of 1944/1945 saw the 17th/21st taking their turn as infantry on the Gothic Line in The Apennine Mountains, not only manning trenches but machine guns and mortars. For the Regiment the battle of The Po Valley proved to be the final action of the war. By VE Day the 17th/21st Lancers had lost 21 officers and 135 other ranks killed.

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