Tank Attack at Monte Cassino (The Cavendish Road Operation 1944) by Jeffrey Plowman

Early morning, 19 March 1944. Tanks manned by New Zealanders, Indians and Americans launch a daring attack along a narrow mountain track on German positions north of Monte Cassino. So began one of the most audacious Allied attempts to break through the Gustav Line and advance on Rome – and it almost succeeded. Yet the extraordinary story has seldom been told, and it has never been told before in the vivid detail Jeffrey Plowman brings to this new account.

Using operational orders, combat reports, unit diaries, post-battle photos from private and public archives and the graphic personal accounts of those who took part, he describes the construction of Cavendish Road and the course of the entire operation that followed. The planning for the attack and the men involved are described in a gripping and clear-sighted way, as is the attack itself – its initial rapid success and its ultimate failure.

Eighty years later Jeffrey Plowman reveals exactly what happened and shows how and why this bold thrust against the German strongpoints at Monte Cassino, which could have turned the course of the battle, ended in retreat. His book also features a visitor’s guide that covers the length of Cavendish Road from the village of Caira to Massa Albaneta, linking each spot with the events described in the narrative.

Jeffrey Plowman is a research biochemist by profession who has had a keen interest in military history for over thirty-five years. He has made a special study of New Zealand armour and armoured units and has published nineteen books as well as many articles and chapters on the subject. Among his most recent publications are War in the Balkans: The Battle for Greece and Crete 1940-1941 and Monte Cassino: Armoured Forces in the Battle for the Gustav Line.