During the day the Service of Consecration had taken place, the entrapment of the bulk of von Vietinghoff's 10th Army had become a reality. Highway 6, bounded by mountains to the east, was now virtually the only way for the Germans to retreat.

With 8th Army advancing steadily from the south, led by units of the Canadian Army who had successfully crossed the river Melfa, and US VI Corps, commanded by the aggressive General Truscott, thrusting its way towards Valmontone on Highway 6 (Operation Shingle's second objective), the jaws of the trap were about to be sprung. Sadly it was not to be, as General Truscott was ordered to divert the bulk of his forces to advance north on Highway 7, Via Appia.

In satisfying the ego of 5th Army's Commander to be the first to enter Rome, a great opportunity had been squandered. The responsibility for the subsequent loss of so many lives is General Mark Clark's alone - it is a matter for conjecture how many of the nineteen men of the NIH, now resting for ever in a foreign land, would have been reunited with loved ones. Of all that has been written about the events of May 1944, perhaps Dan Kurzmann's book The Race for Rome is the one most objectively written. However, it is not this writer's intention to dwell on what might have been, rather to record his personal recollections of the role played by the Regiment as it fought its way north, up the Appennines, through the Montefeltro massif and in to the River Po Valley.

Over the next few days, we were busily engaged in getting the replacement Churchill and Sherman tanks ready for further action. During this time I was fully occupied checking and re-checking the Squadron's 19 Sets - replacing valves where necessary and, in some cases, also the sets themselves. I lost count of the number of times the netting procedure took place!

While all this activity was underway 'B' Squadron was introduced to its new Leader, Major W.M.MacKean MC and the 2nd I/C Captain R.S.H.Sidebottom. More intimate was the later meeting with Ballyrashane's new Skipper.

On the morning of 29th May we gathered for a meeting with SSM Docksey. He told us that the Regiment had received orders for all the fully-crewed tanks to travel north to rejoin Canadian 2nd Infantry Brigade. He went on to say Ballyrashane would be lead tank for the Squadron, as Bangor was not yet ready to move and Bushmill's Skipper was going on ahead with the OC.

As darkness fell, the order came to move out. With the tanks having their convoy lights on, these being placed on the underside to be only visible from the rear, it quickly became obvious that the honour of leading the Squadron was no sinecure. However, when it became time for Ballyrashane to lead the way, following a taped path, through an extensive minefield, at least we were leaving our dust behind us!

After a long and physically tiring journey we arrived at the small Commune di Pofi, home of the Museo Preistorico, where we harboured, camouflaged, during the daylight hours. As darkness fell, it was once more on the move, this time a lot easier, as we drove up Highway 6 to eventually join up with the Seaforth Highlanders on the northern outskirts of Frosinone.