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During the small hours of the morning of 22nd April, 6 RWK moved round behind the Argylls and began to clear up all the country south of the Po di Volano and as far west as the Divisional boundary, just short of Route 16. Just before dawn, the peace of Battalion Headquarters in Palmirano was disturbed by the arrival of a German Mark IV tank. Evidently, having called on the wrong day, it made off in the darkness to try its luck elsewhere. 6 RWK continued clearing up towards the west.

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During the same period, further moves were taking place in the wake of the 2nd Armoured Brigade’s advance. 5 Northamptons were moved up during the night behind the Recce Regiment and took over Voghenza and the line of the Condito Belriguardo. The Recce Regiment, thus relieved, was able to concentrate, by first light in Gualdo and the division’s right flank was, at the same time, made firm for the following day. In addition, to this relief, 2 LF moved up in the middle of the night and took over Cona from the Armoured Brigade.

During the morning of 22nd April, 56 Recce Regiment, still under command of the Armoured Brigade, pushed on towards the Po di Volano in a north westerly sweep on a broad front from Cona and Quartesana. Enemy infantry were by-passed and useful information was obtained on the state of the roads and bridges

At 1230 hours, the Regiment passed to under command of 11 Brigade which had, by this time, taken up the lead through the Armoured Brigade’s bridgehead.

During the afternoon, a good deal of enemy resistance was encountered in the area of Contrapo and thence northwards and eastwards. The Lancashire Fusiliers were directed through the Recce Regiment’s positions to try and deal with some of this and, on the right, the Northamptons were passed through and directed on the river to the east of the bridge by Fossalta. As evening drew on, however, resistance stiffened all along the front and it seemed that a considerable pocket of enemy as contained south of the river between Cona on the left and the Diversivo di Volano, south of Fisalta, on the right.

At the east end of the Diversivo di Volano, which at the time was beyond the Divisional boundary, 167 Brigade of 56th Division had had a battle in the middle of the day and little progress had been made from there to the north. Further east, however, in Sabbioncello, 1 Buffs from 24 Guards Brigade had crossed the river and found the bridge in an easily reparable state. The main effort of the 56th Division was, therefore, directed on this route.

As a result of this fortunate find, the inter-divisional boundary was changed by 5 Corps late on the evening of the 22nd and the main axis of 78th Division was turned north east. 11 Brigade was ordered to take advantage of the presence of 56th Division on the far side of the river and to establish a bridgehead in the area south of Fossalta. A considerable enemy pocket still remained south of the river but it had, by evening, been almost entirely compressed into the river bend or ‘bulge’.

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During the night, the Northamptons crossed the river against negligible opposition but ran into strong enemy posts almost immediately as they began to extend the bridgehead. There was, however, a firm footing on the far side and bridging operations began.

With the exception of the enemy left in the Fossalta bulge, the ground was now clear up to the Po di Volano. From the time at which 2 Armoured Brigade and 36 Infantry Brigade had broken out from the Argenta position until 11 Brigade reached and crossed the Po di Volano, was a period of just three days. In this time, the enemy had been relentlessly hustled along every inch of his many routes of withdrawal. In the minds of his commanders, there must have been a rising panic as the whole force became compressed against the Po’s south bank as the Air Force continued to pound and slash at the crossings of this great river and, as the queues of men and transport, guns, tanks, horses, mules and all the cumbersome paraphernalia of war, grew larger and thicker in the fields of the plain and along the floodbanks of the river. So long, however, as the line of the Po di Volano held, there was always a chance that another “Dunkirk” might be achieved.

But the line of the Po di Volano had not held, someone had made a tragic bloomer and failed effectively to blow the Sabbioncello bridge; even the limited hope of achieving a “Dunkirk” faded in that second of time.

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