Editing Battle of Monte Cassino (section)

===First assault: X Corps on the left, 17 January===
[[File:The Crossing of the Garigliano River by the Fifth Army, Lauro, Italy, 19 January 1944 TR1522.jpg|thumb|right|British [[Royal Engineers]] of the [[46th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|46th Infantry Division]] cross the Garigliano river, 19 January 1944]]

The first assault was made on 17 January. Near the coast, the British X Corps (56th and 5th Divisions) forced a crossing of the Garigliano (followed some two days later by the British 46th Division on their right) causing General [[Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin]], commander of the [[XIV Panzer Corps|German XIV Panzer Corps]], and responsible for the Gustav defences on the south western half of the line, some serious concern as to the ability of the [[94th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|German 94th Infantry Division]] to hold the line. Responding to Senger's concerns, Kesselring ordered the [[29th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|29th]] and [[90th Light Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|90th Panzergrenadier Divisions]] from the Rome area to provide reinforcement. X Corps did not have the extra men, and the battle plan remained unchanged. However, there would certainly have been time to alter the overall battle plan and cancel or modify the central attack by the U.S. II Corps to make men available to force the issue in the south before the German reinforcements were able to get into position. As it happened, Fifth Army HQ failed to appreciate the frailty of the German position and the plan was unchanged. The two divisions from Rome arrived by 21 January and stabilised the German position in the south. In one respect, however, the plan was working in that Kesselring's reserves had been drawn south. The three divisions of Lieutenant General McCreery's X Corps sustained some 4,000 casualties during the period of the first battle.<ref>{{harvnb|Majdalany|1957|p=90}}</ref>