The abbey can be seen in the distance to the right of the palm tree. The final portion of the assault involved the New Zealand Division which attempted to gain the rail road station in Cassino town; they succeeded but crucially were unable to throw a bridge across the final gap in the railway causeway before daylight and so were without armoured support. Their isolation and lack of support made for a hopeless situation when the armoured counter-attack came in the afternoon on February 18. They were ordered to pull back to the river when it became clear to headquarters that both the attempts to break through (in the mountains and along the causeway) would not succeed.