TWO ARMOURED COLUMNS WELL BEYOND NORDHAUSEN

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 85, 11 April 1945, Page 5

TWO ARMOURED COLUMNS WELL BEYOND NORDHAUSEN

Third Army units entered Nordhausen after an advance of 40 miles in one day. The Germans news agency states that the Third Army has penetrated as far as Rodach, 10 miles north-west of Coburg. Reuters correspondent reports that two armoured columns, after advancing 31 and 36 miles respectively, reached Auleben and Clingen, eight and 19 miles respectively south-east and south of Nordhausen. It was the Third Armoured Division that entered Nordhausen. Other elements reached a point five miles east of Nordhausen. The Ruhr pocket, correspondents say, is now cut down to a third of its original size. The Germans are making some attempts to evacuate troops at night time by air. One large concentration of Germans in the pocket which yesterday was thought to be preparing for an attempted break-out has apparently been pulled back. Two fairly strong counter-attacks north-west of Dortmund have been held. Pressure is being maintained in the Siegen sector,- where infantry units have advanced several miles. The Germans taken prisoner in the Ruhr pocket by the Ninth and First Army forces yesterday passed the 25,000 mark. .General Dempsey's forces have reached the half-way mark from the Wesel bridgehead to Berlin, states Reuters correspondent with the British Second Army. The Sixth Airborne Division, the correspondent adds, in a drive 12 miles eastward from Leine, which was almost unopposed, captured Fuhrberg, 12 miles north-north-east of Hanover and the half-way point on the road to Berlin. This division also took Bissendorf, nine miles north of Hanover. Other correspondents say the Canadians in their push to the Zuider Zee and Emden have run into one of the toughest defences on the whole front. The Canadians are still pushing into the V country in north-west Holland.