ALLIED POSITION STRENGTHENED

Dominion, Volume 38, Issue 3, 28 September 1944, Page 5

ALLIED POSITION STRENGTHENED

(Bv Telegraph.—Press - Assn. Copyright.) (Received September 27, 11.40 p.m.) LONDON, Sept . Of the British airborne force which is still heroically fighting on after 10 days in the Arnhem area there is no official news this morning. It was announced yesterday that security silence governing the battle of the British Second Army spearhead south of Arnhem while the fighting remained fluid. • In the meantime the British below Nijmegen have considerably widened the supply corridor, and air supplies are pouring into this area. “The airborne forces who have valiantly held on to the nort bank of the Neder Rhine have done more than hu H!® n J e,^ g ® e^n . be expected to do,” says the Daily Express military correspon dent. "Their night-and-day fight against an enemy numbers and weapons will rank as an epic in nis tory. Their stand, whatever happens, will not have been mva . If the stand had not been made it is certain we captured the vital bridge over the lower Rhine at Nijmegen because the Germans would have sent the troops and panzers which they used at Arnhem to hold us off at Nijmegen. i • "Two factors have prevented the Second Army from linking up with General Browning’s skytroops: first, the weather,and secondly, the speed with which the enemy has regrouped his forces and brought up reinforcements.” , _

Moro than 200 Dakota transports today lauded on an airfield in the Allied corridor with reinforcements, medical supplies and food and equipment, for tlie Allied forces battling on Dutch territory, says a Reuter correspondent. Inside 135 minutes the Dakotas had landed, discharged their cargoes, and taken off again. A great supply shuttle service is now in full swing where previously all supplies had to be sent by parachute and glider. The correspondent, who flew in with one group of the transports, said: ‘‘Under a fighter canopy the big transports stretched over the sky for miles in every direction. The airfield itself was an amazing scene, with supply planes landing in a constant flow while others were taking off after unloading their cargoes. The crews had been told: ‘Get there, get down, and get out—quickly.’ All the planes in one group were in the air again within 15 minutes, while in another area close by gliders were sailing in with more supplies. “A high-ranking British airborne officer said: ‘We popped over here on Monday to survey the place and then sent in a report, but even we can scarcely credit such an overnight transformation. Yesterday the airfields were deserted except for a few cows and sheep; today we are clearing planes at a rate of 100 an hour. The stuff is simply pouring

“The transports which landed supplies went in two forces, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. All landed safely; no fighter or flak opposition was encountered, and the return journeys were also without incident.’’

Wedge Greatly Widened. More attempts bv the Germans to interfere with the Allied traffic lines from Eindhoven to Nijmegen have been beaten off, reports today’s communique from supreme headquarters. The corridor is now reported to be 20 miles wide south of Nijmegen, and troops have reached the Maas River on a front of five miles.

“The corridor south of Nijmegen is being steadily widened and strengthened,” said an earlier supreme headquarters statement. General Dempsey’s troops have reached the River Maas at two points close to the German frontier, namely, on a frontage of a few miles in the region of Baxmeer (east of Hertzogen Bosch), and in the area of Maeseyck (on the north-east Belgian frontier).

“The eastern side of the corridor is thus pretty well cleaned up as far as the Maas except for isolated by-passed enemy troops. “On the western side of the corridor we have captured Heesch mid Os, both about 10 miles west of Grave (south-west of Nijmegen). The road through Vechel is now clear but is still under enemy artillery fire. British troops operating with the Canadians are continuing to advance north of the Antwerp-Turnhout Canal against increasing resistance.” The advance to the Maus is being made on a front of 42 miles toward where the river turns westward to the sea. The Germans are reported to be blowing up the Maas bridges and digging in behind the river.

Two Supply Roads Now. A second supply road to Nijmegen was gained yesterday, says the British United Press correspondent with the British Second Army. The width of the corridor just north of Eindhoven has been nearly doubled in the past 24 hours. It is now 24 miles wide, though it. narrows to three miles north of Vechel. The enemy threat to cut across the corridor is decreasing. Describing the Germans’ third attack against the suply road, the correspondent says that the Germans cut the road between Vechel and Oedenrode with at least two tanks and two or three selfpropelled 88’s and a few score of infantry equipped with machineguns. They got on to the road and roamed up and down it, blowing up any transport they had caught in the trap and mounting SS's at each end to hold the section. They also shelled Oedenrode and Vechel. Three thousand Germans are in a two-miles semi-circle north of Vechel, with 10 or 15 tanks and 10 to 15 SS's. Twice previously they had cut the road in this area and had been beaten off with heavy losses after inflicting damage to our supply columns and stopping the flow along the road for long periods. Several hundred glider pilots who participated in the airborne landings at Nijmegen are now fighting as front-line troops. They were thrown into tho battle as holding troops and mobile reserves when the critical situation demanded the use of regular infantry on more vital sectors.