Late War News ALLIES MAY STOP AT RHINE

Dominion, Volume 38, Issue 3, 28 September 1944, Page 6

Late War News

ALLIES MAY STOP AT RHINE

Observer’s Opinion

AUTUMN CAMPAIGN OUTLOOK

(By Telegraph. —Press Assn. —Copyright,.) (Received September 28, 12.10 a.m.) NEW YORK, tjept. 27.

“The tickle fortunes of war have combined to slow down the It rst Army’s advance to a point where only a comparatively slow drive to the Rhine can be expected,” says a “New York Times” correspondent, Drew Middleton, with the American First Army. “At the same time, the strategic situation to the north has changed to such a degree that, barring a complete collapse of the German field armies, this is no longer the most important or decisive front in the' west. If the British thrust in the Netherlands round the end of the Siegfried Line does not make rapid progress there is a strong chance that the Allies will be stuck on the Rhine and in the northern Netherlands through the Wl “The American First Army will reach the Rhine, but the forbidding.country be-’ yond and the manifold difficulties of large-scale operations in north-west Europe in the late autumn and the winter make a break-through into the,, heart of Germany on this front highly unlikely. British Regrouping. The German news agency’s military commentator, reviewing the situation in Holland, says: “Montgomery is regrouping his forces. He has greatly strengthened the British formations lighting north of .Eindhoven aud forced the German command to take back its defensive bolt line a few miles to the area of Belmond. lhe regrouping of the British forces is still going on everywhere in the EindhovenNijmegen area.” Forecasting a resumption oi major fighting in the Aachen urea at any moment the writer says the Americans are concentrating large forces in this region, and evidently intend to force a breakthrough eastward on both sides ot the town. . , Describing the British airborne troops fighting in Holland, a Berlin radio war reporter says: “They certainly are hardy fellows—pick of the bunch—to whom the British command entrusted the difficult operations at Arnhem." When captured they smile, and if wounded they/ hide their pain. ... ~ “These air troops are dug m along flic railway line and motor road on this sector and take advantage of> every tree and bushy tuft on the heath. The paratroops are already driven from the bridge where they landed and held their first positions, but they are fighting on stubbornly. Supply Route Wreckage.

“The Germans in the area where General Dempsey has enlarged the Allied right flank toward Maas seem to be putting up much reduced resistance, says Reuter’s correspondent in a dispatch sent last night. “The roadway through tne corridor has been cleared and Second Army troops are occupied in cleaning up a quantity of burnt and smashed lorries that were caught in a,i’German night hold-up. ' , , ' "The lorry drivers, who have had some of the grimmest experiences since the early Normandy days, are fighting their way through under heavy artillery fire. The blackened and burnt-out lorries, armoured ears and tanks littering the roadway between Uden and Veehel tell of the great work these men arc doing. “General Denipsey’s forces, with the main morridor steadily widening on the eastern flank, now have elbow room to deliver smashing blows against the Germans who still lurk in the woods in the Veehel area and tend to threaten . the highway from the west. Picked British infantry are creeping 'along dykes and through woods hunting them out. “The Germans at present hold the north bank of the Turnhout-Antwerp Canal in considerable strength and are putting up very fierce opposition to the British and Canadians lining the other bank. The resistance still remains hard also in the Arendonck area, where the Germans are defending every little village.”