DESPERATE DEFENCE

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 82, 4 October 1944, Page 5

DESPERATE DEFENCE

FIGHTING IN OPEN COUNTRY

(By T«lejraph—Press Associatton^-Copyright.) Kec. noon. , . LONDON, October 3. The Americans have achieved a definite break-fhrotigh of the Siegfried - I_inc north of Aachen, states Reuters correspondent at American First Army Headquarters. In their four-miJe advance they broke through and captured: Üba<Jh, abopt U miles beyond the -GetA man frontier south of Geilenkircfcen. They are now fighting:eastl 'of the , Siegfried Line fn country which is open except for tank tramps and newlybuilt field defences. Fighting is in progrete itortli and 0 north-west of ybach, with the Germans defending desperately. * • The Americans accomplished their break-through in bitterly cold, drizzling, rain. • They have taken between 500 and- 600 prisoners since the opening of the drive yesterday morning. The most bitter fighting in- this hotly-contested offensive is occurring between muddy, wet troops in a heavy forest east of the railway and south of the devastated town of Palenberg. Today the - Americans worked theirway through the forest, where they nave suffered casualties in .the past two days. TWO MAJOR BREACHES. The Germans' defensive fire in the Aachen area is still heavy, a correspondent of ; the Associated Press of Great Britain reports. The Americans have cut the main road leading northwards from Aachen. They have now achieved_-two major breaches of the Siegfried Line, the other being south 1 a Aachen on the main road to Cologne. Aachen is threatened with complete . encirclement. The-Germans in one sector counter-attacked"and forced the Americans to retire behind the Wurm River, but the Americans" later reattacked and regained the ground.' The Americans south of the new lT"£ acs_. ar? meeting strong opposition" the Associated Press correspondfP* '. ? tl,t^ e. course of breaching the Siegfried. Line they knocked out 39 . pill-boxes. An American officer said, "We are definitely through the old Siegfried Line, but there are still fortifications and ahti-tank defences ahead of us." The British United Press correspondent says: "Front-line infantry broke through at 1 p.m. today, and they are now meeting a 'wall of men' in foxholes east of the Siegfried Line." The • Germans late this afternoon counter-attacked near Aachen, hoping to divert the pressure from the north. They used radio-controlled Goliath tanks carrying high-explosives. Mechstein, '2_\ miles south of Übach, is threatened by Americans moving south , behind the Siegfried defences. HEAVY ARTILLERY POUNDING. A British United Press correspondent reports that the deepest penetration of the Siegfried defences has been on the northernmost part of the American line, where the German .defences are thinner than those immediately north of Aachen. Hundreds of our guns are giving the German fortifications a very, heavy pounding. Our dive-bombers ate going forward, but the cloud ceiling is too low for effective bombing by medium bombers. The' Germans were massing tanks and infantry for a heavy blow south of Arnhem when they were struck a terrific blow yesterday by R.A.F. medium bombers and rocket-firing Typhoons—a blow which' the British commander in this area, in a message of thanks to Air Marshal Coningham, commander of the Second Tactical Air Force, described •as "turning the enemy's assembly areas into a killing ground,'* says the correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain with the British Second Army. The devastating air assault left the Germans able to muster only weak attacks, which failed to dent our lines. Our advance on the right flank of the Nijmegen corridor is being slowed by enemy mining, which is described as worse than anything encountered in France. While the situation is essentially unchanged in the Arnhem-Nijmegen salient, our air power is steadily draining the enemy strength. With a vast rail-way-cutting programme, bombers and fighters are gradually smashing all the railway lines north-east and north of Arnhem, and the Germans ,are being forced to detrain men, supplies, and ammunition somewhere in the Ruhr, and try to get .them to the front-line along roads at night. - ATTACK ON ANTWERP. Canadian troops occupied Merxem, the northern suburb of Antwerp, today after the Germans had Withdrawn durfeg the night, says Reuters correspondent with the Canadian First Army. Street fighting has been going on in Merxem for several days. Advancing against heavy opposition, Poles reached the border of Belgium and Holland north of Merxplas. Late yesterday American forces cap-1 tured high ground five miles north-' west of Metz, from which they have direct observation of the city, reports the British United Press correspondent with the American Third Army.- The Americans are meeting the most stubborn opposition in their advance northeast of Luneville. Th€* . Americans have captured I Chambrey, 15 miles north-east of i -*• Nancy, says' Reuters correspondent at Third Army headquarters. He adds that the Germans attempted today to recapture Sivrey, eight miles north - of Nancy, • which the Americans captured on October 1. Fighting is going <pn.