ALLIES CLOSING IN

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 128, 27 November 1944, Page 6

ALLIES CLOSING IN

REICH FRONTIERS

S SKILFUL OPPOSITION <By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright.) Rec. 1.15 p.m. LONDON, Nov. 26.

While the Battle of Aachen rages as fiercely as ever, both the northern and southern flanks of the Allied armies are steadily closing on the frontiers of Germany, says "The Times" correspondent, at SHAEF. In the north, with the exception of a small enemy bridgehead in front of the destroyed river crossings at Venlo, FieldMarshal Montgome|p is now firmly established on the line of the Dutch Maas—still a formidable obstacle.

In the south, General Patton's right wing, ignoring the German Nineteenth Army in Alsace, which was more or less dismembered by the Allied move lo^Strasbourg, is pursuing. a .wheeling v-nipvement acrjb'ss th& of Lorraine,, which i-njust soon bring the whole Third Army into Saar territory. The German army is fighting with no little "skill and not without obvious tactical advantages. Their positions on the river lines are extremely strong, and their supply problems are less complex than those of the Allies. This can be seen not so much" in the greater number of guns facing the British at ■ Geilenkirchen as in the far greater amount of ammunition that is available to them; The greatest advantage enjoyed by the Germans in the Aachen Gap has been the weather, for mud and swollen streams are delaying the Allied advance to the Roer River more than they are affecting the enemy. American troops who occupied the woods north-east of Bourheim inched forward today towards the Roer River, one and a half miles away, under German artillery fire from the far side of the river, says Reuters * cbrrespbndentwith the United States' Ninth Army. There are now only two bridges remaining in-the Linnich region. The Americans are slowly closing in tonight over roads which are clogged with mud. The final battle for river crossings is not likely to .be easy. FLARE-UP NORTH OF BASLE. The Swiss radio, reports- that fighting flared up in the region north of Basle today. An unusual abundance of war material abandoned in the streets of Strasbourg is evidence of the haste with which the- Germans fell back across the Rhine bridge when General Leclerc's armoured divisions made an unexpected, appearance in: the outskirts of the city, says • the "Daily Mail' correspondent at Strasbourg. Every gutter was littered with machineguns and rifles, and all sorts of motorcars were plentiful. The Germans evidently left the cars and hurried over on foot, probably fearing that the bridge'might be blown up before they could cross, leaving them trapped on the French side. The ■ Germans undoubtedly had no idea how great was the strength which the French and American forces forming the Sixth Army group had developed after the Mediterranean landings. A British United Press correspondent with the; American Third Army says that General Patton's "infantry pushed into the Maginot Line and captured at least ten nill-boxes. These troops are now within one mile of St. Avoid on .the north, south, and west. . Other infantry units advancing two miles ineide Germany captured Obersche, four miles south-west of Merzig. The Third lArmy now holds a front of 16 miles inside Germany. The Germans made a fieace counter-attack, supported by tanks, in the Butzdorf area, 11 miles north-west of Marzig.

Better weather came to the "Western Front today,' says the "Daily Express." The air forces seized the chance, and massive " formations of heavy and medium bombers preceded General Patton's? troops, who crashed into the :Baar. . •'.. ..'■■ . •■ • ' '. "'■-'■

The skies .in the Aachen sector cleared, in the afternoon,- and there is a -beginning pi frost to harden the jground. '. ' : ■