BATTLE OF GERMANY

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 September 1944, Page 5

BATTLE OF GERMANY

ALLIED SUCCESS MAINTAINED

THOUSANDS OF PRISONERS

Advances In Belgium and Holland

LONDON, September 13. To-day’s communique from Supreme Allied Headquarters says:— “Le Havre is now m Allied hands. Mopping up continues on the Belgian coast between Fumes and Zee“Further progress has been made beyond the Albert Canal. North of Liege we have taken Fort Eben Emael. _ . ~ . “Our forces are advancing east and south-east of Liege after meeting strong resistance from German infantry anti-tank guns, and mines in the Limburg area. We have captured Eupen and' Malmedy. Units have crossed the German frontier east of Eupen. “Our troops in the Ardennes, who liberated Bastogne have advanced near Clervaux, in Northern Luxembourg. “In the Moselle Valley, we have enlarged our bridgeheads across the river against heavy resistance. “Medium and light bombers yesterday attacked concrete emplacements in the Siegfried Line in the neighbourhood of Scheid, some 50 miles west of Coblenz. Other formations struck against the railway yards at St. Wendel, artillery positions and observation posts in the vicinity of Nancy, and rail and road services.” “Canadian formations passed through Bruges on Tuesday without opposition. They pressed on eastward and reached a point three miles from Eecloo (about 10 miles from the Dutch border)," says a Supreme Headquarters report. Other units are nearing Maldegen, which is about three miles from the.border and 10 miles east of Bruges. “Large bodies of Germans are still resisting at Limburg, which the Americans by-passed in their drive to Eupen and eastward into Germany.” . TT . xl , The Moscow radio says Hitler has proclaimed a state of siege along the whole western German frontier. PROGRESS SUMMARISED LONDON. September 13. The American Ist Army has made a second crossing of the frontier into Germany. This is confirmed by today’s communique from Supreme Allied Headquarters. The new advance was made east of the Belgian border town of Eupen, about 10 miles south of Aachen, against scattered resistance. The American forces were last reported to be two miles beyond the frontier and still advancing. The Allied armies are now closing in on the Siegfried Line along a front of 150 miles,' with the Americans fighting inside Germany across the Luxembourg and Belgian borders. Fifteen miles due south of Eupen the Ist Army has captured Malmedy, which is about 10 miles from the German frontier, but was annexed and made part of the Reich in 1940. The British 2nd Army has made more progress beyond the Albert Canal. In addition to the heavy fighting in this sector, the British have been mopping up in the rear and have taken more than 28,000 prisoners in seven days. The Canadians are clearing up the German pocket near Zeebrugge. Canadian forces have also pushed on towards the Dutch frontier and the Schelde estuary after clearing the Germans from Bruges and Ghent. GERMAN ATTACKS FAIL. RUGBY, September 13. More German counter-attacks against the Second Army troops have been thrown back and heavy casualties inflicted on the enemy, writes a correspondent. The latest attacks were made, in the neighbourhood of Gheel by battle groups supported by a few tanks against the bridgehead over the Albert Canal. They made no progress and our troops, from their bridgehead on the south bank of the Scheldt, and our Air Force continues to take toll of the barges and other vessels dhey are using. We destroyed ten barges and damaged 28 yesterday. We are also attacking trains on the Dutch-German border, and one loaded with armoured vehicles was blown to atoms by rockets from Typhoons after Spitfires had stopped it. The Second Army took 6563 prisoners on Monday. The Canadians occupied Bruges, last night, without opposition, the enemy pulling out as they closed in on the town. The Germans are still using big guns mounted on trains to shell Antwerp and, curiously enough, seem to be concentrating most of their shells on the Zoological Gardens, which a Belgian White Army Brigade has been using as a gaol for German prisoners and collaborators.

DECISIVE BATTLE.

QUIET BEFORE STORM

RUGBY, September 13. It is the eve of the Battle of Germany and there is a fateful quiet on the Western Front, says a correspondent at SHAEF. To-night there is practically no news of Allied advances along the entire 300-mile line, but behind the scenes the American, British and Canadian armies are building up lor one great liberating battle which will and must soon develop. Meanwhile, the German. Command is parrying Allied thrusts and staging local holding actions and coun-ter-offensives to gain time and prepare for the great blow shortly to be directed at German soil. Stiff obstacles have yet to be overcome by the Allies. Networks of waterways have to be traversed, particularly in the Low Countries, the defences of the West Wall must be surmounted and difficult 'enclosed country which lies between certain areas of the advance and some of the key cities of the Reich must .be penetrated. A counter-attack which demonstrated the sensitiveness of the German Command to the dangerous proximity of these forces in the south was launched against American 3rd Army positions on the Moselle in the neighbourhood of Corny, south-west of Metz, but has been repulsed. In the north General Dempsey’s 2nd British Army troops are apparently building up for further drives in strength, following the victory in the Albert Canal battle, and the Canadian Ist Army is steadily clearing enemy pockets of resistance on the Scheldt north of Bruges and Ghent.

Enemy garrisons defending Le Havre, when they surrendered to the British troops, were found to be very much shaken from the effects of the Allied air bombing and the naval bombardment by the 15-inch guns of the Warspite and Erebus. MAGINOT LINE. (Rec. 10.25 a.m.) LONDON, September 13. The complete stretch of the Maginot Line which the Americans captured without a shot being fired on Monday is much as the French lef

1 it in 1940, says the “Daily Telegraph’s” correspondent with the American 3rd Army outside Thionville. He adds 1 that the Germans had not demolished i or mined the vast network of the tunnels and underground fortifica- | tions. Even the guns were still oiled ’ and in working condition with the breeches intact. The correspondent says that he stood beside a French boy 100 feet below the level of the ground in the electrical power house ■ and. watched him press the starter 1 button for the huge Diesel engines, the ’ huge transformers, the complete air- | conditioning plant, the heavy lifts and ’ the electric railways. Only one German occupied this fort which is one | of a hundred dotting the countryside. • All the complicated machinery was cared for during the war by three Frenchmen and a boy whom the Germans paid sixpence an hour. The correspondent journeyed in an electric train through the tunnels connecting the fort with observation points, gun emplacements, magazines. Powerhouses and stores. As he left the loiv the boy turned off the electricity, but did not bother to close the gates o( the fort. GERMANS WITHDRAWING. (Rec. 11.5 a.m.) LONDON, Sept. 13. The Germans have withdrawn from the general line of the Albert Canal east of Antwerp, after failing to hold the British thrust across the canal, says the British United Press correspondent in Belgium. German battle groups, composed of the remnants of dozens of divisions, reinforced by mixed troops, opposed the British troops. The British feat in forcing tne canal at the end of the long dash across Belgium is praiseworthy. A staff officer said: “The German battle groups on the canal are reinforced by a number of young fanatics. They are soon killed, but are fighting fanatically and bravely. There has been bitter fighting in the past few days and the enemy has suffered heavy casualties. We have also had a number of casualties. The fanatics do not know how to fight, but they are more than a nuisance.” Reuter’s correspondent with the British 2nd Army says a blanket of silence has again been cast over the operations of the 2nd Army. There is not yet any link up between the British forces in the two bridgeheads across the Albert Canal, but a junction between the British and Americans seems imminent. The British have not any base on Holland which they can exploit, but long columns of traffic have been speeding along the roads in the past three days. German pick and shovel squads are reported to be very active across the Dutch frontier. THRUST AGAINST METZ. (Rec. 10.25 a.m.) LONDON, Sept. 13. The tempo of General Patton’s thrusts against the German defences east of the Moselle is being stepped up, with the American artillery concentrating their main power against Metz itself, says Reuter’s correspondent at United States 3rd Army Headquarters. More troops and armour are flooding across the Moselle to build up the 3rd Army’s punch for the assault through AlsaceLorraine. American artillery is carrying out tests against recaptured Maginot Line forts in preparation for bombardments of the Siegfried Line. FIRST VILLAGE CAPTURED. (Rec. 11.40 a.m.) LONDON, Sept. 13. The American tanks which yesterday morning swept across the border into the almost deserted township of Roetgen, in Germany, seven and a half miles east of Eupen, are now tackling the more formidable German defences, says Reuter’s correspondent inside Germany. He adds that the tanks reached Roetgen in a blaze of small-arms fire. . The tanks rumbling into Germany found only a handful of frightened but not unhappy citizens. Roetgen was the first German village to be captured, and it was not difficult. The handful of people remaining during the battle for the township stayed hidden. White flags flew from windows, indicating that whatever the German Army might do there would be no resistance from the citizens. The tanks began pouring shells against the German installations in the hills behind the town less than 15 minutes after the first units entered at 4.50 p.m. An Associated Press correspondent says the Americans quickly broke through the primary defences in the Roetgen area and are now assaulting anti-tank obstacles and pillboxes just beyond the town. American self-propelled 105 m.m. guns are firing from German soil supporting the attack.

The Germans are defending the obstacles and pillboxes much more strongly. It is too early to draw conclusions, but the resistance so far is less than was expected. There arc many indications that the headlong German retreat in Belgium is continuing to the Rhine. The German News Agency says the Americans have captured an outlying Siegfried Line fort east of Verviers.

ENEMY DRIVEN FROM WOODS

(Rec. 12.35 p.m.) LONDON, Sept. 13. General Patton’s armoured spearheads across the Moselle, to-day, advanced, under fire, eight miles in two hours, says the Associated Press correspondent. The Americans flushed the Germans from the woods into a rain of bombs from waiting American planes. The Americans outflanked Pontamcussen, which was a German river defence bastion. Armoured columns swung into high-geared action for the first time in a fortnight, after the infantry smashed the Germans’ one great attempt to seal off the breach in the Moselle defences between Pontamoussen and Nancy. German tanks and infantry attacking from a point just south of Pontamoussen in the darkness of early morning overran an American command post and wounded the commander. Infantry using bazookas knocked out eight German tanks and _ thn cut off the attacking force, taking most of them prisoner. The Americans attacked at dawn, quickly expanding the battle area until it was two miles wide and eight miles deep. Meanwhile, more tanks, guns, and all components of the striking force flowed steadily across the river through bursting shells and passed over a ridge beyond the river. More than a hundred German vehicles were forced from the woods. Waiting planes pounced on them. An American armoured column added gunfire to the attack. The slaughter of the enemy column went on until it seemed the entire wood was on fire. The American tanks did not tarry. They pushed on out of sight many miles ■from the river.

NEUFCHATEAU TAKEN.

U.S.A. THIRD ARMY’S SUCCESS.

(Rec. 1.30 p.m.) LONDON, Sept. 13 The American 3rd Army captured Neufchateau, says the Associated Press. The 3rd Army also liberated 500 Americans, mostly women, and some men and women of British and other nationalities from the German internment camp of Cittel, 18 miles south of Neufchateau. The 3rd Army has now captured 803,000 prisoners, and is estimated to have killed 24,000 and wounded 70,300. The British United Press correspondent in Germany says the first peneration of Germany in strength was achieved with only one casualty. He was an American lieutenant who' was wounded by a sniper. The Americans from Roetgen are standing within rifle range of German fortifications, but the only German fire thus far has been from antiaircraft guns trying to keep the Allied fighter-bombers at bay. Reuter’s correspondent in Germany says the Americans to-day dug in on the heights overlooking Aachen, after fighting into the outposts of the Siegfried Line against surprisingly weak opposition. The Germans mounted machine-guns in one crater on the road from Roetgen from which they fought a desperate rearguard action, but the Germans generally retreated before the advance of the American infantry. Patrols cleared the town. SIEGFRIED LINE HIT (Recd. 2 p.m.) LONDON, Sept. 13. From well camouflaged positions in the Luxembourg hills, American guns to-night, were firing across the River Ourthe, a tributary of the Moselle separating the Duchy from Luxembourg, says Reuter’s correspondent with the United States Third Army. They are laying down the first sustained artillery barrage on German soil. Pillboxes and bunkers in the Siegfried Line received direct hits, also installations in small German towns, including large barracks. A column of vehicles apparently withdrawing eastward has also been peppered. Not one German gun replied. LARGE FORCES OVER FRONTIER. (Rec. 1.45 p.m.) LONDON, September 13. Large forces of tanks and infantry are now over the German frontier or crossing it, along a wide stretch south of Aachen, says the British United Press correspondent at SHAEF. In the north the Germans after withdrawing from the Albert Canal line are now deploying along the eastern bank of the Escaut Canal, whereover the British already hold a bridgehead. 320,000 PRISONERS LONDON, Sept. 13. It is stated at SHAEF that the American First, Third, and Seventh Armies, have taken 320,000 prisoners since D Day. LUXEMBOURG FREE. LONDON, September 13. The correspondent of the British United Press at headquarters of the 12th Army Group says that almost the whole of the Duchy -of Luxembourg is now in Allied hands. The King has received a message from the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg expressing the gratitude of her people for the liberation of Luxembourg by the victorious Allied forces. The King, replying, said “It is my earnest hope that your Royal Highness and youi* family, together with your faithful subjects, will soon enter on a period of happiness and peace.” 8,000 PRISONERS. (Rec. 11:0 a.m.) LONDON, September 13. The Channel coast from Zeebrugge to Nieuport is now completely mopped up, says Reuter’s correspondent with the Ist Army. One strong-point, which had been holding out, yielded 300 prisoners. _ , , The total number of Germans taken prisoner in Le Havre has now risen to 8000 which is believed to be the entire garrison. The prisoners are husky and well-fed and fresher and cleaner than any captured since D Day. They evidently went into deep shelters during the bombing and shelling and finally surrendered without showing fight. The garrison did not include S.S. troops. DOVER COAST SHELLED. LONDON, September 13. On Tuesday night German longrange guns in the Calais area shelled the vicinity of Dover for more than six hours. This is the longest shelling of Dover yet. The bombardment was very heavy at times. GERMAN ATROCITIES.

LONDON, September 13. A correspondent of “The Times” at Besancon, Eastern France, says: Germans in the Autun area poured petrol over five young members of the F.F.I. and burned them alive in a village square. This revolting story is given without a doubt as to its veracity, for examples of such barbarity are too numerous and from sources too disinterested to be doubted, even by those who remember the grotesque exaggerations of the last war. It is on the last war stories that the Germans doubtless are relying to discount what will be told against them after the present war.

PATROLS IN HOLLAND

LONDON, September 13

The British patrols which are reported to have crossed the Dutch border ahead of the 2nd Army are probably still in Holland, but there is nothing yet to indicate that the army is exploiting the thrust which took it to within 10 miles of the border. j , Polish armour has driven eastward and joined the British in the Ghent area. Canadian infantry and armour, thrusting north-east towards the west bank of the Schelde, are now five miles from the Dutch border. The Stockholm correspondent of the British United Press says: According to reports from Berlin, Allied forces have broken through the German lines about Eindhoven and are advancing. The reports add that Marshal Model is throwing in a wing of hastily summoned reserves in a bid to hold this advance, which threatens to nullify the entire German line on the Albert Canal, and to bring the battle in Holland to a decisive ’state. LA ROCHELLE FREE LONDON, September 13. The Marseilles F.F.I. radio stated that the F.F.I. have liberated the port of La Rochelle to which considerable German forces had returned. EASTERN FRANCE. GERMAN ESCAPE CUT.

LONDON, September 13. To-day’s communique from Allied Mediterranean Headquarters says:— “French troops of the 7th and 3rd Armies have linked in force on the Seine at Chatillon, closing the last remaining avenue for the enemy’s withdrawal from the west and south of France.

“French forces south-east of Chatillon have made further rapid advances against weakening resistance. Forward elements have reached Recey-sur-Rource and have also pushed across the Saone Paver north of Gray.

“American troops further east have captured- Vesoul. An enemy

counter-attack was beaten off west of Pprt-sur-Saone (north-west of Vesoul). Stiff resistance was met east of this area. “The French on the 7th Army s right flank have made additional gains but are meeting stubborn opposition at Pont de Roide.” AMERICAN ADVANCE. (Rec. 11.20 a.m.) LONDON, Sept. 13. ■American 7th Army forces advancing against lessening resistance to-day reached Flagy, six miles north of Vesoul and 30 miles west of Belfort, says Reuter’s correspondent at Mediterranean Headquarters. The French have gained further ground in the Upper Ource Valley, southeast of Chatillon. The Germans continued stiff resistance against the Allied right flank between Villersexel and Pont de Roide o , The meeting between the 3rd and 7th Armies is so far only slender contact by armoured patrols on the flanks of the converging armies. These contacts do not represent a main junction of the armies, though this cannot long be delayed. American Army cameramen who were present at the meeting at Seine la Beye, 15 miles north of Dijon, yesterday, said it is possible to drive directly from Dijon to Paris in a day over roads under Allied control. Much evidence can be seen of the hasty German retreat. There are abandoned guns and lines of wrecked vehicles. WINE STOCKS LONDON, September 13. A Reuter correspondent at Dijon, Eastern France, says: French forces chased the Germans beyond Dijon, and have now liberated the whole of the famous Cot d’Or wine producing district, which is the source of many of the world’s greatest burgundies. The war has passed over this area so quickly that none of the vineyards is damaged. There are many miles of historic hillside vineyards between Beaume and Dijon, which appear ready to bear rich crops. Experts in these districts,’ in which are situated towns that are household words among wine-lovers, say the Germans requisitioned large quantities of wine annually for shipment to Germany, but many of the merchants contrived to hold on to the best vintages for post-war consumption. The correspondent says he saw scores of casks in one_cellar at Nuits. The Germans had ordered this wine. The merchant had repeatedly declared that it was immature. He then placed it in his lowest cellar, knowing that the Germans would not have time to lift it up when liberation was near. The Germans abandoned Dijon early on Monday. They withdrew north-eastward under the cover of darkness, after seizing thousands of cars, bicycles and carts. They blew up bridges over the Ouche River, also the Dijon railway junction, one of the most important in. the European network.

U.S.A. NINTH ARMY

LONDON, September 13.

It is offiically announced that the American Ninth Army is in the field in. France. It is commanded by Lieu-tenant-General W. H. Simpson.

GERMAN ECONOMIC LOSSES

LONDON, Sept. 13

The “Daily Mail” commenting on Germany’s economic situation says: Germany stands to lose in the present battle of the Ruhr 41 per cent, of her hard coal necessary to make steel, and 50 per cent, of her steel. She stands in Holland to lose a great proportion of her radio industry, and 41 per cent, of her shipbuilding. Germany has recently lost three million tons of steel-yearly in Lorraine, and four million tons in Belgium, and more than three million tons in France. In France also, she has lost eight hundred thousand tons of bauxite yearly, which produced more than three million tons of aluminium. Germany lost in Belgian yards in which locomotives and motor-cars vs?re repaired, and in France, more than two million tons of food and three and ahalf million hectolitres of wine yearly. CAPTURED GERMANS. LONDON, Sept. 13. Reuter’s correspondent at Mediterranean Headquarters says: Death or capture are the alternatives facing Germans unofficially estimated to number 40,000 who have been cut off by the link up in force of Generals Patch’s and Patton’s armies at Chatillon. A large bag of Germans remaining west of the new link line is officially described as containing scattered but Substantial groups of personnel. The southern France invasion forces have already captured 75,000. A net is now closing on Belfort. The French on the Seventh Army’s right flank gained some five miles yesterday towards Mon Beliard, against relatively light opposition, but resistance is still strong near Pont de Roide, where the French are within ten miles of Belfort.