GAINS IN HOLLAND

Greymouth Evening Star, 27 October 1944, Page 5

GAINS IN HOLLAND

BRITISH NEAR TILBURG CANADIAN SUCCESSES

LONDON, October 26. British 2nd Army Forces are closing in on the Dutch city of Tilburg otter a rapid advance across country. TheV were last reported less than a mile from Tilburg, but the latest dispatches spoke of stiffening resistance both at Tilburg and in the south-west corner of Hertogenbosch, where the Germans are still holding out. “The Canadians north of Antwerp have made further progress across the Dutch border, but are meeting fanatical resistance from German naratroops hidden in the woods orth-west of Eschen,” says Reuter’s “■respondent. “The Germans are holding this area m some strength, with the obvious intention oi delaying the Allied advance and facilitating the evacuation of their forces farther north % the line of the Waal' but advanced Canadian troops are already less than two miles from Bergen op Zoom. A staff officer said. ■‘The Germans are very worried about their lines of communication. They are definitely pulling out from southern Holland. . , The Germans in the Scheldt islands are hard pressed by the Canadians, who have already advanced six miles into South Beveland at its mainland end. OFFICIAL SUMMARY LONDON, October 26. To-dav’s communique from Supreme Headquarters says: Allied Forces have driven enemy forces from the northern and eastern sections of Hertogenbosch. We captured Boxtel and advanced several miles to the north-west. We reached the area of Moe Gestel, tour miles east ol Tilburg. “There has been general progress northward in the area east of the Antwerp-Breda Road. “We advanced three miles _west along the south side of the South Beveland Isthmus. Allied Forces also gained further ground in the area between Woensdrecht and Pindorp (five miles east of Bergen op Zoom) in the Scheldt pocket. We reached the outskirts of Groede and also gained ground north-west and west ol Schoondijke. “Our advance north-east oi Bpinai has been slowed by stiffened resistance. “We threw back an enemy counterattack in the Vosges Mountains sector, with heavy enemy losses. “Fighters and fighter-bombers gave support over battle zones, and attacked road and rail transport in Western Germany.” resistancFcrumbling RUGBY, October 26. The German resistance south of Vucht, three miles south of Hertogenbosch has crumbled and this afternoon the disorganised enemy forces are fleeing down the main road toward Tilburg, pursued by armoured units of the British 2nd Army, says a correspondent with that army. “At two places our forces are across the main road and in the direction of Helvolrt they are also across the railway which follows the line of the road on the north-west side. The capture of Vucht, which fell to our treops at midday, was particularly important, as it was here the enemy had put up a screen of anti-tank guns and assault guns drawn from Western Holland to provide a bastion on this highway between Tilburg and Hertogenbosch. About three-quar-ters of the latter can now be regarded as clear of the enemy.” GERMAN "PLANS FAIL.

(Rec. 10.35 a.m.) LONDON, Oct. 26. 'The strategy of the German commander in the south of Holland has failed, says the Exchange Telegraph’s Agency’s Holland correspondent. The enemy movements this morning indicate he is pulling out towards the Maas, saving what he can of the remnants of the eight divisions under his command by the time-hon-oured device of staging strong rearguard actions to cover the escape of his main forces. Reuter’s correspondent with the British 2nd Army says the Germans, are fighting bitterly with a formidable two-mile screen of 88 a.m. guns to hold the vital road and' railway running north from Tilburg to Vaucht. The enemy’s entire defence system in the steadily contracting pocket below the Maas, depends on his ability to hold this line from Tilburg to Vaucht. The German News Agency stated that combined Allied naval and land forces are attempting a landing on the southern coast of Walcheren Island. A German High Command communique issued some time later makes no reference to this landing, but reports that the Allies made a local landing in the southern part ol South Beveland, against which coun-ter-measures are being taken.

“ARTIFICIAL MOONLIGHT”

RUGBY, October 26

Flame-throwing tanks and “artificial moonlight” are being used in the operations around Hertogenbosch, says a SHAEF correspondent. The “artificial moonlight” is formed by searchlights which light up the enemy while keeping our troops in the shadow.

The fact that enemy headquarters and administrative units are believed to have moved north from Tilburg and Breda bears out earlier reports that the enemy were pulling out of this area and accounts for the lessening opposition. Our advance in the Oisterwyk area, five miles south-east of Tilburg, continues, while further west we have made slight advances south of Roosendaal. The troops pushing along the causeway to Beveland are engaged in widening out. The Germans are hanging on grimly to the south-west corner of Hertogenbosch. North of the town some of our troops are reported to have crossed a canal bridge which was blown up after them, presumably by the enemy. 3000 PRISONERS TAKEN (Recd. 12.20 p-mTuONDON, Oct. 26. British troops to-night are fighting on the eastern outskirts of Tilburg, says Reuter’s correspondent with the British 2nd Army. After capturing Vucht and outflanking a screen of 88 m.m. guns they cut the Tilburg-Vucht road in three places and reached the railway at one point. Cutting communications is at present, more important than occupying Tilburg. The Germans are savagely defending the line west of the Tilburg-Vucht road. There are no signs of evacuation, but indications of disorganisation. The -British United Press correspondent reports that more than 3000 Germans have been taken prisoner since the beginning of the attack against Hertogenbosch, where the weather has denied the British troops, air support for the second successive day. The German News Agency stated that the battle for the Scheldt pocket was slowly coming to an end. GERMAN NUMBERS. RUGBY, October 26. Since the beginning of the campaign, the Allies have taken 625,000 ■prisoners, and the German strength on the western front is now estimated at less than 100 divisions, accord-

ing to a correspondent at SHAEF. These divisions, most of which are not much above half strength, are defending 600 miles of front. Under Runstedt they are divided into two army groups. The Germans also have some 130,000 men in the French Atlantic ports and Channel Islands, but these troops, instead of being a useful addition to the enemy strength, are a great loss to the enemy.. German armoured strength is estimated at less than at the beginning of the western campaign. In spite of the generally low medical category, the Germans are fighting stubbornly and their morale is still high. The Germans have made the country between Aachen and Cologne very strong, and every effort will be made to repel any Allied effort in that direction. However, the Germans are short of artillery, while the need for reserves may compel the use of the hastilytrained Volkssturm as regular units. NANCY AREA LONDON, October 26. Reuter’s correspondent with the United States 3rd Army says that American patrols operating in Ger-man-held territory penetrated several miles east from Zures, a small town on the Rhine-Marne’ Canal, 20 miles east of Nancy. The correspondent of “The Times on the Moselle front says that the Germans at Maizieres (six miles north of Metz) are making fairly considerable use of big 11-inch guns mounted on rail-borne carriages, which are shunted up and down the front and kept hidden in tunnels and woods when not in use. They are not proving very effective, possibly be-, cause of the great range at which they are being used —up to 30 miles. Reuter’s correspondent with the United States Ist Army says that inactivity has continued on the Ist Army front. On Wednesday one German was captured in one of the quietest days since D Day. Flying bombs have continued to appear over the sector.

A correspondent with the American Ist Army quotes a senior staff officer as saying: “It is going to be a tough fight to get to the Rhine.* Our running days are over.” Uneasy quiet' continued throughout the day on the Ist Army front, with the feeling everywhere that both sides are building up ■ for the American lunge toward the Rhine.

GERMAN ATTACKS

RUGBY, October 26

There is a general stiffening of resistance to the Allied Sixth Army group in Eastern France, where several counter-.attacks have been repulsed north-east of Le Thillot, says a correspondent at SHAEF. There were artillery exchanges all Wednesday, and a considerable movement of enemy transport, but there was no' material change in our forward, positions.

North-east of Mortagne we found the enemy fairly well dug in, and in repelling enemy attacks in the Moselotte River region we inflicted considerable losses. In the Doubs area patrols are piercing the enemy lines deeply, and in the High Alps French special mountain troops have been active.