WALCHEREN LANDINGS

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 November 1944, Page 5

WALCHEREN LANDINGS

ALLIES’ COSTLY PROGRESS

CANADIANS’ SEVERE ORDEALS

U.S.A. NEW OFFENSIVE GAINS

LONDON, November 2. , Thp British forces which landed from the sea yesterday on Walcheren Island, in the Scheldt estuaiy, hate made good progress. To-days com I munique says that they now h 0 d : miles of coast and a Jaige pair oi Flushing. The two beachheads, at Westkapelle and Flushing, are firmly eS A B/BXD.' correspondent says that, the landings were not made■ withou + losses. It may take seveiai days of determined German garrison of 7000 to tu,uuu men are subdued. Walcheren At the eastern end of Walcheien, where the causeway joins it to Louth Beveland, Canadian Jor^ s h :Y ecXdine savage resistance. .Other canaa ian forces are fighting m Knocke, the Inst place of any importance held by {he Germans hi the pocket south of the Scheldt estuary On the mainland, the butisn aim Army was last reported to hold more mile ot the south bank ol the lower Maas. On the east flank of the Dutch salient, steady Allied pressure has regained more of the ground lost to the Germans in their counter-at-tacks west of Venloo. While the Walcheren landings were occurring Allied reconnaissance rols’daringly crossed to thelandso North Beveland and Tholen, ana found them unoccupied. The German radio says that tou British cruisers and one battleship oi the King George V type covered the Walcheren landings. OFFICIAL SUMMARY LONDON, November 2. To-day’s communique from Allied Supreme Headquarters says. “Allied forces which landed on Walcheren Island yesterday morning made good progress Two are firnny established, and miles of coast and a large part of the {own of Flushing are in our hands. An Army Commando force was suecesstully landed at Flushing under cover of a bombardment Hom the south shore of the Scheldt Estuary. Royal Marines secured a beachhead at Westkapelle under cover of a longrange bombardment by H.M.S. Mar spite, Erebus, and Roberts, and of a close bombardment by squadrons of .support aircraft. “Fighter-bombers at daylight yesterday renewed the attack agains gun positions and strongpoints on Walcheren Island, ai ) d attacked enemy troop movements, while tigniers provided cover for our land ana sea forces. No enemy opposition was encountered in the air. None of our planes is missing.” SCHELDT PRISONERS LONDON, November 2. Reuter’s correspondent with the Anglo-Americans says: The German General commanding the S cheld * pocket was captured on Wednesday Kt, together with 2500 prisoners. Prisoners taken in the pocket now total 10,000. cmnrpme Reuter’s correspondent at Headquarters states that the almo.A complete collapse of German resistance in the Scheldt pocket with the Walcheren landings presages early clean-up of the Scheldt. Estuaiy Slt Timely support by R.A.F. Typhoons was undoubtedly a vital factor m turning the scale to Allied adva^ a S® says the Navy’s tribute to a from the Second Tactical An Foie, which, without loss, played a prominent part in breaking German opposition on Walcheren on Wednesday. The group flew 430 sorties m weather in which they would normally have been grounded. Typhoons, carrying bombs and rockets, attacked a radio station, guns and troops. An indication that the Allies aie already using the port of Antwerp is given by the German-controlled Dutch radio, which claimed that German planes sank two Allied ship* in the Scheldt Estuary. One was laden with aircraft parts, and the other with explosives and ammunition. FRONT STRONGLY HELD _ LONDON, Nov. 2. Reuter’s correspondent with the Second Army says: The British hold a solid five miles front along the southern bank of the Maas, east ot Geertruidenburg. A spokesman for the Second Army said that all opposition south of this line has ceased. The correspondent adds: British are fighting in the outskirts of Geertruidenburg, where one of two important bridges over the Maas are situated. American forces on Wednesday pulled back from their small bridgehead across the Mark River. This was because it was not large enough for them to bring across supporting weapons. The Poles continue to hold their bridgehead across the. river. WAIST DEEP IN WATER. RUGBY, November 2. Pushing through flooded fields, often waist deep in water, troops of the Canadian Army which includes units from England, Poland and the United States are along the line of the River Mark, five miles south oi the Maas, writes a Canadian corresdent. Fighting to keep open the approaches to Noerdijk bridge, last escape route from South-western Holland, the Germans diverted tanks and self-propelled guns heading for the bridge to stage a strong delayed action around Standdaarbuten, about half way between Roosendaal and the Maas. Under cover of darkness on Wednesday, and in pouring rain, American and Polish troops crossed the river and established a bridgehead. The Germans put down fierce artillery concentration on the troops making the crossing, but the Poles took tanks over on rafts in the darkness. The grim battle lasted throughout Wednesday and during the night. On Thursday morning our troops were forced to withdraw. The Germans who are using probably everv available gun they have in this part of Holland have all the advantages of terrain for traffic is carried along roads that are built on the top of the dykes and are often 20 feet above the flooded fields. Driving along the top of this wall, said one member of the tank crew, makes you feel like a sitting duck but you cannot move off the roads, and the Boche knows it only too well. The River Mark is the only appreciable natural barrier before the Maas how remaining. Another correspondent says it was revealed by a senior Canadian engineer on Thursday that the flooding of , Walcheren was achieved when the R.A.F. at the first attempt blew up the seaward dyke at West Kapelle. This was only done when it was realised the Germans, who held control of the sluice gates, would have flooded Walcheren if our troops had made the attack towards Flushing from the sea. The flooding therefore was inevitable, if the enemy was to be driven from the island.

ANOTHER CAPTURE

(Recd. 10.30 a.m.) LONDON, Nov. 2. British commandos capiurea zwutelande on the west coast of Waicheren three miles south-east oi Westkapelle, reports Reuter’s correspondent with the Twenty-first Army group. The Allies’ forces had withdrawn from the second bridgehead across the Mark River. Poles were shelled and mortared so heavily that the position became untenable. The Allies gained one mile along two roads to Meijel, a correspondent reports. The Germans had blown up the Geerturuidenburg bridge. The captured German commander in the Scheldt pocket is Major-Gen-eral Eberding. Front-line correspondents say that he admitted that organised resistance west of the Scheldt was ended. SAVAGE FIGHTING. “POSITION NOW OBSCURE” (Rec. 11.55 a.m.) • LONDON, November 2. The Candians battling into Walcheren over the causeway from Beveland have been engaged in a savage struggle during the past 36 hours, says Reuter’s correspondent at 21st Army Group Headquarters. This narrow strip of concrete has seen some ol the bloodiest fighting since Normandy. The complete absence of cover or room to manoeuvre has made the operation one of the most daring and heroic the Canadians have undertaken. Some who leapt from the causewav tried to advance alongside and sank up to their shoulders in mud, and had to be pulled out. A staff officer said: “Its a pretty unpleasant spot, and the position above the causeway is one of the nastiest in the world.” The enemy has plenty of automatic weapons sweeping the causeway and the surrounding flat lands over which the Canadians drove their bridgehead. The situation is now obscure, but apparently the causeway itself is not yet completely cleared. Royal Marine commandos on the opposite side' of the island are fighting their way deeply into the dunes, capturing battery after battery. Each battery has its own series of machinegun posts, and a separate attack is i equired for each, but most of the bit, guns which the Germans used to cover the approaches to Antwerp are believed to be under control. . Fighting is still going on in the northern parts of Flushing, wnere the Germans are hanging on grimly to the fortified points. The British on the north-western coast have by-passed D °South g of the Scheldt the Canadians have cleared Knocke and are closing in on Heyst, where about 1000 Germans are holding out in a rectangle of about 3000 square yards on the coast. ’ , . “The Times’s correspondent in Holland says the promise of an early finish to the long struggle to open the port of Antwerp prompts the reflection that the Canadian First Army has had a long and largely dreadful road to travel since the fall of Caen. Many have been living and fighting for weeks in water, because the only cover from enemy fire has usually been water-filled ditches. The fighting on the Maas front has been at a standstill all to-day, says Reuter’s correspondent with the British Second Army, but the British and American counter-thrusts on the eastern flank have recovered several square miles of marshland which the Germans recaptured last week-end.

AMERICANS’ NEW ADVANCE (Rec. 10.30 a.m.) LONDON, Nov. 2 Americans ,this morning, opened an attack south-east of Aachen, in the vicinity of Vossenack, which is the deepest point of the Allied penetration into Germany. Reuter’s correspondent with the American First Army says the Americans gained nearly two miles by mid-afternoon and later, after overrunning the villages of Vossenack and Gremeter, broke out of Hurtgen Forest and are now fighting in open ground. DAY-LONG BATTLE. (Rec. 1.5) LONDON, Nov. 2. The Americans captured Vossenack, which was the first objective of the new infantry attack within 90 minutes of zero hour, says the Exchance Telegraph Agency’s correspondent with the American Ist Army. The starting point was the western edge of the Hurtgen forest. One formation moved north-east, acting as flank cover while other infantrymen struck east towards the town. Northern troops took prisoner 77 Germans in the first house. Those storming Vossenack captured 50. Only light opposition was encountered in the early stages owing to the tactical surprise, but latex- the resistance stiffened, the enemy throwing in considerable mortar shell-fire. Reuter’s correspondent says that extremely heavy artillery barrage preceded the attack, but a heavy fog hanging over the front this morning prevented air support. Fighterbombers later attacked targets m the Eschweiler area. The Americans emerged from the forest at midday, and continued all day storming earthworks and pill-boxes. The attack was still going strongly to-night with no signs of let-up for the Germans. After clearing Abaucourt and Letricourt, the Americans drove the enemy from positions on the Seille River, a tributary of the Moselle, savs Reuter’s correspondent with the American 3rd Army. The Americans now command the crossing over the Seille.

ADVANCE IN EASTERN FRANCE

LONDON, November 2

The Associated Press correspondent with the Bth Army Group in France says that Allied infantry advanced several miles on a broad front against heavy resistance south-east of Luneville on Wednesdays capturing three towns about 50 miles east of Strasbourg. The Official German News Agency describes the advance as a major assault, adding that the Americans used more than 100 tanks. MORE VILLAGES TAKEN (Rec. 1.30 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 2. Seventh Army troops .attacking east and south-east of Luneville advanced between the Meuthe and Vezouse Rivers, says the British United Press correspondent with the United States forces. They overran the villages of Fremnil and Ogeviller, seven mjles north of Baccarat, and also Pettonvijle, five miles north of Baccarat. “GHOST GUN” DESTROYED (Recd. 11.10 a.m.) LONDON, Nov. 2. General Patton’s artillerymen have succeeded in knocking out the Ilin. German “ghost gun” hidden in the Metz railway yard repair shed, says the Associated Press SHAEF correspondent. Allied planes located this wandering Big Bertha, which the Germans fired only at night. The Am-

ericans, using German artillery captured in the Maginot Line, pumped 140 rounds into the shed, destroying the gun. GERMANS BLAME HITLER

NEW YORK, November 2. A ‘New York Times’s” correspondent with the United States First Army says:—German people blame Hitler, not for starting the war, but for losing it, according to interviews with inhabitants of Roetgen conducted by Army interrogators. Thirty men and women of all ages and income groups declared Hitler should not have become involved at the same time with Russia and the Western Allies. All agree that Hitler’s greatest mistake was persecution of Jews, because the Jews are a very powerful “nation” with great financial and political, influence, and that therefore the Jews are dangerous enemies. A dominant fear at Roetgen is that Americans may move forward, leaving the occupation to French or Belgians, Who would be expected to exact vengeance for maltreatment of tlfeir nationals.