LINE CRUMBLING

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21548, 30 October 1944, Page 3

LINE CRUMBLING

NAZIS IN HOLLAND ALLIED ONSLAUGHT 40,000 TROOPS RETIRING (11 a.m.) RUGBY, Oct. 29. The whole German defence line in south-west Holland has fallen to pieces. Forty thousand Germans are being forced back to the Meuse River by the unchecked onslaught of the First Canadian and Second British Armies. This portentious news is not yet confirmed by Supreme Allied Headquarters. One correspondent says that the Germans of the 15th Army are withdrawing everywhere and it is likely that they are falling back to the long bridge over the Maas River at Moerdijk or to ferries over the Maas at Willemstrad. Another cable says that the Germans are going back fast. There is no doubt tnat they are finishing south of the Mass. A despatch from a correspondent with the British Second Army tends to substantiate these reports that the Germans are withdrawing on a large scale in south-west Holland. He said: “Within 24 hours, three very important towns south of the River Maas have fallen into the British Second Army or Canadian Army hands. The final clearance of Hertogenbosch, Tilburg and Bergen Op Zoom has effectively broken the I back of General von Zangen's strongpoint system south of the Maas. If the Germans are unable to halt the present converging drives, their next defence line cannot be below the line of the Maas. Diversionary Attack Held “The German four-pronged diversionary attack in the eastern corridor, after recapturing Meijel and achieving a small bridgehead over the Deurne Caned north of the town, had by Saturday afternoon been halted, although fierce fighting continues in the neighbourhood. These two gains apart, German infantry and tanks in a sizeable formation were unable on Saturday to dislodge our troops from their positions. Hertogenbosch was on Saturday afternoon’ completely clear of the enemy to the last sniper and Scottish troops were able by Saturday evening to declare Tilburg free of the Germans. Our troops are now fighting along a small river west of Hertogenbosch. “While the clarance of these towns was being effected, British armour and infantry had been busy clearing out pockets by-passed between the two places. General Crerar’s forces, who stormed their way into Bergen Op Zoom, now have a firm hold on the town. “The British beach-head on the south Beveland coast had by Saturday evening been strengthened and the Canadian build-up across the Beveland Canal in the drive west along the isthmus continues. Holding Open Retreat Line “A depreciation in the value of the German defence line in the Breskens pocket was effected on Saturday afternoon by a Canadian thrust south-east of the Kadzand area towards Zuidzander. West of Hertogenbosch enemy resistance is stiffening and, according to the spokesman at General Dempsey’s Headquarters, it looks as though the enemy is trying to carry out the familiar task of holding open the door with his left fiank while his troops on the right withdraw north. Troops pushing west from Hertogenbosch found that the enemy had developed the Afwaterings Canal—a horseshoe-shaped waterway from the River Maas—as a defence line on which to pivot while he endeavoured to swing north the remainder of his forces from the south-west.