LOWLANDS FLOOD

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21580, 6 December 1944, Page 3

LOWLANDS FLOOD

1 NAZIS BREAK DAM 1 NEW BRITISH HAZARD ,-ENEMY SHARE TROUBLE LONDON, Dec. 4. Dykes south of Arnhem were breached on Saturday night, presumably by German sappers attempting to force the withdrawal of Canadian troops holding an area between Arnhem and Nijmegen, states the Assbciated Press’ correspondent in Holland, in a delayed despatch. He adds that the rain-swollen waters of the Lower Rhine had spread through the breaches yesterday, threatening to i engulf the “island” between the Rhine and its tributary, the Waal. island, Germans will also be affected, bCcatts'e they still hold the eastern half of the island. Our troops south of the , Waal and east of this area are not ■affected by the flooding. The German News Agency to-night claimed d that the position of the British troops north of Nijmegen had become precarious, following the blowing-up of a big dam south-west of-Arhhem. The railway embankment from Nijmegen to Arnhem is at present the only useable supply route, and it is being subjected to heavy fire.

V'A German war reporter, Gunther Menriiger, said to-night: “Floods are the masters of the situation in Holland, following almost ceaseless rain for a,fortnight, the Mass, the Scheldt, the Waal and the Lower Rhine and dlso numerous canals have risen far beyond normal. Our grenadiers are fighting a bitter battle against the water, which has caused trenches and earthworks to collapse.”