DECISIVE SECTOR

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21581, 7 December 1944, Page 5

DECISIVE SECTOR

PATH TOGERMANY CREAM OFTHE ENEMY “ALLIES MUST CONQUER” (9 a.m.) LONDON. Dec. G. “The most vital sector of the Western Front is that from just south of the Aachen-Cologne road to just north of Geilenkirchen, a distance of 25 miles at the most,’’ says Captain Cyril Falls, in the London Illustrated News “Here the British and Americans are engaged against the cream of the German armies. “Even this short front may be subdivided in order to show. the section of greatest German concentration, which is reported to be between Julich and Geilenkirchen. On this 11-mile stretch the enemy has engaged two Panzer divisions, one Panzer-Grenadier division, two or three infantry divisions, and independent tank battalions. He is exceptionally strong in artillery, and by no means is confining himself to passive defence,” he adds. “In these circumstances, together with the bad weather, which has quagmired the roads and reduced air support to a minimum, the advance

to the valley of the Roer has been slow. The enemy’s tanks are made for this sort of close warfare, and the German armoured tactics in defence have become more and more effective and deadly,” Captain Falls says. “It is here that the great battle is being fought. Victory here would mean a genuine invasion of Germany, an advance to the Rhine, and a passage into country suitable for manoeuvre, whereas victory in Alsace, important as it may be. can only lead to an advance into the wooded, hilly fastness of the Black Forest. “The Germans have not the smallest doubt about the importance of the Aachen sector. They know its retention, the blocking of the Allied attempt to reach the north German plain, and the preservation of the Ruhr coalfields, falls little short ot bein'* a matter of life or death. They will accept our challenge with all tne strength available, and their best quality. , . ‘•Unless the Allies 'can contrive to break up this front, they cannot count upon a decisive victory, and it is going to be a grim task. Successes which have been won in the south are likely to lead to the possibility of a flank attack in aid of the frontal attack already in progress, while an attack on the German rignt flank by Field Marshal Montgomery at the appropriate moment might be very effective.” ~ ~ , Captain Falls considers that our comm unications are now satistactoiy, and that every day is likely to witness an improvement.