DIRECTION IN ARDENNES ZONE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 21605, 6 January 1945, Page 3

DIRECTION IN ARDENNES ZONE

MONTGOMERY TAKES NORTHERN SECTOR BRADLEY IN CONTROL IN SOUTH (British OiTicial Wireless.) (11 a.m.) RUGBY, Jan. 5. The Prime Minister, Mr. Winston Churchill, accompanied by the Chief of the Imperial Staff, General Sir Alan Brooke, returned this afternoon from a visit tc France, during- the course of which he met General Eisenhower and also had conversations with General de Gaulle and Mr. Duff Cooper.

From General Eisenhower’s Headquarters had come, not long- before Mr. Churchill’s return was announced from No, 10 Downing Street, a statement that Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery is in full command of the Allied armies north of the German salient in Belgium. This means that the British Commander-in-Chief of the 21st Army Group on the Western Front is not only directing the operations of the Second British Army and First Canadian Army but also the Ninth American Army under General Simpson and the First American Army under General Hodges. The American, General Omar Bradley commands the Allied forces in the south of the salient.

The official announcement explains that the German penetration in the Ardennes created two fronts and the commands now announced were instantly agreed upon by all concerned. A correspondent states that British troops first took part hi Jp e salient battle at its western end on Christmas Day and it is fair to assume that Field-Marshal Montgomery has directed the battle on the northern flank since Christmas. President Roosevelt said in Washington to-day that the transfer of command of one American Army and most of another to Field-Marshal Montgomery was decided upon by General Eisenhower. The President said that the creation of a new command did not mean that Field-Marshal Montgomery had become deputy-commander to General Eisenhower.