INITIATIVE LOST

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

INITIATIVE LOST

U.S. THIRD ARMY FURIOUS NAZI BLOWS AIR TROOPS~FIGHT TANKS LONDON, Jan. 4. Tlie British United Press correspondent with the Third Army says that General Patton has lost tlie initiative from St. Hubert almost to Wiltz, where the Germans continue strong attacks. A German infantry regiment, supported by 50 tanks’, struck against tne 101st Airborne Division yesterday. The Americans allowed tlie tanks to pass through their lines and then threw them back with closerange fire. Another 50 tanks attacked the Airborne Division to-day. Fighting is still going on, but the situation is reported to be in hand. The Associated Press 'correspondent with the American Third Army reports that the Americans gained half a mile on two sides of tlie Bastogne—near Mande St. Etienne, west of Bastogne and near Warclin, south-east of Bastogne. Air-borne Troops Take Offensive The American 101st Airborne Division fought off Panzer attacks north of Bastogne and has gone over to the offensive in one sector. All the American lines are holding firm. Infantry made minor gains in the Wiltz area after fighting which is officially described as terrifically heavy. American tanks, which are surrounded by the Germans, archolding out in Wardin. Reuter's correspondent on tlie Western Front reports that the Allies yesterday opened an attack in the Rochefort area, capturing Bure, three miles south of Rochefort and high ground dominating the valley. This attack against the western lip of the German salient was synchronised with the First Army's attack in the north.

Vigorous patrolling continued on both sides of the northern Maas River front. There was a marked increase in patrolling on the British sector of the Maas. The United States Ninth Army made local advances in the Lammersdorf area, breaking up a German counter-attack.

Reuter's military correspondent, summing up the situation, says that Rundstedt is probing along the whole front from Holland to Alsace. The Allies, in turn, are becoming more aggressive on an increasingly wide sector. There are growing indications of something like one big battle developing in which all fronts will be interconnected.