MAGNIFICENT JOB

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 21607, 9 January 1945, Page 3

MAGNIFICENT JOB

AMERICAN INFANTRY BATTLING SNOW AND ICE TROOPS HELP TANKS (10 a.m.) LONDON, Jan. 8. In bitter cold through snow and sleet American soldiers are going ahead of the tanks, scattering sand on the ice-covered roads so that the First Army’s drive will not lag, says Reuter’s correspondent from the Western Front. As an illustration of the conditions, two men were rbie to move a tank which had side-slipped to the side of the road. They pushed and the tank glided on the sleet and ice like a toy. American infantrymen who, for 10 days have fought and tried to snatch food and sleep in between battles in these appalling conditions, are doing a magnificent job. When four German tanks, strongly entrenched in a deep gorge area, four miles north-east of Laroche, supported by cunninglyplaced mortars and 88 m.rn. guns, held up the First Army’s advance, American infantry patrols ploughed their way through the hill terrain on the flanks. Great snowdrifts, snow-hidden gullies and thick copses barred the way to the enemy strongpost, yet the infantry traversed this heart-breaking stretch of country and poured fire Into the enemy. The Germans, in face of this flanking attack, pulled .out, enabling the main column to continue the advance.