A LIFELINE

Grey River Argus, 28 September 1944, Page 5

A LIFELINE

TO ARNHEM Being Strengthened ARNHEM FIGHTING CRITICAL SITUATION [Aus. & N.Z- Press Assn.l RUGBY, Sept. 27. Security silence on the fighting in the Arnhem area continues. To-day’s communique from supreme Allied Headquarters gives no fresh news of the fighting around the air-borne forces’ bridgehead west of Arnhem on the noith bank Neder Rhine. , . British troops crossed the liver under very heavy • borne to relieve the surrounded air borne troops, but this would not be easy as the Germans are said to contiol a. most the whole of the north bank.. The German High Command ma survey of the battle fronts, stated that remnants of the First British Airborne Division were squeezed into a very narrow space at Arnhem and were ' still’ offering stubborn resistance but the area was further smashed by concentric German artillery fire. . . . , ' The News Agency earlier claimed this division had been “completely liquidated,” and added: The last remnants of 600 men surrendered this morning in a small village west of Arnhem. It claimed that the British previously surrendered all the wounded, numbering 1400. Spitfires over the Arnhem area met 50 enemy fighters and shot down four for the 'loss of one. Air defence of Great Britain Spitfires and Tempests met 50 fighters in the Arnhem area and shot down four for the loss of two. Typhoons attacked four German gun positions which were shelling the airborne forces near Arnhem and are believed to have silenced the guns. The Berlin radio commentator, Col. Dietmar, declared to-night: “The triumphal cries in the camp of our western enemies have not been without a justifiable background in the past few weeks. But now the situation has undergone a thorough change The 'British-American Command, despite the hopeful position in August, failed to split the German front.”

TRIBUTE TO ARNHEM STAND BY ALLIED AIR-BORNE FORCES. (Rec. 9.10) LONDON, Sept. 27. A “Daily Express” military correspondent says: The airborne forces who valiantly held on to the north bank of the Rhine have done more than human beings could be expected to do. Their night and day fight against an enemy superior in numbers and weapons will rank as an epic in British military history. Their stand—whatever happens—will not have been in vain. If the stand had not been made, it is certain that we should not have captured a vital bridge on the lower Rhine at Nijmegen, because the Germans would have sent troops and panzers, which they used at Arnhem, to hold us off at Nijmegen. Fie adds: T'wo factors have prevented the Second Army from linking up with General Browning’s sky troops. The first is the weather, and the second the speed with which the enemy regrouped his forces and brought up reinforcements. THE GERMAN REPORT LONDON, Sept. 26 The German High Command reported:—Allied paratroops landed m our rear in Central Holland, making our offensive operations more difficult. German tactical reserves thrown against these newly-landed troops, either sealed them off or annihilated them. The Allies, intensified attacks east of Eindhoven, pushing strong forces north-east and aJtempting to seize the highway leading to Duerne. Other British units are driving south-east of Nijmegen to gain the northern sector of highway running through Duerne. Fighting in Central Holland is very bitter. OTHER NORTHERN OPERATIONS. LONDON, Sept. 27. S.H.A.E.F. says: Our troops generally clearing the area between Deurne and Nijmegen have reached Oploo, 11 miles north-east and Mill, about 15 miles north of Deurne. Resistance to these advances is described as moderate. Further to the east, the Belgians are moving towards the Dutch border at Maeseyck. West oi the salient, the enemy still occupies Best, approximately six miles northwest of Eindhoven. Allied troops .are in contact with enemy formations in the area of Eindhoven, Veghel and Orad. From Reusel other Allied Forces are approaching Arendonck, five miles south-west of Reusel. British units of the Canadian Army now have two bridgeheads across the Turnhout- Antwerp Canal. A second crossing was made in the region of Rvckeboursel, 15 miles north-east of Antwerp. On the east of the Eind-hoven-Nijmegen salient, we captured Helmond and Deurne and advanced several miles northward. Enemy attacks against the supply corridor in the Schijndel area were repulsed. West of Turnhout we gained a bridgehead over the Antwerp-Turn-hout Canal. A second supply road to Nijmegen was gained yesterday, says a 'British United Press correspondent. The cor'ridor’s width just north of Eindhoven nearly doubled in the past 24 hours. It is now 24 miles wide, though it narrows to three miles north of Vechel. The enemy threat to cut across the corridor is decreasinsf Germans went out on the corridor supply road between Vechel ahd Oedenrode with at least two tanks and two or three self-propelled 88 s and a few score of infantry equipped with machine guns. They got on to the road* and roamed up and down it, blowing up any transport they I caught in the trap, and mounting 88’s at each end to hold the section They also shelled Oedenrode and Vechel. Three thousand Germans .are in the two miles semi-circle north of Vechel, with 10 or 15 tanks and 10 or 15 88’s. They twice previously cut the in this area and had been beaten off ,with heavy losses after- inflicting damage to our supply columns and stopping the flow along the road for long periods. British and Belgian patrols of General Dempsey’s right flank are striking out towards the Maas along a 42-mile front. British beyond Mill are now 18 miles w-est of Vechel and less than two miles from the Maas where the river turns westwards towards the sea. The Germans are reported to be blowing up the Maas bridge.

The Associated Press in a delayed ■dispatch, reports the capture of little town of Os, south-west of Nijmegen. Here we captured a food

dump for the entire German in Holland. .It contained rations, including 8000 tons of meat Our troons, who tried them, say German rations were not bad. half of this sector. Our patrol activity east of Aachen met stron„ enemy reaction. CORRIDOR STRONGER PROGRESS ON EITHER SIDE (Rec. 10.10) LONDON, Sept. 27. A S.H.A.E.F report states: rhe corridor south of Nijmegen is being steadily widened. and strengthened. General Dempsey’s troops reached the River Maas at two points close to the German frontier, namely, on a frontage of a few miles in the region of Boxmeer and in the area of Maeseyck. The eastern side of the corridor thus has pretty well been cleaned up as far as the Maas, except for the isolated .and the bypassed enemy troops. On the western side of the corridor we have captured Heesch, and Os. Both are about ten miles west of Grave. The road through Vechel is now clear, but it is still under enemy artillery fire. British troops, operating with Canadians are continuing their advance north of the Antwerp-Turnhout Canal against increasing resistance. CLEARING THE CORRIDOR. OF DESTROYED VEHICLES'. (Rec. 11.59). LONDON, Sept. 27. A Reuter correspondent on Tuesday night stated: —Germans in the area where General Dempsey enlarged his right flank towards the Maas seemed to be putting up much reduced resistance. The roadway through the corridor has been cleared. British 2nd Army troops are occupied in cleaning up a quantity of burnt and smashed lorries which were caught in a German night hold-up. The lorry drivers had some of the grimmest experiences since the early Normandy days. They are fighting their way through under heavy artillery fire. Blackened and burnt out lorries, armoured cars, and tanks are littering the roadway between Uden and VecHel. They tell of great work these men are doing. General Dempsey’s forces in the main corridor are steadily widening on the eastern flank, and now have elbow room to deliver smashing blows against Germans who still lurk in the woods in the Vechel area, and who tend to threaten the highway from the west. Picked British infantry are creeping alopg dykes and through woods hunting them out. The Germans at present hold the north bank of the Turnhout-Antwerp Canal in considerable strength. They are putting up the fiercest opposition to the British and Canadians lining the other bank. Resistance still remains hard also in the Arendonck area, where British forces are pushing and Germans are defending every little village.

LATEST ALLIED REPORT. MAAS RIVER REACHED. (Rec. 12.5). LONDON, Sept. 27. Wednesday’s communique from Allied Supreme Headquarters says: Allied troops again’ repulsed enemy moves which were threatening our communications along the EindhovenNijmegen road. Our salient ha's been further secured south of Maas by the advances to Os on the west and in the • Boxmeer area to the east. A stretch of five miles of the Maas south of Boxmeer is in our Gains were also made on both sides cf the Base-/llliee salient. Westwards we have reached the Antwerp-Turn-hout Canal along a considerable portion of its length. Eastwards around Maesvck we control the west bank of the Maas between Wessem and Dilsen. ' . •''; GERMAN REPORTS (Rec. 12.30) LONDON, Sept. 27. The German News Agency’s military correspondent reviewing the situation in Holland, says: . General Montgomery is regrouping his forces. Greatly strengthened British formations are fighting north of Eindhoven. They forced the German Command to take back its defensive bolt line a few miles to the area ot Helmond. Regrouping of British forces is still going on everywhere in the Eindhoven-Nijmegen area. Describing British airborne troops fighting in Holland, a Berlin radio war reporter says: They certainly are hardy fellows, the pick of the bunch, to whom the British Command has entrusted difficult operations in Arnhem. When captured they smile. If wounded they hide their pain. These air troops, dug in along a railway line and motor road in this sector, take advantage of every tree, bush, tuft and heath. The paratroopers have been driven from the bridge where _ they landed and held their first positions, but they fight on stubbornly. SIEGE OF CALAIS LONDON,- Sept. 27. Nearly all German positions southwest and south of Calais are held bv the Canadians. The main body of the German garrison has withdrawn into the town. Widespread inundations have made Calais practically an island. Heavy bombers bombarded fortified positions in Calais for over an hour, dropping over 1000 tons of explosives. The commander of the Sangatte battery of heavy guns near Calais offered to surrender. He sent an emissary, with a white flag into the Allied lines offering surrender at noon. The Allied commander accepted rather than waste men continuing the attack. Soon after Lancasters at noon unloaded 3500 tons of bombs on Calais and gun positions at Cap Gris Nez, German long-range guns opened up vicious shelling on the English coast and continued at intervals for five hours. Frequent salvoes of three or four shells rocked the coast Dover's big guns replied.

SUPPLIES TRANSPORTED

TO HOLLAND BY AIR (Rec. 8.50) ' LONDON, Sept. 27. A Reuter correspondent states:— More than two hundred transports on Tuesday landed on airfields in the Allied corridor with reinforcements, medical supplies, food and equipment for Allied forces that are battling on Dutch territory. Inside 135 minutes the Dakotas had landed, discharged the cargoes and taken off again.. A great supply shuttle service is now in full swing where previously all supplies had to be sent by parachute and glider. The correspondent flew in with one group of the transports. He said that under a fighter canopy, big transports stretched over the sky for miles in every direction. The airfield itself was an amazing scene, with supply planes landing in a constant flow, while others were taking off after unloading cargoes before departing the crews were told: “Get there, get down, .and get out—quickly.” All planes in one .group were in the air again within fifteen minutes, while in another area close by gliders were sailing in with more supplies. A high ranking British airborne officer said: “We popped over here on August 25 to survey the

place. The Air Force then sent in a report, but even we could scarcely credit such an overnight transformation. Yesterday the airfields were deserted except for .a few cows and sheep, and to-day we are clearing planes' at the rate of one hundred an hour. Stuff is . simply pouring in. Transports which landed supplies Went out in two forces, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. All landed safely. No fighter or flak opposition was encountered. Return journeys were also without incident.”

ALLIED AIR ATTACKS (Rec. 12.10) LONDON, Sept. 27. A S.H.A.E.F. communique states: Ground operations against Calais continued successfully yesterday. Fortified positions in the town and heavy guns and radio installations at Cap Gris Nez were attacked by heavy bombers. Other heavies attacked the rail centres at Snabruck and Hamm. Twelve bombers are missing. Medium bombers attacked fortifications and strongpoints at Breskens, and rail .and road targets at Cleve. Fighters and fighterbombers supported the ground forces and attacked transportation targets' in Holland. Thirty-eight enemy aircraft were destroyed. Seven of ours are missing. Light bombers last night attacked road, rail and river targets in Holland and Western Germany.