11 MILES LONG

Grey River Argus, 16 March 1945, Page 5

11 MILES LONG

THE BRIDGEHEAD SERIES OF ADVANCES By American Armies (Rec. 12.48). LONDON, March 15. Thursday’s communique from Allied Supreme Headquarters said:— The Allies have increased the depth of the bridgehead across the Rhine, at Remagen to over five miles, infantry] in the northern pare of the bridgehead advanced 1500 Y ai A northward to reach a point one and a-half miles north-east of ?9 n ’ Other elements drove to aP° one and a-half miles from th t e nf a in an area three miles east of Honnei . Our units north-east of Linz a e in outskirts of Kalenborn and Notscheid, which respectively are three and a-half and four miles north-east of Linz. Our infantry have pushed into a wooded area three and a-half miles due east of Linz, against stiff resistance. Mopping up operations have continued along the north side of the Moselle River. S'outh of Cochem captured Eller, Bremm, and Aldegund, all on the most westerly bend of the Moselle, four to five miles south, of Cochem. With the capture of Cues, Minheim, and Trittenheim, three more bends have been cleared in the Moselle River north-east of Trier. ■ Our infantry south-east of Trier have made gains of one and a-half miles eastward, capturing Morscheid, Molzerath, Hentern, From and Mersbach. „„ . x. In the area' south-east of Trier the enemy’s artillery and nevelwerfer fire has increased. West of Saarbrucken we have advanced upwards of three miles over a five-mile front. The Franco-Ger-man border west of Saarbrucken has been crossed, and the Saar River has been reached at several points. We have occupied Schaffhausen, Wehrden, Geislautern, Furstenhausen, Clarenthal and Schoenecken, which are a string of villages and towns four to eight miles west of the Saar River. An armour-supported enemy attack, further eastward, at Haguenau, has failed to dislodge our units from newly-won positions on the north side of the Mohe River.

Allies in the West on Tuesday took 2413 prisoners. i (Rec. 12.51). LONDON, March 15. Americans in the Remagen bridgehead have edged to within half a mile of the Cologne-Frankfurt autobahn, says an Associated Press correspondent. This main north-south highway is now urtder machine-gun fire. United States Third Army troops have crossed the Moselle River eight miles south-west of Coblenz. Their deepest penetration is three miles. They have also advanced three miles along the west bank of the river in an area 12 miles south-east of Saarburg. j STRONG BRIDGEHEAD (Rec. 11.40) LONDON, March 15. A Telegraph Exchange Agency correspondent in a despatch from the Rhine bridgehead said: We have now achieved such a lodgement that would need an enemy force of something like one hundred thousand men to make any effective counter-blow. Pilots reported White flags w'ere flying from many houses and cottages on the eastern side of the Rhine BRIDGEHEAD "H MILES BY FIVE. U.S. Ist. ARMY GAINS. GERMANS REINFORCED. (Rec. 1.0). LONDON, March 15. ' United States First Army forces in the Remagen bridgehead now hold an area 11 miles long and over five miles deep. German resistance is stiffening, especially east of Honnef. Eleven German planes attacked the bridgehead during th e night. Antiaircraft guns shot down four, and probably; a fifth. ' American Ist Army, forces have battled their way through the hills rimming the Remagen bridgehead and are' now within one and a-quarter miles of the autobahn. It is slow, tortuous progress against a stubborn enemy. American engineers reported that the German artillery nave scored many direct hits on the Ludendorff bridge, but the bridge is actually in better condition now than before its capture, because the damage previously caused by Allied planes has been impaired. There are indications that the Germans are not committing all their available strength to the bridgehead battle, because they are. wary of other possible Allied crossings. The bridgehead operation is still in the expansion stage, and sensational gains cannot be expected, in view of the hilly terrain and the necessity for building up our strength. LONDON, March 14. United States First Army troops this morning deepened the central sector bridgehead across the Rhine, capturing Saint Katherin, 51 miles east of Erpel, says an Exchange Telegraph correspondent. This is the most eastern penetration yet made, and brings the American vanguard within one and a-half miles of the River Wied. The enemy is stubbornly resisting American advances with heavy mortars, self-propelled guns and tanks. American infantry and armour enlarging tffi? Iflidgehead are also under constant pounding from enemy hit and run bombers and longrange artillery. The Americans have now pushed but their foothold to a' width of almost 11 miles, with an average depth of about 41 miles. First Army troops have fought their way into Kalenborn, five miles north-east of Remagen and under two miles from the great north-south autobahn. The Germans continue to make small coun+pr-attacks all around the perimeter, but have not yet been able to mount anything like a full force counter-blow. Reinforcements have poured across the Ludendorff "bridge all night. Further Luftwaffe attacks against th e bridge were driven off by Allied anti-aircraft guns, throwing up an explosive umbrella of steel. LONDON, March 14. Good "weather has returned to parts of the Western Front, and it is no secret that a gigantic operation is m preparation, says the British United Press correspondent. The next Allied crossing of th e Rhine will be the most terrific onslaught in history. The enemy is so afraid of what is going to happen that the Eastern Front priority for troops has gone into reverse. There is evidence that the High Com- ' mand has augmented Von Rundstedt’s 70 divisions. The American Ninth Air Force which has been assigned to cover the bridgehead against the Luftwaffe to-day attacked an obscure German airfield near Lippe north of Limburg destroying 56 and damaging 47 Germans planes on the ground. The American raiders caught the German planes all patrolled up and readv for operations, presumably gainst the Remagen bridge. They were unable to take off m time and burst into flames under strafing. The Berlin radio to-night claimed that the Luftwaffe hadfinally succeeded in destroying the bridge. The German News Agency admitted that

American pressure was increasing | towards the north and north-east of the bridgehead in the direction of the autoijann. U.S. 3rd. ARMY' PROGRESS. (Rec. 6.30) LONDON, March 14. American Third Army troops have cleared an enemy .pocket on the north bank of the Moselle River, and now hold the whole of the north bank from Trier to Coblenz, with the exception of minor pockets. 1 Enlarging a pocket east of the confluence of the Moselle and Saar rivers, 3rd Army forces entered Oues, on the southern bank of the Moselle, 21 miles north-east of Trier (says an Associated Press correspondent). General Patton’s forces have captured 13 towns and entered two others, most of which are north-east and east of Saarburg. They repelled seven coun-ter-attacks without loss of ground. The infantry, driving east and southeast on a four mile front, captured Frommersbach, 6i miles east of Saarburg. Other forces advancing eastward on a three mile front, occupied Bonnera'th, Holzerath, Longernburg, and Hindenburg, which are grouped seven miles south-east of Trier. Third Army troops, - wiping out the last enemy pocket north of the Moselle, captured Beurern, Aldegund and Eller, all oh the Moselle, between Bullay and Ediger. Yesterday’s record-breaking prisoner tally finally totalled 6619. Third Army forces cleared an enemy pocket north of Moselle, says a correspondent at S.H.A.E.F., and now hold all the northern bank, with only a few minof enemy groups to mop' up. Fighting is heavier in the Trier sector, and at one point the Germans counter-attacked 11 times without making any impression. All these efforts were on a small scale. South of Moselle, our forces are still pressing east, and more towns and villages have been captured. Troops of the 944th Division are now across the Riyer Ruwer, on a front of threequarters of a mile, and have penetrated nearly two miles. Attempting to retake lost ground, the enemy counter-attacked in the Hagenau area, against the Seventh Army. The attack was preceded by artillery lire reaching a rate of 700 rounds an hour, but it was repulsed without a change in our position. In a strafing attack on a German airfield near Limburg, Allied fighterbombers destroyed 45 enemy planes and damaged more than 12. General Patton’s Third Army units have already made " small and unsuccessful attempts to cross the Moselle between Trier and Coblenz, according to the German News Agency ; which adds: American artillery west of Coblenz opened up a violent fire against the German front line along the river.

OTHER U.S. ARMIES.

LONDON, March 14. American Seventh Army troops today repulsed a German attack attempting to occupy the northern portion of Ha'guenau, reports an Associated Press correspondent. The Germans, after heavy artillery preparation, attacked at midnight, using tanks and infantry, but they were beaten back with heavy casualties. Seventh Army forces advanced nearly four miles to-day, reaching the Saar River west of Saarbrucken, says the Associated Press correspondent. These gains, which .took the Americans more than one mile into Germany, followed light skirmishing, after which the Germans withdrew into Saarbrucken. . To the north, American Ninth. Army patrols are probing across the Rhine, north of Cologne, says agency correspondents. Americans found the Germans to be most sensitive in the Duisberg area, where they met heavy smalls-arms fire. The Ninth Army holds the entrance to a tunnel under the Rhine, but front-line correspondents say they are not going to cross by it. In a coalmine, south of Homberg, demolition charges had been placed in a tunnel, and the Germans blocked some sections with steel doors. BRITISH-CANADIAN FRONT. LONDON, March 14. The Germans opposite the BritishCanadian front are markedly nervous, testing the Allied position with shellfire and machine-gun fire. From sporadic artillery fire across the Rhine, to which our guns promptly replied, there has been no activity of importance to report on the British. Canadian and United States Ninth Army-held Rhine bank from Ninth Army-held Rhine bank to-day. says a correspondent with the 21st Army Group. In some areas, German deserters crossed the Rhine to give themselves up. In one instance. three Germans swim across the river to surrender. AIR RAIDS IN GERMANY R.A.F. USES 22,0001 b BOMB. (Rec. 10.10). LONDON, March 15. ’The R.A.F. used a new 22,0001b'bomb against a viaduct at Bielefeld. A viaduct at Arnsberg was attacked with 12,000 pound bombs. Bielefeld viai duct carried one of the last remaining two-track railways from the Ruhr to the rest of Germany. Describing the effect of the 22,0001 b bomb, a flight-engineer said: “There was a tremendous pall of black smoke and a fountain of debris. The blast dwarfed even the terrific explosions of 12,000 pounders, which were also released in the attack.” A pilot said: “As it burst it felt as though someone kicked me severely in the back. My spine ached for nearly a' minute. As soon as the bomb was released I pushed the stick forward, but even so. we lifted well over 500 feet.” The 22,0001 b bomb is a hundred per cent. British. It was designed by Mr B. N. Wallis, of Vickers-Armstrong, Co. The first bombs were cast by the English Steel Corporation of Sheffield. America, however, has given valuable assistance in the production. Britain is already obtaining supplies of complete bomb bodies from America. (Rec. 11.10). LONDON, March 15. It is already known that six or eight spans of Bielefeld viaduct were knocked down when the attackers used 12,0001 b bombs as well as the new giant 22,0001 b bomb. Fighters escorting American Fortresses and Liberators shot down 14 enemy aircraft, including three jetpropelled ones, on Wednesday. Twelve of the bombers and seven of the fighters are missing. Bombers last night attacked a synthetic oil plant at Lutzkendorf. It was officially announced that R.A.F. Bomber Command aircraft on Wednesday night heayily attacked Zweibrucken and Homburg, some 15 miles seat of Saarbrucken. Both towns were packed with troops and military stores. The weather was good. Bombing was well concentrated. Berlin was attacked by Mosquitoes. About twenty Messerschmitt 109’s took off from an airfield south of Berlin, intending to attack American air force bombers on Wednesday. They did not reach their objective. Mustangs destroyed eleven and reported that the few whom escaped were seen heading in an opposite direction. LONDON. March 14. A British-American Western Front air communique reports that, according to reports so far received, five’ of our medium and light bombers and 11 fighters are missing from yesterday’s operations. Twenty-four enemy aircraft were shot down, including ten in the Remagen bridgehead area. From nearly 2000 sorties yesterday

on enemy communications in southern Germany, Italy and Yugoslavia, six Allied aircraft are missing, states a Mediterranean air communique.

Thirty-two Thunderbolts of the U.S. Ninth Air Force on Wednesday intercepted and broke up a formation of about one hundred Fockewulf 190’s heading for the Remagen bridgehead, north of Frankfurt. The Thunderbolts forced the Germans to jettison bombs. Then they shot down ten without loss. Over 2000 United States aircraft to-day took part in raids on a variety of targets behind the West.ern Front.' More than 1250 Fortresses and Liberators attacked three armoured vehicle plants at Hanover, oil refineries at Misburg and Nienhagen, a large castings plant at Hildesteim, E-boat pens at Ijmuiden, and railway yards and bridges on the rain routes from the Ruhr. Some 650 Mustangs and Thunderbolts escorted the bombers. Some Mustangs patrolled the Regamen bridgehead. The targets included marshalling at Giessen, Gutersleh, Seize and Lehn, ana railway bridges across the Weser at Vlotho and Oeyenhausen. Industiiai targets in Hanovfer included two tan manufacturing plants andl a facto y making half-tracks and self-piopeiiea guns. It is understood that all but one target was bombed visually. Onv fighter pilot patrolling the bridgehead area saw a big a ™^g ld tion dump blow up on ap about ten miles north-west of Ges Se R.A.F. Hallfaxes, escorted by Mustangs and Spitfires yesterday noon attacked Barmen. Las g attacks were made on two Herne plants near Gelsenkirchen a . , in the Ruhr. Mosquitoes Berlin, ST’ 1 “wo alrlralt of r h e e n B.A a F Fr ß0 k X' Smmand are missing.