COBLENZ TAKEN

Grey River Argus, 19 March 1945, Page 5

COBLENZ TAKEN

THE BIG ROAD CUT BRIDGEHEAD~I4 MILES ' LONG f . Many Towns Captured BY AMERICAN FORCES. (Rec. 9.40) LONDON, March 18 Saturday’s Allied communique from Supreme Headquarters saldthe Moselle bridgehead our aim made swift gains, one column advancing eleven miles to entei bollen-Ellern on the edges of the Soonwald. Further west anothei col u.mn gained twelve miles to erne l Simmern, captured a mtact and pushed on south-east Resistance to these advances was light. “South-east of Trier we capered Reinsfeld Hermeskeil, Gusenburg, and Grunburg against decreasing resistance Farther south-west, Weiskirchen and Losheim were reac'ned r>nr infantry, advancing south along the east side of the Saar River, entered Sarr-Holzbach, where house to house fighting is in progress. kWe made more progress in a drive rdrth between the Saarbrucken area and the Rhine against spotty resistance Ensheim was cleared and advances up to two miles were made further south-east, several villages being captured. Advances were also made in the Hardt area over difficult terrain, and in the northern Alsace P1 “The Allied forces in the west captured 4,983 prisoners on Thursday. REVIEW OF ... OPERATIONS (Rec. 1.15.) LONDON, March 18. The Allied 'Supreme Headquarters communique on Sunday, sta J; ea, T?b . Allied bridgehead across the Rhine “is now fourteen miles long and seven and a-half miles deep. We have cut the Autobahn at another place. We have entered Ittenbach west of th# highway, three and a-half miles east of Konigswinter; also Husche.d and Brungsberg on the east side, and we now control four and a-half miles of the Autobahn. In the' centre of the bridgehead, ve have cleared Vettelschoss, five miles north-east of Erpel and Strodt. In the southern sector ot _ the bridgehead we have captured Reifert and Bremschid. We took prisoner two hundred in the vicinity of Hausen We have Honningen and advanced 'fifteen hundred yards east of the town. • Our units have virtually _ cleared Coblenz and infantry, advancing eastward and south-eastward, reached the Rhine on a six-mile stretch in an area nine to fifteen miles south of Coblenz. We have also entered Boppard. and have captured Badsalzig, Holzfeld and Saint Goar, which are three, five and eight miles respectively south-east of Boppard. Cur armoured units, farther west, have captured Maisborn and Laudert, both seven miles south-west of Saint Gor; also Rheinbollen and Ellern. Other armoured forces, advancing against light resistance, have reached the Nahe River. Infantry, following up the armour, have captured numerous towns, including Wuscheim, Rech, Kulz, and Nannhausen, which are grouped within a six-miles arc from the north to the west of Simmern. We have captured Blankenrath and Panzweiler, both six miles east of Zell, also Wurrich and Buchenseuren, both ten miles south-east of Zell. We • have cleared Merl, two miles north of Zell; and Briedel, two miles west' of Zeli. We have captured high ground overlooking the last of the two enemy pockets north of the Moselle River. We captured Thomm, seven miles east of Trier: also Steinberg, Confeld, Wadern and Thailen, which are grouped thirteen miles north-east of Merzig. We have also' cleared Bachem, Losheim and Mitlosheim, four, seven and ten miles respectively north-east of Merzig. We entered Rimlingem, and have reached a point under one mile north of Mezig. We have advanced upward of seven miles from the Saarbrucken area eastward, towards the Rhine. We have entered outer defences of’the Seigfried Line at several points, including Niederwurzbach, eight miles east of Saarbrucken, Mimbach and Hornbach, both three miles east of Niederwurzbach; Hornbach and Dietrichingen, ten miles north-west of Bitche and Rolbingen, ten miles north of Bitche. We have cleared Hiederbronn and advanced six miles north-west of Haguenau. The Allied forces in the west on Friday, took prisoner 4.299 of the enemy.

BIG ROAD TO FRANKFURT CUT BY U.S. FIRST ARMY ' (Rec. 8.40) LONDON, March 18 A correspondent with the United States First Army describtd Saturday as “the best since the Rhine was crossed.’’ He said: The CologneFrankfurt autobahn has been cut in two places. It is a major blow at the enemy’s hopes of maintaining a speedy reinforcement route to the bridgehead. But it is one of the many successes we have scored all along the line from the bridgehead. By five a.m. on Saturday out infantry had pushed on three-quarters of a mile, north and north-east of Konisgewinter, and had taken important high features. They captured the village of Petersberg, and by night were sitting on high ground looking down on Konigswinter. They found white flags waving ,and two thousand civilians hiding in caves. There were another five hundred hi a factory. An American Staff officer said: “The cutting of the autobahn was more valuable than the cutting of the primary railway line. It was by far the chief supply route to the bridgehead, and the Germans used it lo bring forces from the ■ north and the south to prevent our expansion. Now his reinforcements are forced back to narrow, and poor secondary roads, which mean a detour, and they will be easily choked by columns of any size Tn effect, the breaching of the autobahn has cut in two the forces opposing us.” Ist. ARMY RESISTED BY ARTILLERY A News Agency correspondent ivith the First Army report that German self-propelled guns are offering stubborn fight. Units of one American Division gained a thousand vards to the north-east bridgehead Other elements late on Friday night rnit the Frankfurt highway in the virdnitv of Hovel. against light tn moderate resistance. Another divipninpd a thousand yards in an sion gained ct j on progress was unspecified dn Qf {"mXhen? There is still fighting in fl A IS Ser e correspondent. at "" streaming These M Pirate a «- J °An toSSed S-ess correspondent

said: American First Army troops in the Remagen bridgehead on Saturday fought their way forward against steadily increasing resistance. The Germans are rushing up reserves composed mostly of remnants of divisions battered on the west side of the Rhine, in an effort to contain the expasding bridgehead, which is now fourteen miles long and seven and a half deep. The Americans possess, or control by direct fire a four and a half mile strip of the Cologne-Frank-furt autobahn group. 9th. ARMY ADVANCE IN BRIDGEHEAD.(Rec. 1.15.) LONDON, March IS. A correspondent reported: In the Allied centre, on Saturday, men of the American Ninth Infantry Division drove on 'for a thousand yards, but there is still fierce fighting in Strodt. Just below Strodt, other infantry surged forward in general advances up to two miles round the southern half of the bridgehead. They have reached the banks of the Wied River for about two miles, just below Strodt, and have dominated another stretch of a similar length down to Waldbreitbach, where they are only a few hundred yards from the bank. COBLENZ STORMED. BY U.S. THIRD ARMY. (Rec. 9.40.) LONDON, March 18. A correspondent of the Associated Press stated: On Saturday early American Third Army troops stormed Coblenz in a frontal, amphibious assault across the Moselle River near its confluence with the Rhine. Already nearly two-thirds- of Coblenz has been cleared. Troops, in assault boats, began pouring into the northern section of Coblenz in darkness at three o’clock on Saturday morning, meeting very light resistance, while other troops, who crossed the river below the city, moved up from the south-west. A colonel, whose regiment stormed Coblenz, said that only five hundred Germans were taken prisoner, and they were onlv about, two thousand civilians there. The air bombing had almost destroyed the city. The German News Agency s military correspondent said: United States Third Army troops are using fifteen armoured divisions and twenty-five infantry divisions in a major attack south-west of Coblenz. The Third Army forces crossed the Nahe River at Kreuznach. 7th. ARMY INTO SIEGFRIED LINE. (Rec. 8.5) LONDON, March 18 A Reuter correspondent stated on Sunday: There was a steady advance made along the whole of the Seventh Army’s fifty mile front on Saturday. Principal advances were made in the Hardt Mountains and Rhine Valley. Troops cleared Brenschelbach, seven miles north-west of Bitche. (Rec. 1.10.) LONDON, March 18. News Agency correspondents with the U.S. Seventh Army reported gains up to three miles in hard mountains, with a partial penetration of the Siegfried Line at a hinge of fortifications where the Line splits into two belts four miles east of Saarbrucken. Germans counter-at-tacked, but were beaten off. Positions two miles south of the German frontier were reached. ENCIRCLING ENEMY. U.S. THIRD AND SEVENTH ARMIES’. (Rec. 10.5). LONDON, March 18. A correspondent at S.H.A.E.F. stated: With a rapid advance of American armoured forces, which broke out in the Moselle bridgehead, and are cutting round the back of enemy forces in the Saar-Moselle-Rhine triangle, and with a determined assault by the U.S. Seventh Army on Siegfried Line positions the en#my are in danger of being entrapped in this vast area, and may be compelled to withdraw before it is too late. Already there have been air reports of a considerable movement an a road to the north-east and east, and this may be a prelude to a rapid retreat. So far no withdrawal has made itself felt on the Seventh Army front, other than rearguard actions to enable enemy troops to pull back in Siegfried strongholds. But American forces continue to make steady advances against heavy small-arms and mortar fire, and in some places heavy artillery fire'. Numerous minefields and counter-attacks, launched from defensive positions, are also being met. At points we are fighting half a mile into the Siegfried Line. At others we are drawing up to it. It is a hard battle all the way. There is a different situation on the Third Army front, where the opposition is moderate to negligible. The Moselle bridgehead is being expanded with little difficult''-. Troops working their way along the east bank of the Moselle reached the outskirts of Coblenz. Elements of th e U.S. 19th Division, in extending the bridgehead, have reached the Rhine four miles south-ea'st of Boppard, and captured more places six miles to the south. At th e other end of the bridgehead the U.S. 50th Infantry Division has continued mopping up operations in the wake of the 4th Armoured Division, and has reached points five to ten miles north-west of S'immern. A combat force of the 4th Armoured Division captured four towns east and north-ea'st of Simmern, while other forces, after reaching Simmern, pushed on for ten to 15 miles south-east, going through the Soonwald Forest, and almost reaching the river Nahe, and a railway running alongside. Forces from the other Moselle bridgehead, . nearer Trier, have advanced two miles to take high ground overlooking loops m the river, which remain to be cleared, near Zell and Traben. The bulge southward of Trier has been considerably extended. Some armoured units have reached the Prims River, 19 miles due eastward of Saarburg. Other forces pushed southwards to within three miles of Merzig. Seventh Army troops have cleared Bitche, and cut i the main Bitche-Hagenau road. The clearance of large minefields is regulating the pace of the advances along this front. French troops have advanced 201)0 yards. They now are lighting on the outskirts of Chirrheim. (Rec. 11-0) LONDON, March 18 A Reuter correspondent stated: — American Third Army forces entered Boppard and cleared nine-tenths of Coblenz. On Friday the Americans captured l seventeen towns, cleared four and entered three. The 4th., Armoured Division advanced thirtythree miles in sixty hours. NORTHERN PUSH HERALDED BY LARGE ALLIED CONCENTRATION. (Rec. 8.40.) LONDON, March 18. News Agency correspondents at Marshal Montgomery’s. Headquarters stated: Intensive patrolling across the Rhine developed along the entire U.S. Ninth Army front during the past twenty-four hours. Both Americans and Germans have been crossing the river in assault boats on probing missions. The Americans describe the German patrols as “tough”. A Reuter correspondent at Marshal Montgomery’s Headquarters said: The. Germans are determinedly seeking information along the northern Rhine front. A great massing of Allied armies continues on that front. The German armies on this front are becoming increasingly precarious, as their communications are being

pounded to pieces behind them by bombing, and the Americans in the south are debouching on to the north-south autobahn from the Remagen bridgehead. Germans are fighting the expansion of the Remagen bridgehead. They are concentrating their mam defences in towns, even where rugged hilly country offers favourable positions for resistance. RHINELANDERS WARNED OF AIR BLITZ. (Rec. 10.50.) LONDON, March 18. The B.iß.C’s. European service, on! General Eisenhower’s instruction, broadcast warnings to civilians and foreign workers in the Frankfurt-on-Main, Mannheim and Ludwigshafen areas that the whole of the armaments industry centred in these places would be subjected to a merciless bombardment. Civilians were advised to remove their families immediately to a safe place outside the combat area. “From now on, no shelter refuge can be considered a safe place. These districts have become death traps,” the broadcast said. The reason for the warning is that the Allies are determined to destroy not German people, but the German war machine. You live on key areas of. German war -industry, which for years has supplied weapons of conquest. Now it merely delays final military collapse. Raids on Germany (Rec. 8.50.) LONDON, March 18. Oil targets, tank plants and rail yards in Germany were attacked on Saturday by more than thirteen hundred Liberators and Fortresses of the United States Air Force,* with an escort of more than 750 Mustangs. Their objectives included synthetic oil plants in Bohlem and Ruhland, a benzol plant in Moblis, a tank factory in Hanover, and marshalling yards in Munster. On Saturday afternoon, R.A.F. Lancasters, escorted by Spitfires and Mustangs, attacked two benzol plants, one near Huis, and the other north-east of Dortmund. Heavy at- 1 , tacks by R.A.F. bombers vzere made, off rail and industrial centres of N. UI ’" emberg and Wurzburg. Large fires were left burning with smoke rising to a great height. Berlin was .also attacked,. and objectives at Hanau. Mines laid m en emy waters. , , ' At least nine enemy fighters weie destroyed. The R.A.F. lost thirty bombers. . An Allied Mediterranean commum que stated: Very strong forces oj. heavy bombers on Saturday successfully bombed oil refineries and com ’ .munications in Austria. Widespreaa 'attacks by various types of aircratt were made against communications arid other targets in Italy, Yugoslavia and elsewhere. A number ot enemy aircraft were destroyed oi the! ground and in the air. The Allied Mediterranean ah Forces on Friday lost thirteen aircraft from 2,000 sorties, including six heaw bombers. . On Saturday night, Mosquitoes

made an . attack on Berlin. The Ministry of Aircraft Production said: The ten-ton bomb is a scaled-up version of the six-ton “earthquake” bomb' first used in June 1944, which sank the “Tirpitz.” m its great length it contains a destructive force more powerful than ten flying bombs or V-2 rockets. L is the most destructive lethal weapon ever made...