BIG ALLIED SWEEP

Grey River Argus, 20 March 1945, Page 5

BIG ALLIED SWEEP

ON RIGHT FLANK BRIDGEHEAD DEEPER Many German Towns Taken WISSEMBOURG UNDER FIRE. (Rec. 1.77). LONDON, March 19. Monday’s communique from A fied Supreme Headquarters sta . l . e 9i forces in the Remagen bridgeh-ad pushed on to outskirts of Niederdollendorf, and eastward, against jntensv heavy-calibre artillery fire, to nig ground one mile north Other elements crossed th e autobahii and reached outskirts ofWindh J six miles east of Honnef. We ciossd the Weid River, east of Lorscheid, and took high ground four miles of Honningen. The Remagen bridgehead is 15 miles long, and neatly eight miles deep. , . Street fighting has Coblenz. We have captured Rhens and Erey, five and six miles respectively south-south-east of Coblenz. V\ e Lave cleared Boppard. We control the west bank of the Rhine for 17 miles from Boppard to a point six miles north-west of Bingen. Our forces, after a' seven-mue advance, have entered Bingen. . Our armoured units are mopping up Kreuznach, after repelling a counterattack in the vicinity of the city. Other units entered Sobernheim, took a number of towns in the SimmernKreuznach area, and reached the vicinity of Bergen, 15 miles southwest of S'immern. We have captured Beuren and Rascheid, 12 and 13 miles respectively east of Trier. We have cleared Merzig and we entered Beckingen and Dillengen, five and nine miles respectivly south of Merzig. We also cleared Krettnich, 15 miles north-east of Merzig, and captured Aussen and Huttersdorf, both nine miles east of Merzig. Stiffening enemy resistance has slowed our advance between Saarbrucken and the Hardt Mountains. In other Siegfried Line defences we gained upwards of eight miles. The Hardt Mountain area has been cleared. Sturbelbronn and Ludwigswinkel, seven and 11 miles respectively east of Bitche, have been captured, also Wingen, six miles west of Wissembourg. We have made rapid advances on the Alsace Plain, north of the Haguenau Forest, where the enemy has appeared to be in full retreat. We have reached Seultze, ten miles north. of Haguenau. We drove to the Maginot Line at flatten and Rittershofen, three and/six miles respectively east of Seultze. We took Fortsfeld and Beinheim, four and five miles respectively south-west of Seultze. The Allied forces on Saturday took 5146 prisoners on the West Front. It is announced at S.H.A.E.F. that Wissembourg, the next important centre north of Haguenau, is under the range of the Seventh Army’s guns. The Paris edition of the American Army newspaper “Stars and Stripes’’ stated: White and Negro troops are fighting side by side in the United States Army for the first tim e in history. Negroes ,jre fighting with the First and Seventh Armies. Thousands of Negroes, from supply bases, volunteered for front-line duty. LAST STAND WEST OF RHINE. LARGE GERMAN FORCES IN CONFUSION. (Rec. 11.15.) LONDON, March 19. A press correspondent at S.H.A.E.F. stated: The American armies of Generals Patton and Patch have been carving deeper into the six thousand square miles of unoccupied Germany that is left to the west of the Rhine. In that area there are from sixteen to twenty German divisions making a last stand. There is a security timelag imposed on the issue of news from this front. The German News Agency, however, reported that American Third Army forces established bridgeheads across the Nahe River between Krueznach and Soberhnheim. American Seventh Army forces are attacking strongly south of Hornbach. A “Times” correspondent said: Confusion and chaos are rife in an area bounded by converging thrusts of the United States Third Army, which is displaying superb team work by its armour, infantry and artillery and its tactical ’planes. The Third Army has been in operation for 230 days, in which it has captured 230,000 prisoners, and has knocked out more than two thousand tanks. Heavy German tanks look, and are, formidable monsters, but they lack the speed and the power-operated turret of the American tanks, whose gunners are ablel to maintain fire against a target even as the tanks move. On Sunday morning General Patton threw in additional armour against the remaining German pocket of resistance at Coblenz, reports the British United Press correspondent from inside the city. The last remnants of the German forces, mainly S.S. troops, are going down fighting. The sharp crack of snipers’ rifles can still be heard from the ruins of the city. Americans holding the west bank of the Rhine farther south spotted the first German attempt to escape across the Rhine. They observed three steamers and four barges trying to ferry troops over the river. American artilery sank all the vessels. The Americans have extended their grip on th west bank of the Rhine from Boppard 10 miles south-east-ward to Oberwesel. It is disclosed that a new armoured division has joined General Patton’s command. This brought the 3rd Army armour strength up to four divisions and 13 tank battalions. Third Army infantry rolling up the German Saar Basin from the west flank, captured Merzig and recrossed the Saar River, south of the town. Both Paris and Luxembourg radios reported that the Allies have entered Saarbrucken, but this is not confirmed. The Allies have four armoured divisions operating in the Moselle-Rhine-Saar triangle. The Eleventh Armoured Division made furthes gains of five miles to reach the vicinity of Kirchberg, six miles southwest of Simmern, while the Tenth Armoured Division pushed on another seven miles south-east of Trier. GERMAN EXODUS IN FRONT OF U.S. SEVENTH ARMY. LONDON, March IS American Seventh Army troops battered their way deep into the ■qiep-fried defences east of faaarbrtmken. Infantry captured Heckendalheim, seven miles east of Saarbrucken after beating down determined resistance. Other formations closing in on the west wall south of Zweibrucken met increasing opp s - tlo General Patch’s troops are plodsteadily forward in towards the C- SfXd Line defences, making 2" up to four I»fles. We have £ au s r , nc ifirms to the east of Saarbrucken which is in danger of being km flanked Near the Hardt Mountains and around Hagenau Forest, dense minefields are being met. Tr -i two miles advance French troops took Soufflenheim and Runtzenheim. rONDCN March 19. (R A C Reuter correspondent at S.H.A.

E.F. said: Third Army forces are along, the Nahe River in many sectors. They reached Kim on the north bank, half-way between the R'hine and the Saar. The Germans had there abandoned tanks, and selfpropelled guns intact. General Eisenhower on Sunday visited General Patton’s forces ni the Saar and Moselle sectors. He watched operations and received first-hand rports.

(Rec. 9.50.) LONDON, March 19. A. Reuter correspondent stated: Owing to the U.S. Seventh Army’s rapid advance, First Tactical Air Force which on Sunday flew more than fifteen hundred sorties, abandoned its close support of the front line troops, and instead attacked targets in an area bounded by Kaiserlautern and Homburg (fifteen miles north of Saarbrucken), Pirmasens (twenty-two miles south-east of Saarbrucken) and Neustadt (twenty miles south of Kaiserlautern). Pilots reported there was utter turmoil and chaos throughout the area, with roads packed with military personnel, mingled with thousands of scurrying civilian refugees, who waved sheets to plead that they should not be bombed. The overall picture indicated a general exodus.

Remagen Biridge Falls

AFTER GERMAN BOMBING AND SHELLING AMERICANS LOSE MEN • LONDON, March IS The Ludendorff railway bridge at Remagen collapsed on Saturday after being weakened by German bombs and shells. This was the bridge over which the American First Army made its crossing of the Rhine and forced its bridgehead on the east bank. A “Daily Express” correspondent said: The collapse of the Ludendorff bridge was as sensational as its capture. It was not destroyed by shell or bomb. It just crumbled quietly into the river. About 200 engineers were working on the bridge. The whole steel framework subsided, leaving three stone piers intact. Some Americans were killed and others drowned. The bodies of at least 15 soldiers have been pulled out of the mass of twisted steel. An engineer officer stated that the constant strain of moving materials aiid heavy vehicles proved too much for the bridge and it was just tired. Men standing close to the bridge were amazed how silently it slipped down into the water, says an Associated Press correspondent. There was a noise like a saw going through wood. Then the bridge almost vanished under the swiftly flowing river. The Rhine was instantly filled with masses of debris and soldiers could be seen! clinging desperately to pieces of wreckage. Many injured men locked arms around bits of floating debris and drifted to the pontoon bridge. Officers and men all along the banks of the river dashed from buildings and jumped from passing vehicles to grab ropes and rails which they threw to the drifting soldiers. Others shed uniforms, dived in and dragged the injured to safely. River craft raced up and down pulling injured men out, and trying to control the avalanche of debris. Some of these craft themselves capsized and the men in them were thrown into the river. Floating wreckage at one stage threatened the pontoon bridge. Scores of soldiers rushed on to the pontoon, balanced themselves precariously in shallow boats and prodded off the wreckage. A crane was set up to fish out the larger pieces of wreckage. One of the engineers working on the bridge said: “I first heard a rumbling noise then saw the middle span slipping. It twisted' steel girders like springs It took-about ten seconds for the whole structure to vo tumbling down pinning the soldiers underneath and crushing some to death.” BRIDGE BEING REPAIRED. (Rec. 10.40.) LONDON, March 19. A press correspondent at S.H.A.E.F. on Sunday night stated that repairs to the Ludendorf bridge at Remagen were almost completed and it was expected to be useable again soon. Ist. ARM YCAPTURES EAST OF RHINE. LONDON March 18 Six miles of the Cologne-Frank-furt autobahn is in American hands to-night. The bridgehead is 16 miles long by 7 3-4 miles wide. Americans pushing north reached a point opposite Godesberg. The. German News Agency stated: Americans brougnt up considerable reinforcements for the eastern part of the bridgehead, where fighting’ is becoming more savage Americans captured the famous Drachenfels (Dragon’s Rock), near Konigswinter, where Siegfried had his legend fight with the dragon. The bridgehead for the first time, has attained operational significance. There are 100,000 Americans massed on a narrow front attacking without interruption to the north, east, and south. They are making progress, m spite of fanaticial German preparations for an imminent great battle Both sides are bringing more and more artillery into action—acurtainraiser for a great battle which could start at< any moment. (Rec 9A0.) LONDON, March 19. An Exchange Telegraph Agency correspondent at S.HA.E.F. . stated. Allied troops control a nine-m le stretch of the Cologne-Fi ankf ui t autobahn from a point where the Wied River crosses the road to Rus scheild, four miles east of Niederdbllendorf, which the First Army captured on the Rhine, a mile and a-quarter above Konigswinter. Deneral Hodges’ forces in the southem sector of the bridgehead control more than a five miles stretch of the Wied River., Allied fqrcefc eSptured the first Luftwaffe airfield east o Remagen, and also captured an under ground factory making plane paits near Konigswinter.

“NAVAL” BATTLES ON BRITISH FRONT. (Rec. 10.40.) LONDON, March 19. With the exception of the usual patrol activity, it has been an othei day without, major incident on tne British Canadian sector, and tne Ninth United States Army on the Maas-Rhine bank sector of the Western Front. . A British correspondent stated. British natrols pushing north of Nijmegen reached the Upper Rhine and also reached Randwijk, ten north-west of Nijmegen, where the German front appears to have thinned out. Active patrolling has continued on the U.S. Ninth Army front. A British United Press correspondent with the British Army stated: There is a strange amphibious war going on in Nijmegen Island, which is a strip of low-lying meadow, 25 miles long and six miles wide, between the Waal and the Nedar Rivers, which form a junction at its eastern tip. Last November, the .Germans blew up a dyke,- almost completely flooding the island, of which they hold the northern half. British forces hold the southern half. The British have been fighting a series of “naval” battles, and using an odd assortment of. craft from canvas dinghies to “ducks.” Amphibious patrols sometimes get stuck on submerged barbed wire, or set off anti-tank mines. Positions are often held in the unper storeys of half-submerged houses. Fighting is going on day and night .in spite of the fact that the front is described as “quiet.”