GENERAL ADVANCE ON WEST FRONT

Grey River Argus, 2 April 1945, Page 5

GENERAL ADVANCE ON WEST FRONT

SPEARHEADS REPORTED HALF-WAY TO BERLIN

AND 110 MILES FROM CZECHOSLOVAKIA

Russian Expectation of a Link-up

FRIDAY’S OPERATIONS (Rec. 10.10) LONDON, March 31 Saturday’s Allied Headquarters communique stated: North of the Ruhr Allied forces continued to make rapid progress in ail sectors. In the area eastward of Emmerich, the towns of Netterden. Anholt, and Dinxperlo were cleared. Farther east Bocholt, Borken, and Dulmen were cleared, and substantial advances were made beyond them. In the area southward of Lippe Canal, Dorsten, Gladbeck, Bottrop and Hanborn were captured. “Eastward of the Ruhr our forces entered Paderborn and Husen. in the area south-west of Cassel we reached a point just westward of Frankenas. Farther east, units have advanced up to thirty miles to reach Alt, Wildungen and Fritzlar. “In the Sieg River sector, our infantry units reached a point two miles southward of the town of Siegen. Armuored units striking north and north-east from the vicinity of Bad-Nauheim advanced up to forty-two miles to reach the vicinity of Treysa and Alfeld, thirty miles north-east of Giessen.

“Our armoured units pushed northeast from Lauterbach to the vicinity of Grebenau, and southward of Lauterbach we have entered Herbstein. An armoured unit moving north-east from Hanau and reached the vicinity of Budingen. Mopping up operations continue in thepocket west of Wiesbaden, and in the area between Frankfurt and Giessen. “South of Aschaffenburg we have a twelve mile bridgehead across the River Main, as deep as three miles. The enemy is fighting stubbornly from prepared positions. Farther south armoured elements drove east beyond Amormach in an advance hindered by rugged terrain and blown up bridges. Eight miles south Mudau has been reached. Heidelberg was taken after surrender negitiations failed. Our units crossed the Neckar River east and west oi: the city. ‘,Advances of some six miles have been made south of Mannheim along the east bank of the Rhine. “Allied forces in the west captured 18,542 prisoners on Thursday. Seven enemy aircraft were shot down, and forty-two destroyed on the ground. Nine of our heavy bombers and one light bomber and twelvefighters are missing.

GREAT PROSPECTS CAPTURE OF EMMERICH LONDON, March 30. “Good Friday, with a bright sun streaming down, promises to end with the greatest gains yet made by the British,” said an Associated Press correspondent with the Sixth Airborne Division which, previously on foot, is now mechanised. “Its progress is spectacular. There is every indication that the British troops’ aim of reaching the. Elbe River will be speedily achieved.” The British spearheads are so powerful and so many that they present almost a solid front. .When all the British armour is committed even more spectacular gains will be assured. Emmerich was the only area where the Germans showed much resistance tp Marshal Montgomery’s forces and the latest, news is that the Canadians now control Emmerich and have captured Anholt, eight miles to the east. Opposition from paratroopers during the past few days between Emmerich and Bocholt has lessened considerably, and the armour which crossed the Rhine to that sector is now prepared to crack the last remaining resistance. German paratroopers, in a captured report to their corps headquarters, admitted shortages of men, guns, ammunition, mines, bazookas, signals equipment and transport. A correspondent at Supreme Headquarters says: “Air reports to-day show that in the area north of the Ruhr and east of Munster roads are studded with motor transport and refugees racing east, while tanks and self-propelled guns mounted on railcars are proceeding west, either to reinforce the enemy troops endeavouring to hold Marshal Montgomery’s assault or to block the roads. M Most of our activity on this front was east and south-east of Bocholt and the gains have averaged ten miles. Our ■ forces are now more than forty miles east of the Rhine, which brings them somewhere in the Dulmen area.”

The German radio to-night stated v ®??wthat the British were beyond Dulmen and Stadtlohn, and added: “Marshal Montgomery has brought up all the ■British Second Army infantry into the offensive area.” - The correspondent of the Associated Press with the Seventh Army states that the attitude of the German civilians is beyond explanation. They came from the houses and lined the autobahn, shouting and waving and apparently having the time of their lives. “I defy anybody to ride along the autobahn from Frankfurt northward without agreeing that the war is really over and that all that is now needs is a hugh mopping-up operation,” he adds. The correspondent of the Associated Press at the Twelfth Army Group headquarters states that the greatest number of First and Third Army soldiers killed in any one day since the drive into Germany started . was 141. The!, two armies on another day lost only 55 killed—and that while attacking on the transrhine perimeter of over 250 miles. The twin Allied drive round the Ruhr has overrun a huge number of factories, armament centres, supply dumps, strategic roads, railways and aerodromes, state agency correspondents at Field-Marshal Montgomery’s Headquarters. Dozens of shrapnel-scarred smokstacks standi ike tombstones mark ing the dead Ruhr Valley. The furnaces of weapon factories have been cold for six months. Some of the smallei factoi ies operated until a few hours before the Ninth Army forces charged in, ENEMY LINE ALL DISORGANISED LONDON, March 30 “There is no organised line between you and Berlin. There is no longer an organised government, in Germany,” said a high-ranking German officer captured in the American 3rd Army’s advance. Continuing operations north-east of Frankfurt, the 3rd Army has penetrated to with-

in ten miles south-west of Fulda. The Brtish United Press correspondent with the 3rd Army says that the entire German army on the 3rd Army front is giving up without a fight. Platoon after platoon passed us with nobody guarding them. They were merely walking to the rear, seeking someone to whom to surrender to, he states. It just isn’t war any more. It is a circus. It was the 3rd Armoured Division which reached Faderborn, state correspondents with the Ist Army. The latest reports put our tanks in Paderborn at 9.30 a.m. to-day, and they are driving on with virtually nothing to stop them. The 7th Armoured Division, jumping off at 5 a.m. advanced twentyfive miles and reached a point less than a mile from the Eder Dam, which the Royal Air Force dambusters, under the late Wing Commander Guy Gibson, attacked in May, 1943.

A task force of the 9th Armoured Division, pushing on from Schweinsberg, has advanced twenty-eight to thirty miles, and leading elements of this force are now in Fritzlar. Other elements gained twenty-three miles and reached Borken, twenty-seven miles north-east of Marburg. 21st ARM'Y GROUP. SPREAD OUT IN NORTH. (Rec. 6.30). LONDON, March 31. A correspondent at Marshal Montgomery’s headquarters stated: 'n Saturday night vanguards of Montgomery’s forces had reached 66 miles into Germany from the Rhine, and a great break-through was spreading out in all directions. German forces were fleeing towards the Elbe-Weser line in complete disorder. Northward and southward of the break-through area the German resistance is coordinated. The resistance on the northern flank is weakening hourly. Canadians have been advancing rapidly They have outflanked the Issel River line running northwards front Arnheim to the Zuider Zee. They liberated half a dozen towns on Saturday. Civilians said Germans were clearing out of Northern Holland west of Arnheim, and pulling back to Germany.

A New Zealand pilot reported: “From the Rhine for more than 60 miles eastward the entire countryside is covered with white flags.” BRITISH NEARING MUNSTER (Rec. 9.5) LONDON, March 31 Correspondents amplifying reports on advances by British tanks and the Sixth Airborne Division said that troops, after advancing more than twenty miles on foot, picked up transport, and in ordinary lorries captured vehicles, motor-cycles, and bicycles, drove on twenty-two miles in regular spearhead fashion. The Germans still have no co-ordinated defence in front of the Second Army, but German local commanders in various areas have pulled some sort of forces together. British forces on Friday found many bridges blown up an’d roads cratered, and in addition there were road blocks, manned by German gunners. A Reuter correspondent at Montgomery’s headquarters said: Germans left, many aircraft behind them without petrol or personnel. For the Germans, the problem of findingbases for their jet propelled planes is regarded as insuperable. The German News Agency said: British shock troops pushed forward to cross the Dortmund-Ems Canal gaining a brideghead on the east bank. I his report means that Marshal Mont gomerv’s troops have probably pushed eight miles beyond Dulmen to the canal, placing the Second Army a little more than six miles from Munster. U.S. Ist. ARMY EXPLOIT. LONDON, March 30. The amazing and exciting burst northwards of the First Army tanks opens the prospect of the early seal-ing-off of the whole Ruhr. The Germans from the first have been caught on the wrong foot. They massed such elements of divisions as 'they could alongside the river, expecting the Allied tanks to strike north. Instead, two days after the bridgehead break-out, hundreds of First Army tanks were rolling eastward.

The Germans, . after desperately and unsuccessfully counter-attacking from the north, pulled out theii remaining forces and moved from eastward. The Al lied tanks speed was too great for them. With their movements cloaked by the security black-out, progress was so swift that reports of . their positions were sometimes first received from aeroplanes. Nothing stopped them because nothing could stop them. Thus the First Army troops paved the way for continued drives either east, north or west. Because of the desperate transport situation,— they cannot even get to Dortmund for ammunition —the Germans have not yet brought up one fully qualified formation to meet the acute and growing threat of the British advance, reports the correspondent of the British United Press at Field-Marshal Montgomery’s headquarters. There is considerable evidence that the British armoured spearheads have speeded up in the past twenty-four hours. The correspondent of the Associated F'ress at Ninth Army Headquarters states that small bridges wrecked by the Germans caused the Ninth Army spearheads more trouble than the Germans themselves. To-day the repairing of bridges slowed down their advance, but it is expected that they will resume at full speed shortly.

(Rec. 6.30) LONDON, March 31 A correspondent of the .Associated Press said: General Hodges on Saturday slowed down tank columns of the First Army to consolidate gams. He did not halt the drive, but it became necessary to pause to allow the infantry to close up with the armour, and seal off escape routes from the Ruhr. U.S. 9th ARMY. LINKS WITH U.S. Ist ARMY TANKS (Rec. 7.30). LONDON, March 31. On Saturday American Ist Army forces continued to consolidate their

position at Paderborn. Elements of the U.S. 9th Armoured Division, after making an advance of 18 miles, have linked up with elements of the Third U.S. Armoured Division at Warburg, half-way between Paderborn and Cassel. German forces are still resisting at Siegen, but Ist Army troops hold most of the ground around the town.

A Reuter correspondent with the U.S. Ist Army said: Thousands of German prisoners stand in fields along side roads. Three thousand were in one field, guarded by only six Americans. Endless lines of lorries bulging with Germans move westward.

U.S. 3rd. ARMY. SUCCESSES. A GRAND FOLD-UP. LONDON, March 30. General Patton in a special order of the day to the United States Third Army said: The German First and Second Armies on the Western Front have been virtually wiped cut. The Third Army since it broke across the Moselle thirteen days ago, has captured more than 140,000 Germans and has killed or wounded nearly 100,000. Three thousand German towns have been overrun.

A correspondent with the U.S. Ninth Army stated: “This is the great fold-up, with the end of the war round the corner and the climax is moving at breakneck speed. ‘Beneath the cloud of secrecy now cloaking the tremendous moves being made by our armies on the Western Front, the most dramatic chase of the war is under way. British and American armoured divisions, in an unparalleled daring breakaway are racing across the face of Germany. They are fast, forging last links in the gigantic trap which will snare the Germans in the greatest enemy pocket yet.

“Inside that pocket at the moment are parts of two German armies—the Ist. Parachute and the newly-com-mitted 15th. —and the elements of a third, the sth. Panzer Army. So fast are, we moving that it seems highly unlikely that any battle worthy part of these huge forces will escape. The size of this Ruhr pocket is making everybody who is watching it on operation maps gasp in wonderment. As I see it, when the quickly narrowing gateway is shut tight the enemy and the Ruhr will be inside a colossal box with sides eighty miles long—a total area of 6,400 square miles. “The British 2nd. Army and the United States Ist. and 9th. Armies are making this box. Formations of Guards armoured forces are racing side by side with General Simpson’s armoured forces. General Hodges has the bottom and right-hand sides of the box. He has almost welded his half of the trap in an express advance of nearly 120 miles since the Third Armoured Division broke loose from Remagen. Moving at breakneck speed, it is no longer a single army picture.” An Associated F'ress correspondent at Supreme Headquarters said: General Dempsey’s tanks —some of them laden with infantry—are travelling along roads that might cut off or lead to Bremen, Wilhelmshaven and Hamburg.

3rd ARMY TAKES 20 MORE TOWNS (Rec. 6.30). LONDON, March 31. Spearheads of the American Third Army are now in the vicinity of Lautenhousen, which is seven and a-half miles east of Hersfeld. Third Army tanks on Saturday advanced 16 miles. They captured 20 more towns. Their Sixth Armoured Division, after making another five-mile advance, is now less than five miles from Cassel.

American airmen are carrying petrol to armoured columns and are landing supplies on airfields east of the Rhine. Pilots reported confused German rail and road movements in a triangle formed by Cassel, Eisenach, and Hersfeld. These suggest a panic attempt to escape eastward. LATEST AMERICAN MOVE. (Rec. 6.30). LONDON, March 31. Captain Sertorius, a German News Agency commentator, said that the appearance of American Seventh Army armoured forces east of Heidelburg indicated that they were preparing to join American Third Army forces in a big drive towards the Czechoslovak frontier. LONDON, March 31

The Moscow “Red Star’’ said: Marshal Tolbukhin’s and General Patton’s drives towards southern Germany are co-ordinated. The movement of Patton’s Third American Army will have a decisive influence on the course of the war. Hitler’s plans to create a Nazi bastion in the south will be frustrated. Tolbukhin’s offensive is co-ordinated with this drive. German forces in Italy will be cut off. 175 MILES FROM BERLIN THIRD U.S. ARMY’S PROGRESS (Rec. 12.40) LONDON, April 1. General Patton’s men have driven 160 miles into Germany, and to-day were 175 miles from Berlin, and 110 miles from Czechoslovakia, said a Reuter correspondent. They were last reported five miles south of Kassel. Mopping-up operations, are going on in the wake of the big armoured advance. Armoured forces, fanning out behind leading spearheads, advanced 16 miles to the vicinity of Giesel and Birstein, 16 and 20 miles respectively south-west of Tulda. Nineteenth U.S. Infantry Division troops, closely following up tanks, advanced ten miles and captured twenty towns, and cleared an area of 6 to 12 miles west-south-west of Fulda. Resistance is generally describably moderate. Armoured spearheads of the 21st Army Group are still operating under a security silence. A Reuter correspondent at Montgomery’s headquarters says: Massive advances continue. The great push is gaining speed, and the break-through area is steadily widening. Armoured elements swept north across the Dutch frontier into Germany. Canadians widened the Emmerich salient and advanced towards the wooded hills of Hoch Elten, commanding Rhine crossings at Emmerich. ALLIED OFFICIAL REVIEW 1 (Rec. 12.36) LONDON, April 1. Allied forces north of the Ruhr continue to make rapid progress. The momentum of the advance was maintained said Sunday s Supreme Headquarter’s communique. Our units at some points are more than 65 miles east of the-Rhine. Several armoured units yesterday gained over 15 miles. We captured Stadtlohn and made substantial advances beyond the town. Our armoured elements are fight-

ino- in southern outskirts of Fader-1 born against stiff, resistance from infantry and dug-m tanks. Armoured forces farther south, after an 18miles advance, reached Warburg. Infantry mopping up behind our armour entered Brilon and Buren. We have captured Bergheim and Fdprsdam’, entered Seigen, and cleared the area south of the Sieg River between Eiserfeld and Schonstein, three and 14 . miles respectively south-west of Siegen. Our armoured forces moving northward gained up to 15 miles and reached a point five miles south of Kassel. Other elements, advancing north-east, reached the area of Kappel, 15 miles south-east of Kassel. Armoured units, advancing 23 miles north-east of Lauterbach, reached the area south of Hersfeld. They liberated 70 American airmen at Asbach, two miles south-south-west of Hersfeld. We knocked out several tanks at Eitra, four miles south-south-east of Hersfeld. Our armoured unit reached the vicinity of Giesel, six miles southwest of Ulda.

Our units have met strong tanks and infantry resistance near Gelnheusen, 20 miles north-east of Frankfurt, but have by-passed the town, and entered Birstein, 20 miles southwest of Fulda.

Infantry are mopping up an area 12 miles west and six south-west of Fulda. Other units reached a point 18 miles north-east of Hanau. We cleared the area west of Wiesbaden. Mopping-up continues north-west and north of Frankfurt.

We entered Badschwalpach, 12 miles north-west of Mainz, and captured an enemy hospital with over a thousand patients and medical attendants.

Fighter-bombers attacked gun positions, strongpoints, armour and transport ahead of our ground forces in the areas of Recklinghausen, east of Cologne, Kassel, Hersfeld and Erfurt, and destroyed 700 motor vehicles. Most of Tschaffenberg is in flames as the enemy forces continued to resist stubbornly our efforts to clear the city by ground and air attacks. We made gains of upward of six miles east of the main river south of Aschappenburg. Armoured units drove eastward 25 miles, and ate less than six miles from Wurzburg, clearing a number of towns, including Tauberisohogsheim, 16 miles south-east of Wurzburg, and Walldurn, 27 miles south-south-east of Aschaffenburg. Our units advancing south-eastward along the Neckar River reached Dallau, and driving south reached Walldorf, seven miles south of Heidelburg. Our forces south of Speyer, re-crossed the Rhine on a 10mile front. Elements of this force joined at Hockenheim with units pushing southward from Mannheim. Allied forces in the west on Friday took 19,166 prisoners.

FRENCH ARMY OVER THE RHINE ON TEN MILES FRONT. (Rec. 10.10). LONDON, March 31. An official French communique, issued at Paris, says: The French Ist Army crossed the Rhine on a ten miles front this (Saturday) morning. The operation is progressing favourably. The location of the crossing is not disclosed.

ALLIED ORDERS FOR ENEMY LONDON, March 31 General Eisenhower, after telling the Germans that Allied forces were now driving deep into Germany, and that the German Government has ceased to exercise control over wide areas, gave instructions to the Wehrmacht as follows: —“To save yourself further useless sacrifice and loss of life, this is what you must do: Firstly, units in contact which no longer receive orders from the German Command are to cease hostilities. Until further orders, the pre-"' sent Commanding Offiers of each .unit is responsible for the discipline of his men. Secondly, the surrender of troops units takes place by sending an emissary to the nearest Allied command post, under protection of a white flag. Surrender must take 'place in an orderly manner, and with the observance of military discipline. Thirdly, units out of contact remain under commanding officers, until further orders. Units are to be assembled. Commanding officers re " main responsible for the discipline and supply of the troops under thencommand until further notice. Fourthly, scattered units and individual Wehrmacht personnel report to i the nearest Allied troop unit, while observing the customary signs of surrender —that is, unarmed, without helmet or web equipment. Collecting points are along main highways and thoroughfares.” The Supreme Commander also gave instructions for war workers, in which he told them to keep away from all military objectives, take, cofer on the approach of battle, and. when the battle has passed, to send a spokesman to the nearest Allied •official. General Eisenhower s messafe was broadcast by the Luxemburg radio. FIRM GERMAN STAND. CLAIMED IN FOUR VITAL AREAS. ißec. 6.30). LONDON, March 31. The Berlin military spokesman on Saturday night declared that the real battle between the bulk of the opposing armies had not yet begun. The spokesman claimed that the German resistance has not been shaken in the four vital areas, namely: (1) Along the lins from Stadtlohn to Koesfeld and to the Dulmen line; (2) south of the Sieg River in the Westerwald Mountains; (3) in the Limburg area, and (4) north-west and north of Frankfurt. The Allies, he said, were using greatly superior air forces in an effort to disrupt these centres of German strength. Women and Girls FIGHT AGAINST AMERICANS (Rec. 7.30) LONDON, April 1 A News Agency correspondent said that women and girls are tight" ing in bitter house to house batt W, against United States Seventh Arn > forces in the Aschaffenburg ano Schweilieim areas, north-east Darmstadt. Americans met f ana P4 resistance from more than to thousand Germans, who put up terrific fight in pill es el and strongpoints consisting °. f l 4 concrete pill boxes built t t houses. Women and girls s . ni P Amcrihurled hand grenades the Amc cans. Men and women civilians one point in the Schiveinheim hid in well chosen S P°„’ a ,. e river. I on troops swarming l acl ( Sl D ned grenSixteen year old girls droppea s

ades from the second floors of buildings as Allied troops moved through the streets. > ■ ■ A British United Press correspondent said: “There is no explanation available for the fanaticism which is driving the German civilians to ,sucn lengths. There also is no reasonaoie explanation for the resolute German defensive battle in the Aschafenbuig sector, which has been carried io such lengths that only three ers have been taken in twenty-four hours. German civilians in Sdiwein;. heim sniped at General Pat , caS troops that were crossing the River Main. Women threw hand grenades' A* fifteen year old girl was shot while trying to fire a bazooka.

V-BOMB ATTACK ‘•X — LONDON, March.. 30 When a V-bomb recently hit a block of workmen’s flats in southern England a young soldier, who had returned in January from overseas service, lost eight relatives —his mother, father, sister, two brothers, sister-in-law and two nephews. He stood on the rubble watching the rescue work and told the workers: “Only the night before we had a happy family gathering before I returned to camp.” A man whose wife ■ was rescued alive after six .hours’ digging, lost three of his daughters. Another young man heard ’ his brother and sister talking beneath the debris of their home, and directed the rescuers to them.