Manawatu Evening Standard. WEDNESDAY, MAR. 7, 1945. THE RHINE BATTLE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 83, 7 March 1945, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Standard. WEDNESDAY, MAR. 7, 1945. THE RHINE BATTLE.

Foe, the German people the Battle of the Rhine, which is now about to reach its peak, means more than perhaps the people of the Allied Nations realise, because of the history of this great river and what its name symbolises. The Rhine has always exercised a great fascination over the German mind. “Father Rhine” is the centre of the German’s patriotism and the symbol of his country. In his literature it has played a prominent part for centuries, and its romantic legends have been alternately the awe and delight of his childhood, to quote one writer. The Rhine was the classic river of the Middle Ages, and though industrialisation has effected many changes on its banks, it is still a waterway of striking beauty. It is, too, above all, a barrier whose vulnerability or otherwise means a great deal to those who shelter beyond it. For centuries it has been so, and what the repercussions will be in Germany when the Allied land forces strike over it, as they will certainly do soon, cannot be gauged. Already for many months the industries of the Rhineland have been pulverised by the might of the Allied air forces; that has been devastating in its effect on the enemy’s war machine; but the effect on the German people when the water barrier is overcome by the Allied land forces will be even more tremendous.

No easy task lies ahead of the Allied Supreme Command, but the strategic gains to be counted in a large-scale crossing of the river are incalculable, for beyond it lies much open country of the type largely suited to armoured warfare, and that is what the Allies seek. As the cables relate, few, if any, of the Rhine bridges now remain. What the Allied airmen have failed to destroy the Germans themselves have blown up. It can be assumed that a strong belt of defences exists on the eastern side, but these are in places under heavy fire. The capture of Cologne, the greater part of which lies on the western bank, gives the Allies a valuable situation from which to support a crossing even though it were not attempted at Cologne. The fall of this, the third city in Germany, is thus a major victory in itself, apart from the other gains on .the Western Front. In parts of the great industrial region of Western Germany the Rhine is sluggish and meanders over an almost level plain. In others it is confined between high cliffs. Where the Allies will seek to cross is now a question of great importance, to which much attention will be devoted in the days ahead.