STILL FIGHTING

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 25047, 10 November 1944, Page 5

STILL FIGHTING

NAZIS BELOW MAAS HANDFUL OF FANATICS CLEARING WALCHEREN (Reed. 6.30 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. H A handful of Germans are still fighting on in their rapidly shrinking pocket before the shattered Moerdijk bridge across the Maas. Allied troops have crossed the big anti-tank ditch behind which some of the Germans have been holding out.. Renter's correspondent says the Poles yesterday launched an attack - to clean up 300 fanatically lighting - Germans who are pinned against ; the end of the Moerdijk bridge, t which has been blown up. A communique from Supreme Head--5 quarters says that with the freeing of 1 Willemstad the Allies now hold the entire south shore of the Hollandische . Diep and the Maas River, with the exception of the area east and south • of the destroyed Moerdijk bridge, where | a small isolated enemy force is hoid- | ing out. On Walcheren Island, in the Scheldt Estuary, troops of the Canadian First ' Army have liberated another small town [ and the few Germans still fighting have been hemmed into an area surrounding , a battery of four guns, i The commander of the Canadian First Army, Lieutenant-General H. D. C. • Crerar, who is back at his headquarters ! after a month's illness, said the British - troops on Walcheren had done a magi niticent job. i Reviewing operations on the BritishCanadian front since the Canadians crossed the Leopold Canal on October 6, a spokesman at Field-Marshal Mont--1 gomerv's headquarters said: "We have > cleared the Scheldt approaches to Ant- : werp and liberated an area 20 miles • dee]) on a 40-mile front. We have taken prisoner between 38.000 and 40.000 5 Germans, inflicted perhaps the same ! number of casualties, and destroyed the German 64th Division south of the ; Scheldt and the 70th Division on Walcheren." ; SAVAGE ATTACKS 5 ENEMY NEAR AACHEN ! AMERICANS YIELD GROUND 1 LONDON, Nov. 8 t Troops of the American First Army > are fighting south-east of Aachen ? against continued savage artillery lire and repeated counter-attacks. They - were forced last night to fall back 1 slightlv in the Schmidt sector to high ' ground two miles north-west ol ■ Schmidt. Today they opened a new attack for the salient and progressed in other parts of the Schmidt sector. : Bitter fighting went on all today on ! high ground in the Hurtgen Forest. south-cast of Aachen, says Renter s ; correspondent. The Americans fell back j a fow hundred yards further, but the I Germans lost more tanks and are estimated to have suffered 2400 casualties . in the past few days. Dive-bombers to- : day attacked the German positions in clear weather. Snow and sleet are now falling in ' the forest, where furious German counter-attacks are forcing the Americans back, says the British Lnited Press correspondent PRISONERS IN FRANCE REPATRIATION BEGINS (Heed. 6.10 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 9 The Moscow radio reported this morning that Russian representatives in France had taken measures for the release of Soviet citizens from French prisoner of war camps, and that their repatriation had already begun Tlio Moscow statement said that these Russians included men originally captured by the Germans, and civilians foreiblv evacuated from Russia. The statement complained of the conditions in the camps in which the French had been keeping these men and alleged that some had been forced to join the Foreign Legion. The Soviet Embassy in France has lodged a protest with the French Foreign Minister. MINISTRY OF COMMERCE (Reed. 6.30 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 9 A suggestion that the British Board of Trade should be. reorganised as a fnlly-fledged Ministry of Commerce has been put forward by the Association of British Chambers of Commerce The association suggests that the Minister of Commerce should have a place in the War Cabinet. It also calls for early talks between the United Kingdom, the Dominions and the United States on the modification of trade barriers.