PINCERS ON REICH

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25181, 19 April 1945, Page 5

PINCERS ON REICH

I MANNER OF CLOSING RUSSIANS IN BERLIN FIRST NEW YORK, April 17 The eastern thrust of the Twelfth Army Group, General Eisenhower's main striking force in the battle for Germany, has halted, says the New York Times correspondent at Supreme Headquarters. Russian, and not American, forces will probably enter Berlin first. The junction of the two forces is more likely to occur when the flanks of the forces meet at the beginning of the vast policing operation which must start in the near future. It is extremely unlikely that any headlong contact will be made by forces rushing to the east and the west. Difficult Tasks Ahead The cessation of the eastern drive, however, does not mean that there will not be tremendously difficulty operations ahead of the British, American and Soviet armies, when they begin the task of eliminating German resistance in the areas still under German control—roughly 30 per cent of the Greater Reich as at the start of the Great War. The correspondent says that General Bradley's eastern drive has halted because of supply problems and the difficult and lengthy tasks of co-ordinating Supreme Headquarter's tactical plans with those of the Russians. For the first time since the breakout from the Rhine the Allied line is taking cohesive shape instead of being a mass of lunges and pockets interlaced in confusion, says Reuter's correspondent at Supreme Headquarters. The Allies now hold a solid line along th 6 west bank of the River Elbe and along the Salle and Mulde Rivers southward. The past few days have been spent in cleaning up pockets left in the rear and ensuring communications, as well as a forward build-up. Resumption of Drive

With the consolidation of back areas assured and unimpeded communications established, adds this correspondent, another few days should see the resumption of the drive, with a link-up with the Russians as the primary objective.

I The Americans fighting in the Elbe bridgehead now have what they need to decide the battle—air cover. The Daily Express correspondent at Supreme Headquarters said that every 20 minutes since 11 a.m. today twinengined planes have been laying down a carpet of bombs on the* Germans around the bridgehead. In all, 400 bombers have been operating and fighter-bombers are also out in swarms. German concentrations from the- Elbe to points ten miles south-west of Berlin have been strafed. They have met with no anti-aircraft fire and no enemy planes. 24 HOURSJTO ENGLAND FUTURE AIR LINERS (Heed. 7.30 p.m.) BRISBANE, April 18 Jet-propelled air liners will complete the flight from Australia to England within 24 hours by 1960, according to Mr Hudson Fysh, managing-director of Qantas Airways, who has just returned from a visit to Great Britain and the United States. Jet-propelled and gasturbined planes, he said, would revolutionise air travel, making possible speeds exceeding that of sound. Sealed pressure cabins would enable these aircraft to travel at heights up to ten miles. Great Britain had led the United Nations in the development of this new flight, which was as important to aviation as was the first flight of the Wright brothers. Mr Fysh said he also saw the German flying bomb and rocket bomb as forerunners in an era of mechanical flight. With perfection of control, he stated, these death-dealing machines could be turned to civil uses.

AERIAL FLAME-THROWER (Reed. 5.35 p.m.) LONDON, April 17 It is now revealed that the 12th Air Force has been using an aerial version of the flame-thrower against the Germans for nearly a year, says Reuter's correspondent at Allied headquarters in Italy. It is a belly-tank filled with an inflammable substance which burns a path 150 feet wide and 250 feet long on striking the ground.