A RAPID SURGE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25797, 19 March 1945, Page 5

A RAPID SURGE

EXPANDING BRIDGEHEADS ADVANCES ALL ALONG LINE (Rec. 8.30 p.m.) RUGBY, Mar. 17. With the rapid advance of American armoured forces which broke out in the Moselle bridgehead and are cutting round the back of the enemy in the Saar-Moselle-Rhine triangle, and the determined assault by the Seventh Army on the Siegfried Line positions, the enemy are in danger of being entrapped in this vast area and may be compelled to withdraw before it is too late, writes a correspondent at Allied headquarters. Already there have been air reports of considerable movement on the roads to the north-east and east, and this may be a prelude to a rapid retreat. So far no withdrawal has made itself felt on the Seventh Army front other than rearguard actions to enable troops to pull back in the Siegfried strongholds, but the Americans continue to make steady advances against heavy small arms and mortar fire, and in some places heavy artillery fire. Numerous minefields and counter-attacks launched from defensive positions are also being met. At po’nts we are fighting half a mile into the Siegfried Line and at others we are drawing up to it—a hard battle all the way. There is a different situation on the Third Army front, where the opposition is moderate to negligible. The Moselle bridgehead is being expanded with little difficulty. Troops working their way along the east bank of the Moselle reached the outskirts of Coblenz. Elements of the Nineteenth Division. in extending their, bridgehead, reached the Rhine four miles southeast of Bopnard and captured more places six miles to the south. At the other end of the bridgehead, the Fiftieth Infantry Division continued mop-ping-up operations in the wake of the Fourth Armoured Division and reached points 5 to 10 miles north-east of Simmem.

A combat force of the Fourth Armoured Divis : on captured four towns east and north-east of Simmern, while other forces, after reaching Simmern, pushed on 10 to 15 miles south-east, going through the Soonwald Forest and almost reaching the river Nahe and the railway running alongside. Forces from the other Moselle bridgehead nearer Trier advanced two miles to take high ground overlooking the loops in the river which remain to be cleared near Zell and Traben. The bulge southward of Trier was considerably extended, and some armoured units reached the Prime River, 19 miles due eastward of Saarburg. Other forces have pushed southwards to within three miles of Merzig. Seventh Army troops have cleared Bitche and cut the main Bitche-Hage-nau road. The clearance of large minefields is regulating the pace of the advances along this front. An Allied Headquarters’ communique, issued before these despatches. had reported that in the Moselle bridgehead, our armour had made swift gains, one column advancing 11 miles to enter Rheinbollen and Ellern on the edge of the Soonwald Forest. Further west another column which gained 12 miles to enter Simmern captured the bridge intact and pushed on south-east. Resistance to these advances was light. South-east of Trier we captured Reinsfeld. Hermeskeil, Gusenburg and Grunburg against decreasing resistance. Farther south-west, Weiskirchen and Losheim were reached. Our infantry advancing south along the east side of the Saar River entered Saarholzbach, where house-to-house fighting is in progress. The communique also reported more progress in the drive north between the Saarbrucken area and the Rhine against spotty resistance. Ensheim vfas cleared and advances up to two miles were made further south-east, several villages being captured. Advances were also made in the Hardt area over difficult terrain and in the northern Alsace plain. Allied forces in the west captured 4983 prisoners on Thursday.