MONTGOMERY CROSSES THE RHINE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25803, 26 March 1945, Page 5

MONTGOMERY CROSSES THE RHINE

GREAT OFFENSIVE LAUNCHED

FIRM BRIDGEHEADS ESTABLISHED

AIRBORNE ARMY IN ACTION

(United Press Association) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright) (Rec. 6.30 p.m.) LONDON, Mar. 24. Field-marshal Montgomery has launched a great offensive on the Lower Rhine. Allied troops have crossed the river on a broad front and established several firm bridgeheads. No heavy German ground resistance has yet developed, and Allied casualties have been very light. The offensive was preceded by a tremendous air attack, and more than 1000 guns laid down a devastating barrage. The whole of the east bank of the river was reported to be ablaze as the Allied forces crossed. The Allied airborne army dropped behind the German lines is supporting the offensive. The Rhine crossings were made in the areas of Wesel, Rees, and Xanten. Mr Churchill was at Field-marshal Montgomery’s headquarters when the offensive was launched. More than 1,000,000 men are locked in what observers declare is the last battle of the war in Europe. Allied troops have taken Wesel and are driving the Germans from Rees. Scottish troops took Bislach and drove half a mile inland. The British United Press correspondent reports that everything is going well. The assault craft which carried the Allied shock troops over the river were assembled by the Allied navies. A communique from Field-marshal Montgomery’s headquarters closely following the opening of the offensive stated: “Allied troops of the Twenty-first Army Group, with the assistance of the Royal Navy and the United States Navy, after intensive air preparation, resumed the offensive and crossed the Rhine north of the Ruhr on a broad front. Correspondents at Field-marshal Montgomery’s headquarters say that substantial numbers of men and equipment are already across the river. German aircraft trying to strafe the ferries shuttling across the river with men and supplies were driven off by Allied fighters, which are maintaining a thick and constant umbrella over the entire bridgehead area. The crossings began in moonlight at 9 o’clock last night at a number of places. Only moderate opposition was reported in most sectors. A vast fleet of landing craft was used, and the lessons of D-Day were applied fully to avoid the mistakes made then. Troops crossed the broad expanse of the Rhine under a choking man-made smoke. The famous Fifty-first and Fifteenth Scottish Divisions have been identified among the ground troops engaged. United States Ninth Army troops sailed into battle aboard craft manned by sailors, the first waves crossing the Rhine at a speed of 25 miles an hour. If Field-marshal Montgomery succeeds in breaching the German defences of the Lower Rhine, it will mean the collapse of organised German resistance in the west, says Reuter’s correspondent. More than three-quarters of all the German troops in the west are massed along the front facing Field-marshal Montgomery. This force is estimated at 35 divisions. General Student commands this sector of the enemy’s defences. Probably 10 to 15 days must pass before the full weight of Allied land strength can be brought to bear. Before Field-marshal Montgomery opened the offensive the Allied air forces made devastating attacks' on German towns, villages, and troop concentrations. Mosquito pilots, who were out in strength last night east of the Rhine north of the Ruhr, reported that towns and villages in the German front-line zone were burning like torches. Pilots said they had never seen anything like it. Whole towns and villages were burning in an utter holocaust.