NO COHESIVE RESISTANCE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25814, 9 April 1945, Page 5

NO COHESIVE RESISTANCE

(United Press Association) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright) (Rec. 10.30 p.m.) LONDON, Apl. 8. British tanks in the north and American tanks in the centre are staging a dramatic race across Germany for Berlin. The British United Press correspondent at Field-marshal Montgomery’s headquarters puts British tanks at under 140 miles from Berlin, while the German radio reports that an American armoured column has reached Eisleben, 100 miles south-west of Berlin. Front-line correspondents say that pursuit of the routed Germans back to the Elbe was in full swing to-night. Hanover has been by-passed, and armoured spearheads are within 10 miles of Bremen. Reports reaching Field-marshal Montgomery’s headquarters indicate that the Germans may abandon both Bremen and Hanover and try to defend the Central German Plain along the Elbe River from Hamburg to Magdeburg. The German News Agency’s commentator, Captain Sertorius, describing Field-marshal Montgomery’s latest moves as dangerous, says the British objectives are obviously the Kiel canal and vital German naval bases. The Luxemburg radio states that a fresh security blackout has blen imposed on the latest advances on the Bremen and Hanover fronts, where the British Second Army is running riot. More than 120,000 of Montgomery’s men, with 1000 tanks and tens of thousands of other vehicles, entering the last lap of the race,, are less than 140 miles from Berlin, says the British United Press correspondent. There are no signs of organised and effective resistance this side of Berlin. The Germans have no chance of retrieving the position from the debacle. There is no organised control over the Wehrmacht’s cut-off divisions, which are all that are left in this area after Field-marshal Montgomery’s drive deep into the vitals of North-western Germany. Our troops in the last seven days have over-run numbers of the finest defence positions. The German Army is no longer capable of maintaining a cohesive front.