RAPID ADVANCE BY 7TH ARMY

Southland Times, Issue 25545, 13 December 1944, Page 5

RAPID ADVANCE BY 7TH ARMY

GREAT AIR OFFENSIVE ON REICH GERMAN TRANSPORT SYSTEMS BOMBED (United Press Association —Telegraph Copyright) (Rec. 11.30 p.m.) LONDON, December 12. After the fall of Hagenau, 13 miles north-west of Strasbourg, the American 7th Army, under the command of Lieutenant-General Alexander M. Patch, has continued its rapid advance towards the Rhine and was last reported to be five miles from the river. This advance constitutes a serious threat to the German positions in the south as Lieutenant-General Patch’s men are biting into the German rear in the Saar sector. Rail targets in western Germany have received what is described as the greatest single air blow of the war. American Liberators and Flying Fortresses escorted by hundreds of fighters attacked marshalling yards at Giessen, Hanau, Frankfurt and other centres. R.A.F. Lancasters and Mosquitoes were also out in very great strength, with marshalling yards and oil plants in the Ruhr as the mam targets. In the evening, heavy bombers went to Hanover and other centres, but full reports have not yet been released. It is officially stated that more than 3500 aircraft of the Bth and 15th Strategical Air Forces took part in the assault. The American air armada took an hour and a-half to fly over a given point.

The two-pronged offensive at the northern end of the western front has made steady progress. The American Ist Army’s spearhead troops are only a mile and a-half from Duren. The 9th Army captured six small villages and improved its positions on the Roer. Lieutenant-General G. S. Patton’s troops improved their positions through the Saar bridgeheads and edged a little nearer Saarbrucken. The towns of Saarlautern and Saareguemines are cleared except for suicide reargards and odd snipers. <