LIBERATION OF HAGENAU

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

LIBERATION OF HAGENAU

Americans Nearing Border (Rec. 10.15 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 12. The whole northern wing of the American 7th Army above Strasbourg is on the move tonight towards the German border and the Rhine, says Reuter’s correspondent with the American troops in Hagenau. American heavy guns are now in a position to slam shells into Germany. Allied batteries are already smashing forts and pillboxes in the old Maginot Line. One force of infantry, supported by armour, has penetrated the screen of the Maginot defences and is fighting within mortar range of the border. Another force, driving south-east of Hagenau along the southern fringe of the Hagenau forest, has made a six-mile advance to within four miles of the Rhine. The guns remaining in the Maginot forts have been turned round to meet the United States troops who are being shelled and machine-gunned as they force their way through barbed wire and scattered strongpoints. Describing the capture of Hagenau, the correspondent says: The Volks Grenadiers, who had pledged themselves to defend this vital communications hub, fled from the town under cover of darkness as the American 79th Division fought a grim battle to the central streets. Earlier in the evening fierce artillery and mortar duels had raged for the railway station. WELCOME FROM PEOPLE The population of Hagenau came from the cellars today and this afternoon were flying a Tricolour in Adolf Hitler strasse and Hermann Goering strasse and were dragging swastika flags from the town hall. The biggest welcome came from 200 women cheering and yelling from the shattered town gaol. Ninety of the women were political prisoners, both French and German, and included several serving sentences for murder.

The town has been severely pounded from the air and every bridge over the canal is blown up. The people are now busy clearing up the debris and wiping out the signs of the German occupation. The correspondent of Reuter’s in Holland reports that the Rhine is still rising after a night of snow and rain. The floods resulting from the dynamited dykes are still extending eastward, but air reconnaissance shows that the water is flooding westward through the gap torn in the dam north-east of Nijmegen by the R.A.F. Typhoons.