RHINE REACHED IN SOUTH

Southland Times, Issue 25547, 15 December 1944, Page 5

RHINE REACHED IN SOUTH

Bridge Destroyed By Germans (Rec. 10.30 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 14. The Americans, after throwing the Germans out of Seitz, are now operating on the banks of the Rhine itself, but Seitz is under heavy German artillery fire. The Germans destroyed the Rastatt railway bridge over the Rhine and have blown bridges over the Seltzbach river. Some of the American Army s heaviest guns are moving up for a great assault into Germany. Some of the German companies on this front have a strength of only 20 men. Prisoners include Italians, Czechs, Yugoslavs, even a few Indians wearing British uniforms who were captured in Africa. The German News Agency’s commentator, “Sertorius,” says the Germans have been ordered to make a stand along the Siegfried Line on the Palatinate border: “Here a bloody yard-by-yard warfare will begin for Lieutenant-General Patch’s divisions.’’ The Americans are continuing their advance from Hagenau against rearguard resistance, while the main body of German troops fall back on the Siegfried defences for their next round, says Reuter’s correspondent at SHAEF. With the main Hagenau defences cracked, the American spearheads have broken through Seitz and stabbed forward towards the Rhine. They are clearing the corridor between the east side of the Hagenau forest and the Rhine along the road running northeast from Strasbourg through Seitz. TOWNS CAPTURED The Americans have reached Langensultzbach, four miles north-east of Reichshoffen, bringing them five miles from the German frontier where it runs westward from the Rhine. They have cleared seven towns in this area. Reuter’s correspondent points out that the road to Karlsruhe divides at Seitz, one road crossing the Rhine a mile from Seitz and leading to Karlsruhe from the south and the other running north from Seitz to the German town of Worth, where it turns east over the Rhine to Karlsruhe. Panzer reinforcements were suddenly swung into battle to meet Lieuten-ant-General Patch’s troops pushing through the mountainous country between Saareguemines and Karlsruhe. The main body of the German troops on this front succeeded in disengaging into the Siegfried Line and rearguards have taken up strong positions along a 40-mile front on the southern fringe of the German border. The big guns of the Siegfried forts joined in the battle, lobbing heavy calibre shells on the American positions. The Germans in the Lembach area, where there is a big Maginot fort, threw in a stiff counter-attack, but the Americans held them.

REFUGEES TRAPPED BETWEEN LINES

Germans Refuse Passage To Relief Trucks

(Rec. 10.35 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 14. About 8000 French refugees from Saareguemines, a German border town, are trapped in a no-man’s-land near the city. The refugees, who fled from Saareguemines when the American 3rd Army forces brought the city under shellfire, have been 19 days without supplies. When the Americans captured the town a week ago, the refugees could not get back. They were still cut off because the Germans cover the escape route with heavy shell fire.

Old men, women and children took only four days’ food supplies with them when they hid in the caves. The Americans, who have food, medical supplies and clothes, have been trying to reach the caves for days. Every time United States trucks attempt to move along the road the Germans shell them. The caves are so close to the Germans that even movement at night is impossible. Refugees are not the only problem facing the Americans. The Germans in this sector last week left a hospital containing sick and wounded French, Russian, Polish, Serbian and Italian war prisoners. The men, who were starving when the Americans over-ran the hospital, are dying at the rate of four a day, according to a hospital doctor.