IN CRITICAL SITUATION

Waikato Times, Volume 195, Issue 22461, 23 September 1944, Page 5

IN CRITICAL SITUATION

“ THIS PATCH OF HELL ” GERMANS ATTACK FIERCELY (Omclal Wireless) (Received Sept. 23, 1 p.m.) RUGBY, Sept. 22. The Allied airborne troops at Arnhem are still in a critical situation. Holding out against ceaseless artillery fire, they are suffering casualties. Unfortunately, visibility over Holland was again poor today. Good progress was made east of the corridor, where the Allies are within a mile of VVeert, 13 miles west of Roermond on the Maas. A correspondent at Arnhem, writing this morning, reported that it had been a nasty morning, cold and misty, and the Germans were plastering them plentifully with mortars, big guns and 88s, which were the worst because one could not hear them coming.

“ Machine-guns have just opened up on the rignt/’ he continued. “In this patch of hell our men are holding the few civilian houses that still stand. It is just five days and five nights without sleep since we flew out from England. God knows from what secret source these fighting men have drawn the strength which kept them gonin. One thing is certain—will keep going until the Second Army gets here. More and more Second Army guns are firing in our support.” Dutch Assistance A correspondent with the airborne troops near Nijmegen says General \ Dempsey’s troops are rolling over the bridge at Nijmegen which Dutch resistance forces preserved from German demolition, while American airborne troops and British armour squeezed the dug-in Nazis out of the city in a 24-hour battle. The airborne men are slowly mopping up the Germans still strung along both sides of the corridor which the sky troops seized on Sunday. Indications are that the Germans are massing strong forces in the triangle between the corridor and the German frontier. The Germans are charged with a two-fold task—first, holding the Nijmegen road junction, which is the northern gateway to the Ruhr, and secondly attempting to cut the corridor. They have massed tanks, including Tigers, 88mm guns in the triangle and succeeded in shelling the road once. Yesterday the Germans pushed a panzer brigade of tanks and infantry within 500 yards of the bridge before being driven back by airborne troops and British armour, which destroyed at least eight tanks. Germans Thrown Back Strong infantry forces, supported by heavy artillery, are still maintaining pressure in another area. They attempted to push through to the road but the paratroops are absorbing the blow, throwing the Germans back with heavy losses. American airborne troops and British armour gained Nijmegen with assault boats under heavy machinegun fire. They closed on the city from the north while armour pushed a way past the Waal river and the permanent concrete pillboxes on the south bank. Dutch resistance forces are given the credit for the failure of the German bridge demolition scheme but full details are not available. It is reported that the Germans attempted to flee from the pillboxes but were stopped at the north end of the bridge by an S S. captain waving a revolver. Sniping and isolated resistance continue on the south bank. r The airborne force that opened the

corridor from Eindhoven to the north | had accounted for 2300 prisoners by noon on Thursday and truckloads are still rolling in. This force wiped out, killed or captured two battalions of The Hermann Goering parachute training regiment. More Enemy Planes Hazy, cloudy weather has enabled the German Air Force in the west to operate rather more freely. Most of the enemy planes are from airfields in Germany, but some may still be using the Nepwarden field in Holland. Allied fighters escorting the transport planes had difficulty in bringing the enemy fighters to combat in the haze but 20 German fighters were shot down. A strong formation of Focke Wulfs was encountered south-west of Cologne and Thunderbolts destroyed ten of them for the loss of three. British and Canadian wounded brought to the United Kingdom since *‘D Day” number 23,687.