SENSATIONAL CHANGES

Waikato Times, Volume 196, Issue 22549, 6 January 1945, Page 5

SENSATIONAL CHANGES

FULL STORY NOT YET TOLD GERMAN DESIGNS CHECKED (Received Jan. C, 1 p.m.) \ LONDON, Jan. 5 The Allied Headquarters’ announcement of the change in commands reads: “When the German penetration through the Ardennes created two fronts, one substantially facing south and the ether north, by instant agreement by all concerned that portion of the front facing south was placed under the command of Field Marshal Montgomery and that facing north under the command of General Bradley.” “The announcement only partly reveals one of the most sensational changes of command of the war,” says a British United Press correspondent with the 21st Army Group. “Although it is still impossible to tell the full story of the changes which resulted in the stopping of the most dangerous enemy thrust since D Day, it can be said the British played the bigger part. “It can be revealed that the decision to place the Americans under Field Marshal Montgomery’s command was taken within a few hours of what looked like being a major German break-through. This was known at the 21st Army Group Headquarters but the censors treated it as one of the major secrets of the war. Correspondents were not allowed to comment on reports from London and Stockholm suggesting that Field Marshal Montgomery had been put in charge of the whole of the Ardennes operation, and official secrecy produced the heaviest crop of rumours in Brussels for a long time. Reaction to Offensive “The wording of the announcement from Allied Headquarters is regarded as the first official admission that Rundstedt’s offensive broke right through the Allied positions and created what were virtually two separate and disconnected fronts. Some British troops were brought south within a few hours of the German breakthrough. They were held in reserve in a number of impqrtant areas during the critical days when German divisions were still moving westwards with little decrease in their momentum. There is not the slightest doubt that they played an important part in those critical days though they were not used. Big Allied counter-attacks began in the Rochefort area and they formed a potential threat to any Germah thrust to the Meuse.” Field Marshal Montgomery’s command by this time included the Canadian First Army, lining the Maas, the British Second Army, lining the river farther south and crossing the river into Geilenkirchen, the United States Ninth Army, which had virtually a static role, and the United States First Army, which after the break through had formed up facing south. One Coherent Force The four armies together formed one coherent force on the northern flank of the German break-through which probably had Antwerp as its final objective. The Daily Mail said the know-