| Show K il I Nazi 1 all Lines loes Sag a Under 0 r Big Ig Offensive Offe siye I II I 1 I Yank 1st Army 1 Gains 2 Miles l A Ninth Bags Long Lines of Prisoners Nazis Admit Break Near Stolberg 1 LONDON Nov Noy 17 UP German P-German German lines sagged under twin twin- j offensives in the Rhineland Friday as the first U. U S. S army drove forward two miles toward Duren t and the Ninth army bagged 11 u long lines of prisoners Lt Gen Courtney H. H Hodges' Hodges I First army infantry and armor armor sl slashed hed to a point six m miles les west o of Duren Important industrial town 20 miles west of Cologne despite sleet t and rain storms Germanys Germany's western lines rocked noTched to the thunder of oC hundreds of guns in the Aachen sector the smash of new armored columns from froni the Moselle bridgeheads heads the weight of oC increasing attacks in Holland as the allies made a supreme bid for victory Perhaps men were arrayed arrayed ar ar- rayed in hi battle on both sides In Inthe Inthe inthe the critical test of ot German staying staying stayIng stay stay- ing power Increase Pressure Lt Gen William Villiam H. H Stimson Stimsons Ninth army increased the pressure of oC the attack in its second day lay north of Aachen froIt line dispatches dispatches dispatches dis dis- dis- dis patches sai said captured several more towns and turned back a Tiger tank c counterattack A German military commentator tor ton late in th the afternoon aft said a a. break had been made in the German German German Ger Ger- man lines near Stolberg and a dispatch dispatch dIspatch dis dIs- dis- dis patch from the front said breaks appeared to have been made at t several places Long streams stream of shat battle Germ German n prisoners lined the roads back to American r ii prison ison cages Flight after flight of at Thunderbolt Thunderbolt Thunderbolt Thunder Thunder- bolt fighter-bombers fighter streaked Under under under un un- der cloud layers over the front To the north the British crossed the Zig canal after clearing out outa a triangle formed by y that channel and the Noord and W V canals and virtually closed up to the Maas Mass river bend on a seven mile front at Roermond in Holland Here th the Germ radio declared declared de de- dared a major attack is likely to be launched in a few days days' time Circle Verdun Forts To the south Lt Gen George S. S Patton Jr threw new armored forces Into the Third army's battle from the bridgeheads near Thionville Thion- Thion ville which were punched as astar far tar faras taras as eight miles mUes cast of at Koenigs- Koenigs macher Drawing their net tighter r about Germans possibly preparing for a siege stand inside Metz Mets Third army troops completely surrounded surrounded sur Bur rounded the Verdun fort group just southwest of ot the city and across the Moselle from the stronghold stronghold stronghold strong strong- hold of or Fort Infantry captured captured cap cap- tuned Lorry le Ie Metz a mile northwest northwest northwest north north- west of ot the city The twin offensive of at the First and Ninth armies had deepened the five rive to mile 10 wedge in the Siegfried line by at least one to two miles with the doughboys now fighting within seven miles of Julich and 28 miles from Cologne on the he Rhine Planes Planes' Blast Path Nearly bombers and Md fight fIght- fighters i ers ens blasted binsted at the gateway to the tho Rhine with tons of explosives explosives explosives for five hours Thursday and Infantrymen captured hundreds of Germans stunned by the tho jump off onslaught On the Americans' Americans left flank the British Second army in H Holl Holland lland nd capped a mile 12 advance in three days by capturing Wessem on the Maas below Roermond in Holland Holland Hol Hoi land and Buggenum three c miles north of Roermond The British virtually reached the Maas on a a. seven mile front in lri this sector facing facing fac fac- fac- fac ing log the German bo border der from three to seven miles farther east Highlighting the present ever danger of a fresh resh offensive sweep around the Germans' Germans northern flank allied patrols slipped across i ithe the tho lower Mans Maas between s 's Hertogenbosch Her Her- Hertogenbosch and Moerdijk German I artillery reacted violently j Pursued b by British units mounted mount mount- mounta o a aed ed in armored armored vehicles i converted into troop carriers the carriers the Germans fell back i so o rapidly inthe in inthe Inthe the flat canal broken country near J Roermond d that the tommies lost 1 con contact tact Take Talce 12 Towns TownsA 1 A field dispatch from the thc Ninth army sector said possibly a dozen German town were captured Thursday in the first day dayot of ot Its Continued on Pace acs Fly Five Column ny German Lines Sag From Pounding of Allies Continued from Page One On attack ne near while the First army surged eastward from Aachen in fn gains that averaged averaged averaged aver aver- I aged up to tw miles in the initial initial initial ini thrust Fighting on German soil soU and aimed at the heart of or Germanys Germany's industrial Rhineland with Cologne only 35 miles away the two armies apparently caught the enemy off balance while German divisions were preparing an attack on the First army at Aachen While the tank-led tank troops o of the First army pushed their breach of the Siegfried line deeper the Ninth rolled forward through the towns of Immendorf Floverich Euchen and Beggendorf all east cast of oC Geilenkirchen and representing r advances advance of about a R mile Deepen Wedge I A Above Metz the Third army deepened its Thionville bridgehead I to 12 miles reaching the vicinity of Monneren La Croix and Met- Met Metzervisse where herc it would cut thelast the thelast last German railway north out of I I Metz and pushing pushing- into four miles from the German border bor bor- der Pattons Patton's prisoners in his day 10 drive mounted to Below Metz in the Seventh army I sector tale die Germans set afire St St. Die first town in the pass of ot Saales and at least five other villages within an eight to Ito ten tenmile tenmile tenmile mile arc They looted and ruined in a slow retreat The Americans had punched to within a mile mUe of of- St SL Die The French First army's armor annor and infantry slashed three miles off the road to Belfort in the pass north of ot the Swiss frontier They captured th the town of Laire only eight miles from Belfort and occupied occupied occupied oc oc- six other towns The French had gained six or seven sc miles in two days in an offensive offensive offensive of of- on a 25 25 mlle front on both sides of or the Doubs river The First army pouring its tanks and fighting men through wooded hill country southeast of ot Aachen was edging ever closer to the Roer river whose broad muddy valley is a major obstacle Bomb Supplies Paralyzing enemy supply and communications systems in preparation preparation preparation prepa prepa- ration for the assault heavy bombers bomb bomb- ers fighter-bombers fighter and medium bombers of the American and Brit Brit- fish ish air forces blasted the Duren j Eschweiler road with tons of fragmentation bombs They at attacked attacked attacked at- at I tacked fuel and ammunition dumps at Duren Julich i- i Insberg with tons of high explosives hit gun positions strafed and bombed trains trucks and enemy troops A dispatch from supreme headquarters headquarters headquarters head head- quarters said that the scant re reserve reserves reserves re- re serves serve available to the nazi generals generals generals gen gen- are believed insufficient to back up the long western front against simultaneous allied assaults assaults as as- in sector after sector Late reports placed the British within a mile of ot the Dutch frontier I city of ot Roermond two miles beyond beyond beyond be be- yond which lies the German bor bor- der To the south the United States Third had virtually ringed Metz tetz the United States Seventh was fighting doggedly through the foothills and the French First drove forward three more miles toward the Belfort gap near Switzerland Associated Press Correspondent Wes Gallagher with the Ninth said German Gennan resistance was lighter light lIght- er than expected in the initial stages stages' Many prisoners appeared app ared too stunned by the deluge o of bombs and shells to fight Heaviest opposition came in the area of ot Setterich about four miles cast east of but many objectives objectives objectives tives were taken ahead of schedule Towns that fell In the first few hours were Euchen five rive miles northeast of ot Aachen and Immendorf Immen Immen- don dorf Beggendorf and Floverich all from two to three miles mUes southeast of ot Geilenkirchen Front dispatches from the First army sector said first objectives were reached within two hours after the attack was was was' launched Gains averaging up to two miles were reported Of seven allied armies Identified as on the western front only the Canadian First has not yet been named In action in the present offensive It last Jast was reported cleaning up the territory south of the Maas on Hollands Holland's coast |
