Evening star., 1944-12-12
MAP on Page A-4.)

By the Associated Press.
PARIS, Dec. 12.-Infantrymen
of 1t. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges
American 1st Army today drove
to the flooded Roer River for
the first time, captured the town
of Merode and battled the Ger
mans in string of fortified viii
lagos about 2 miles west OF
Duren.
Gen. Hodges troops seized lQ0C
yards of the west bank of the Roel
and at one point were within IL
miles of Duren in an advance which
reached Konzendorf,
The German Army's defensive
fight IN thick Notifications before
vital arSenals of the fatherland was
reported in front-line dispatches to
be weakening west of the Roer, in
side the Siegfried Line to the south
at Dillingen and Saarlautern, and in
Northern Alsace.
Late last month 1t. Gen. William
H. Simpsons 9th Army reached the
Roer along an Smile front north of
the 1st Army sector, between the
central and northern river citadels
of Julich and Linnich, but today
was the firse time the 1st Army had
reached the barrier to Cologne. Con-
siderable German movement was
observed east of the river and 9th
Army guns opened up on the en-
emy, supreme headquarters an
nounced
East of this sector other of Gen.
Hodges troops fought their way out
of Hurtgen Forest below Aachen.
Previously certain units had battled
through the forest, but the Germans
still held about 10 per cent of the
deep wood.
Hold Out in Three Towns.
Merode. a forest village 312 miles
southwest of Duren, was cleared
during the night. The Germans
still held out behind thick walls and
in cellars of Merken, Pier and Gey,
all within miles of Duren, the
southern bastion of the Roer River
line and the largest German city
encountered beyond Aachen, Two
thirds of Merken, almost on the
river 31a miles northwest of Duren,
was cleared.
Veterans of Gen. Hodges 1st Army
moved slowly and reached the Roer
5 miles southeast of Merode after
advancing down hill in the area of
Bergstein, captured last week. Snow
in that sector had melted, creating a
soft bog which made going harder.
1t. Gen. George S. Patton's Sd
Army finally captured Sarregue-
mines, which has population of
$4,000. pulled up to the border of the
Saarland and started shelling the
important German cities of zwei-
brucken $4,000 and st. Ingbert
(21,OOO). S and 7 miles, respectively
inside Germany.
The Sd Army cleared out five for
titled blocks in Fraulautern, a mile
north of Saarlautern, and a similar
area in Ensdorf, the same distance
east. Both are in the Siegfried Line
1t appeared that the Germans were
quitting the western end of Frau
lautern. The Germans maintained
Dillingen, 3 miles north of Saar-
lautern, but attempted no more
counterattacks in the ruins of Saar-
lautern itself, a city as devastated
as Aachen
Haguenau Captured.
Alayoy,Iar Do {ol1
Army captured the Alsace base city
of Haguenau Q9,500D, skirted the
dense forest to the north and drove
to within 20 miles of the German
city of karlsruhe behind the Rhine
Supply dumps were seized al
Haguenau. The Americans were
within miles of the German Pal
atinate above the city.
German broadcasts today said
the 7th Army, using Is infantry
and several tank divisions, had
opened a new major offensive
against the Siegfried Line be-
tween SarreguemineS and Hague
nau.
This suggested 25000O men or
more employed on a 40-mile sec
tor where the Americans were
closing hard toward the German
frontier. This was more than
double the strength identified on
the 7th Army sector.
(The Germans asserted that
from 10000 to 10000 Americans
had been lost in the battle of the
Saar and that Gen. Patton had
failed to achieve breakthrough.)
Advance on Colmar.
Below Strasbourg, the 7th and the
French 1st Army were within 31s