The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-09-08
Fall Of Metz And Nancy Anticipated
tcOntinued from PaSe ID

German lines with bombs and gum fire in support of the ground troops, despite low-hanging clouds and in- termittent rain in the Moselle Sec- tor. Late yesterday force of fight er-bomberS raked enemy columns in the path of patton,s troops and swooped down on the Siegfrled Line itself to shoot up undisclosed tar- gets there.
 Richards reported that the Srd Army'S bag of prisoners, now up to 77000 men since August l, includ. ing many members of famous Maxi fighting divisions recently shifted from the Russian front to man Ger many's west wall.
 One American brldgehead was identified as being six miles west of Nancy and another several miles be- low Metz, but other units were un- Clerstood to be operating north of Metz within 20 miles of the German border.
 There was no sign of any major NaA counter-attack on the Moselle front, Richards said, asserting that the enemy seemed to be fighting only large-scale delaying action there.
 On the Srd Army's left flank, It, Gen. Courtney H, Hodges sent his lst Army tanks racing eastward through the Ardennes forest to cap ture Bievre, l5 miles beyond the Mouse, and Louette and Pierre, II miles east of the river.
 Na1is on Run
 Front dispatches said the Ger mans were on the run in the Ar- dennes sector, relying on small rear guards and road blocks to slow the American pursuit, Some Tank tly- ing columns were reported probing into the German rear 70 miles or more beyond their main forces in a thrust that threatened to cut across Luxembourg and roll up the flank of the NaN divisions on the MoSelle,
 Farther to the north, lst Army units captured Huy, II miles east of Nanur, and sent armored spear heads south across the Mouse ana eastward to the gates of Liege,
 United Press War Correspondent Richard D. McNGillan reported that the Germans In that area were bad- iy demoralised and offering only spaSmodic opposition. Thousands or Nazis are wandering through the woods near Namur, he reported trying to escape through the AL lied lines, Many of them surrend" cred eagerly to the Americans to es- cape vengeiul Belgian PartiSans,
 Convoy Overrun
 So swift was the lSt Army ad- vance on Liege that one American armored column overran a convoy of troop-packed German trucks racing eastward on the Huy-Liege road, The American tanks zig gagged through the enemy convoy with their guns blazing in all direc- tions and cut 1t to shreds in mat ter of minutes,
 At another point, American tanks and planes teamed up in 0 concert ed attack on e German road con. voy, smashing scores of vehicles and piling up heavy loss of life among the NaZlS.
 Equally chaotic conditions were met on the British line of march beyond Louvain. German gunners fought desperately to hold the Al- bert Canal, one of the most imports ant water barriers covering the Rhineland, but were overwhelmed. Beyond the canal the tonmies met little opposition and were exported moving swiftly eastward toward the narrow neck of Dutch soil separat- Ing Belgium from Germany.
 AnnihilatiOn Battle
 The battle of annihiliation against hy-passed German forces pinned against the channel coast In north ern France and Belgium continued at top speed, British troops cap tured Ypres, famous battle site of the last war, and Roulers, l2 miles to the northeast, and pushed on 10 miles northwest of the latter town to within about 10 miles of Ostend.
 There were no new reports on the fighting around BreSt and Le Havre but e communique said Canadian troops frightened their siege arc around Calais and Boulogne and moved in to within about seven miles of Dunkerque. Canadian units already were reported fighting in tho outskirts of Calais and Bou- logne.