Evening star., 1944-11-19
British Army Joins Yank Drive
For Rhine Along 3O-MiIe Front;
House-to-House Fighting inMetz
Putton's S Troops
Cross Border Of
Reich in Force
MAP on Page A-l.)
STRAFING PLANES hit Reich, bag
86 of Luftwaffe. Page Az

30 OF LuftWaffe. Page Az
By the Associated Press.
SUPREME ALLIED HEAD
QUARTERS, Sunday, Nov. 49,
One British and two American
armies today were smashing
their way toward the heart of
the Rhineland in one of the
greatest battles of the war
against German resistance stiff
fened by desperation.
The American 9Th and British I'd
Armies, in a collaboration so close
that it was described here as "a
blended operation" had driven a
deep salient toward the Roer River
between Geilenkirchen and Aachen.
On their right flank, southeast of
Aachen, the American 1st Army was
making slow but steady progress
against the grimmest sort of enemy
opposition.
This three-army attack, on
front about 80 miles wide, developed
into one of the wars biggest drives.
Sd Army Enters Metz.
Farther south, the American Sd
Army also had invaded the Reich
in force and had fought into the
French fortress city of Metz and
were engaged in house-to-house-
fighting with the Germans. The
American 7th and French 1st Armies
recorded good gains In the Vosges
and Belfort regions.
1t was the great Rhineland drive,
however, that held the spotlight.
The best weather since the start
of the Western Front offensive en-
abled Strategic and Tactical Air
Forces to give their strongest sup
port yet to the ground forces. Ninth
Air Force Lightnings and Thunder
bolts attacked as close as 200 yards
ahead of the troops in bitter fight
ing east of Aachen.
Fighter -bombers intervened in at
least one tank battle in that area,
striking German armor at such close
range that the pilots reported seeing
the grass wilt before the muzzle- fire
of the tank guns.
Main Road Is Cut.
u The Allied troops, wheeling into
Germany after their descent from
the north, spread over the Geilen-'
kirchen area, cut the main road to
the north, captured Niederheide,
and reached the outskirts of Prum-
mern, 2 miles east Of Geilenkirchen.
They also captured Puffendorf, AZ
miles southeast of Geilenkirchen, in
what was described as blended
operations" by British and Amer
leans.
To the southeast Of Aachen,
American 1st Army forces made new
gains up to a kilometer against
heavy artillery and mortar fire in
the Wurselen area and up to two
kilometers around Stolberg, while in
the Hurtgen Forest other 1st Army
troops advanced SLOWLY through
minefields and barbed wire.
To the south the Sd Army's break
across the border was made near
Perl, near where the territories of
France, Luxembourg and Germany
meet.
Yanks Occupy Perl.
The 3rd Army mechanized cav
airy crossed into Germany from the
Thionville sector, occupying Perl
and Oberperl, and according to a
front dispatch pressed on to Sehn-
dorf, a mile and a half inside the
Reich.
Other Sd Army forces, driving
squarely eastward from the Thion-
vile region, still were on French
soil, but entered Lamstroff, half
mile west of the border, also took
Halstroff and Ritzing, and we're at
tacking Waldweistroff. According
to front reports, this force pushed
about from Q to miles along a 10
mile front.
Still farther south, the French 1st
Army smashed deep into the Belfort
Gap after taking the strong point
of Montbeliard, where 1000 Ger
mans were captured, and enemy dis
positions were upset along a 25-
mile sector.
The French last night were re-
ported to have reached Dele, 10
miles southeast of Belfort on the
Swiss frontier. They are less than
S miles from Belfort southwest OF
that city.
Nazis Fire Villages.
The American 7th Army in gains
up to miles captured the Muerthe
River town of Raon lie Tape, con-
tinued pressure at st. Die, and saw