Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1944-12-04
1st, 9th Armies
Move Slowly
Toward Duren
MAP on Page A-3.)

PARIS, Dec. 4.-Siegfried Lin
guns today threw salvos at tn
captured Saar River bridge in
side Saarlautern, while American
Sd Army troops, storming acros
the intact span, fought the las
Spotty German defenSeS in tina
second city of the industrial
Saar.
All of Saarlautern west of tn,
Saar was cleared.
At the northern end of the West.
ern Front, the British I'd Army ad.
Nanced 900 yards to the demolished
Mas River bridge outside the Dutch
road center of Venlo, mopping ur
the last Germans west of that water
barrier. The Tommies took part Of
VenloS suburbs west of the river
Other men of Field Marshal Sil
B L. Montgomery 21st Army
Group encountered foot-deep floods
in the Anthem and Nijnlegen area
opposite which the Canadian Isl
Army has entered Germany within
gunshot of the northern end of the
Slegfried Line at Kleve.
Advance Toward Duren.
Americans of 1t. Gen. Courtney
H, Hodges LIST Army and 1t Gen
William H Simpsons 9th Army
fought inside Julich and Linnich on
the Roer River before Cologne and
Crept slowly toward the third bas-
ton on that flooded stream. Duren
"a Blue Network broadcast said
Jullch is entirely in American
hands" This would mean that
the Roer has been crossed since
the main part Of the town lies
east of the flooded river
-Four towns went down before the
LIST and 9th Armies yesterday in one
of hlStoly'S most violent battles Of
attrition. These We're linden, a bat
tleground for week although it
had only 100 ruined houses: Lucher-
berg, Luchem and Brandenberg. The
armies stood on the Roer for 20
miles.
Fight Deeper Into SaarIautern.
1t. Gen. George S. Patton's Sd
Army infantry fought deeper into
venerable Saarlautern. Some of the
Germans encountered beyond the.
Saar River in the eastern part of
that city of $4,000 were members of
the hastily mustered home guards,
the VOlkSStrum.
The Notifications of the Siegfried
Line are just beyond Saarlautern
and the Saar River is like a moat
protecting the pillboXes, tank traps
and artillery emplacementS
The Germans had blown four
other bridges spanning the Saar be-
tween Saarlautern and Merzig to
the northwest.
Gen. PattOn'S forces were at the
Saar on 16-mile front. The battle
was violent, but the prize was i'm
menSe. The Saar produces 8 pei
cent of Germany's coal and II pei
cent of her iron and is the thirc
major center of heavy industries ir
the Reich, following the Ruhr anC
SileSia.
Attacks Pressed.
Gen. Patton's tanks and infantry
continued attacks toward Saar.
brucken, capital of the Saarland
and SarreguemineS on the frontier
The cities were and 7 miles dis.
tant.
On his right flank, Lit. Gen. Alex.
ander M. Patch'S 7th Army Tough
IN the southwest edge of the ma iol
Lorraine communications and sup.
ply base of Hagenau. 81 miles south.
west OF Karlsruhe A column mile!
to the northwest had outf1ankec
the city.
Troops of Gen. Patch also fought
in the streets of Selestat. 25 mile.
southwest of cleansed Strasbourg
at the western edge of the Alsalce
plain.
The French rail town of Sarre
Union was captured and troops ad-
Vanced 2 miles east.
The Sd Army bridgehead across
the Saar in Saarlautern was solid
and being expanded despite the
heavy barrage laid down by the
Slegfried Line artillery. The bridge
coup apparently caught the Ger
mans off balance.
% Miles From Cologne.
On the critical Cologne front. Isl
Army men, battling down the Hitler
superhighway from Aachen to Co.
logne, were % miles from the grea
but battered city on the Rhine
from which roads and rails fan ou
into the very heart of Germany.
The LIST Army poured on its power
with gains which folded back Ger.
man defenSes a mile Yesterday OF
the whole arc west of Duren, a cit,
OF $4,000. The Inde River wa!
crossed. Lucherberg is Just nortl
of the superhighway. Beyond Lu
chem. the Americans pushed ontt
the concrete road. An advance be-
yong Brandenburg into a woodland
carried within a half mile of thu
Roer.
Beyond the Roer, still to be nego.
tiated, flows the Erft, which like.
wise must be crossed before Cologne
and the Rhine are reached. Below
Holland, the whole western front
was grayed out with clouds which
chung to treetop levels and negateo
air support.
Rain slackened on the lst and 9th
Army fronts and the ground hard
ened with frost, permitting increased
use OF tanks and mobile guns to add