Evening star., 1944-09-17
War Review
Battle for Germany
Definitely Under Way
By Ho,card p. Bailey.

By H0ward p. Bailey.
The battle for Germany, the las
Of the preiiminaries having beel
completed Monday, opened in earn
est Friday when American force
of the 1st Army under 1t. Ger
Courtney H. Hodges blasted thei
way clear through the West Wal
near the important fortress city O
Aachen and began moving forwar'
rapidly toward Cologne, importan
German industrial city on the Rhin
about 80 miles from the break
through.
Over a front about 1870 miles lonl
from the Dutch city OF Maastrich
In the west to the Swiss German
border meeting near Belfort in tn
east, mighty Allied forces are put
ting on irresistible pressure whicl
has brought penetration of the Ger
man border at several points.
All around the ring of steel which
is closing in on Germany. victor.
was the Allied portion. In Ital,
the British 9th Army broke through
the Gothic Line, which the Nazi
have defended with great stub
borness and a considerable amour
of success for some weeks.
There were indications that ths
Nazis were abandoning some of tn,
Greek islands, but with the Rus
slams and the Yugoslavs strength
ening the link across the Balkan!
there seems no place for them tt
go for any greater security.
The entire Russian front was ir
motion forward with particular
emphasis on two powerful drives
one in the Moscow area and one
in Latvia, where Berlin declared the
Reds have tossed in 100000 men te
seek annihiliation of the German
forces in the vicinity of Riga.
Even on the Finnish islands, the
Nazis face opposition, Finnish troops
being in sharp encounters, perhaps
aided by Russians, in an undeclared
war with the Germans, with whom
the Firms recently broke relations.
JdpdH 1vCtCISCSs
The past week saw the freeing
of another country, Luxembourg
into whose capital the Prince OF
Luxembourg rode in triumph, though
perhaps not in dignity, as a pas
senger in an American Army jeep
Over the Pacific, Japan suffered
fresh and costly defeats, not only in
the loss of many planes and ships
but in American landings in the
Palau and Halmahera Islands, soc
and 300 miles, respectively, from
the Philippines, which soon are ex-
pected to receive Gen. Macarthur
in fulfillment of his promise, as he
left Bataan, that he would be back
The final sealing off of those Ger
mans remaining in France occurred
Monday when the American Sd and
7th Armies made contact near Som
bernon, about Is miles west of Dion.
The initial meeting of advance
patrols was quickly welded into a
strong line securely blocking the
escape path for many thousands of
Germans still south of the now
solid Allied line.
Later in the week the 7th Army,
under 1t. Gen. Patch, was trans
ferred from the Mediterranean COM
mand to that of Gen. Eisenhower.
1t was also revealed that a new
Army, the American 9th, COM
manded by 1t. Gen. William H.
Simpson, had moved up to the front
and taken over an undisclosed sector
of the line.
Monday was a day of many i'm
portant developments. The French
captured Dion. American 1st Army
troops, moving rapidly across Lor-
raine, seized the fortress city of
and received their first sur
prise as they took over large sections
Of the Maginot Line to find it intact
and the big, electrically operated
guns in place, ready
for use. American troops entered
and farther west began
shelling Aachen. British troops,
Storming across the Schelde- -Meuse
Canal as the climax of bitter
battle, crossed the border
into Holland for the first time.
though radio reports the previous
week had announced, enormously, a
a penetration of the Netherlands.
Planes Blast Nazis.
For the fourth straight day, Mon
day, more than 1000 American
bombers smashed at important in
dustrial targets in Germany with
especial emphasis on synthetic oil
plants.
In one of the more and more
infrequent air battles, the American
planes shot down 100 Nazi planes
on Monday, which, when added to
another 125 destroyed on Sunday,
brought the two-day bag to 255
planes. OF those destroyed Sunday,
119 were sitting on the ground.
Tuesday the German border was
crossed in two places and put under
heavy pressure at another as the
battering of the Siegfried Line be-
gan. Third Army units reached the
Our River boundary line between
Germany and Luxembourg and
German troops could be seen enter
ing the concrete pillboxes of the
Siegfried Line.
Further westward one 1st Army
spearhead thrust miles into Ger
many from Luxembourg and an
other, moving out from the Belgian
town OF Eupen, began the movement
which later in the week was to
encircle Aachen and bring about
preaching of the West Wall. Pat
tons Sd Army moved into the
Maginot Line at Thionville and the
French made good several bridge
heads over the Moselle. The be-
leaguered garrison at LIE Havre sur
rendered that important port on
tuesday also. Hitting half a dozen
Oil plants in Germany, American
bombers took time out to DESTROY 70
more German planes.
Enter Siegfried Line.
Wednesday American Doughbovs
blasted their way into the outer
defenses of the Siegfried Line and
further increased the threat to
Aachen despite a sharp counter
attack bv the Nozic ,,,h;,,,