The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-12-20
Continued from Page One)

up amphibious equipment to re-
cross rivers they previously had
lost. Planes, V-Weapons, infantry
and armor were being used in the
attack
A front dispatch from Associat-
ed Press Correspondent William F.
Boni said 1t. Gen. Courtney H.
Hodges was throwing all available
forces into the effort to stem the
'most serious setback to Amerl-
can arms on this side of the world
since Kasserine Pass in Tunisia. y
Boni said the main German ef-
fort had been fairly well channel
lied and contained on its flanks
but that the emmy 'spearhead still
was probing into Belgium, with
elements of crack divisions pro-
viding the impetus. The press
camp was evacuated to the rear
last night.
Late today an emergency call
brought big force Of U. S. Flying
Fortresses and British Lancasters
from British fields to spread 1000
tons of Regeneration and high ex-
plosive bombs on rail and road
functions Immediately behind the
attacking Nazi forces.
They were forced to bomb
through thick ground-clinging
clouds and fog which shrouded
the blazing 60-miles front and de-
MED the hardpressed Doughboys
the invaluable support Of fighters
and fighter-bombers.
| AS Field Marshal Won Rund-
stedt's battering ram smashed IN
to the deeply-dented American line
south of Aachen, Allied headquar-
tiers impaired only the te1se in
formation that 1.-The attack IS con-
tinuing." This curtain OF silence
appeared to indicate that the enc
my's forward momentum had not
been halted. The Germans stu
were packing the roads with equip
ment and men.
(The German High Command
declared that Nazi tank forces
"have broken through, smashed
and dispersed units of the Amerl-
can First Army deep into the enc
nv rear" Like the Allies, how
ever. the Germans dealt only In
generalities.) -.
Up to tonight, the only specific
clue as to the extent of the Ger
man penetration was the report
that British Typhoons had attack
ed a score of enemy arnored We
hicles west of Stavelot," a town
% miles by road from the Reich
frontier. Stavelot is 4 IL mile
southwest of Malmedy and "a
miles from tn e fortress city Of
Liege.
In one of the few fighter-bomber
operations carried out today, "a
Thunderbolts sprayed two long en-
envy conveys of tanks and guns
near Zolpick and Monschau, dam
aging at least five tanks. Revised
u S. Ninth Air Force figures
claimed 112 German tanks, hall
tracks and other vehicles destroy
ed or damaged Monday.
AS weather permitted, the Ger
man airforce continued to hit back
hard in support of the counter-of-
fensive. and it was estimated the
enemy was dipping into his gaso-
line reserves at the rate OF 63o.
600 gallons a week. An Raj Of
ficer indicated the enemy's fuel
shortage was becoming acute.
Despite the terrific enemy pres
sure against its right, the First
Army sustained its pressure along
the Roer river east of Aachen,
sending patrols across the stream
into the Nazi stronghold OF Duren,
20 miles from Cologne.
Fog rolled like grey surf along
the Ninth Army front just to the
north while ever-increasing floods
in Holland limited the British and
Canadians to patrolling. Clouds
chung to the treetops.
German resistance stlffened
markedly all along the Siegfried
Line from Luxembourg to Switzer-
land and it was plain that the Al
lied winter offensive had been
fought to a temporary standstlll:
1t. Gen. George S. Patton's illrd
Army lines remained practically
Interchangeable gains dWindled to
almost nothing after Al days OF
steady advances. Yesterdays prls-
oner count on the entire Saar front
was only So, by far the lowest
since November 8.
The Seventh Army Of 1t. Gen.
Alexander Patch hacked at Sleg
fried defenses along 20-mlle front
westward from the Rhine IN the
Bavarian Palatinate, but met saw
age opposition and registered no
gains of consequence. The Amer
leans every move was being FUR
iously and accurately fired upon
by Nazi artillery which was regis
tered on every foot Of terrain:
At the western extremity OF the
Seventh Army front the Tooth In
fantry Division battled to complete
it's control of two holdout forts on
the outskirts of Bitche and fought
from wing to wing against Nazls
barricaded in the college OF Bltche.
The 25-mile-long area extending
from the Vosges range to the Rhine
between the vicinities OF Colmar
and Mulhouse remained a problem
to the Sixth ARM group. The Ger
mans there, reinforced from east