Evening star., 1944-11-03


in the Hurtgen area southeast
of Aachen and captured the
village of Schmidt overlook
ing the Roer River, a front
line dispatch said late today.
BY the Associated Press.
LONDON, Nov. 3.-British
Commands and infantry today
overran the ancient DEtch port
of Flushing (Viissingen1 in a
bitter fight through blazing
streets, and the month long
battle to open Antwerp was just
about over.
The few German guns remaining
on flooded Walcheren Island on the
north side of the Schelde mouth
after the capture of Flushing were
rapidly running out of ammunition.
Only few scattered snipers re-
manned to harass the Allies on
either side of the river mouth, en-
trance to Antwerp port.
Americans and British smashing
against the circle of German de-
tenders holding south of the Mas
(Meuse) on the road to Rotterdam,
restored a bridgehead over the little
Mark River within 6 miles of the
Moerdijk bridge.
Attack in Moonlight.
The Americans attacked in MOON
light few hours before dawn in
gaining their bridgehead to the left
of the British, and dug in while
waiting for reinforcements.
Southeast of Aachen, where the
United States 1st Army attacked on
a limited front and broke through
the Hurtgen Forest with gains of l
to 2 miles yesterday. continued to
advance today but against increas-
ing resistance, supreme headquarters
announced.
On the southern reaches of the
Allied front, Allied troops battled
deeper into the rising hills of the
Vosges, capturing eight towns and
villages and approaching to within
from 3 to miles of the first towns
inside six passes leading to the
Rhine flatlands.
All the vital part of Walcheren Is
land was in Allied hands with the
fall Of Flushing, a city of % 1000 and
third port of Holland. Supreme
headquarters announced the Allied
amphibious forces on the Dutch
island which landed Wednesday at
Westkapelle on the western tip and
at Flushing had come to within 2
miles of junction.
Coastal Belt Seized.
Thus the coastal belt of dikes and
dunes on the southwestern edge Of
the island where German guns were
stationed, as well as the northwest
corner, had been seized.
Canadians still battled forward
under a crossfire at the western end
Of the narrow granite causeway
connecting Walcheren with South
Beveland.
The battle for the Schelde mouth.
which began October when Ca
nadians crossed the Leopold Canal.
also saw the clearing of the last
snipers out of zeebrugge, the cap
ture in rapid succession of Knocke,
Sluis and Heyst, and the liberation
OF the last inch of Belgian terri
tory.
North Beveland Invaded.
Included in the captured prison.
ers were $50 taken in a heretofore
unannounced invasion of North
Beveland. This island, just off cap
tured South Beveland Island, also
is now clear of the enemy.
At the eastern fringe of the Allied
front in Holland. British troops
probed into the outskirts of Meijel,
IL miles west of the Dutch border
town of Venlo, and found the enemy
had pulled back toward the Mas
after several days of exhausting
counterattack..
Doughboys of the American 7th
Army and poilus of the French 1st
Army battled forward on a 14-mile
front southeast of Nancy and north
east of Epinal on the approaches of
all three of the northernmost Vosges
passes. They had advanced miles
at places in the last "a hours.
Baccarat. 80 miles southeast of
Nancy, was seized in a tank battle
along with the villages of Gelacourt,
Domjevin, Deneuvre, Bazien, Nos
soncourt and Menil-sur -Belvitte or
either side of Baccarat.
The new American assault below
Aachen began yesterday on a 4,000-
(See WESTERN FRONT, P. A-3.)