Evening star., 1944-09-28
Western Front
Continued From First Page)

Lure, 10 miles west OF Bel1Ort, SAID
strong Allied attacks had started
from the Nancy area in northern
direction and declared new air
borne forces had been flung against
S-HertogenboSch, a Scant 10 miles
ahead OF the British push west from
the Nijmegen corridor
"A big gun duel around Metz. the
Germans added, was deepening in
a prelude to full American attack
on that great fortress.
The Germans poured in five coun-
terattackS, one 6 miles west of Metz
near Gravelotte and two at Coin
court and Bezange, 9 to II miles
northeast of Luneville, below Nancy,
the supreme headquarters COM
munique announced. They withered
under intense American fire, which
cost the enemy heavily.
Northeast of Nancy, too. the Ger
mans counterattacked twice and
were repulSed. losing out of 80
tanks III one attack near DieuZe, 80
miles southeast of Metz.
1t was disclosed that most of 300
Polish paratroops and British Dor
setshire infantrymen who crossed
the upper Rhine to aid the with
draWal of the exhausted remnant
of the British 1st Air-Borne Divi-
sion also had escaped to the south
bank.
Called GLORIOUS Failure"
The British press, still ringing
with the praise OF the lost divi-
sion's epic fight for a cross Rhine
foothold, described it not as a de-
feat-but as glorious failure"
1T was a gamble to force a quick
end to the war said the Daily
Express. 1T nearly succeeded, and
it was always worth trying"
AT Field Marshal Sir Bernard L.
Montgomery headquarters the
overall operation which opened the
way into mid Holland was described
officially as ''85 per cent successful"
Purposes of the operation were
listed as these:
l. To seize the vital bridges at
Grave. Nijmegen and Arnhem.
2. To loosen the German garrison
in Western Holland.
g. To accelerate the drive through
Holland.
Meanwhile. 1t. Gen. Sir Miles c.
Dempsey built up his south-bank
hold along the Upper Rhine to at
least 5 miles wide south and west
of Arnhem.
His whole west flank was ex-
panding, with the capture of the
villages of Heesch and Nistelrode,
into a 10 to Is mile wide bulge
within 10 miles of 'S-Hertogen-
bosch.
25-Miie Escape Gap.
The wedge he was strengthening
walled off the strong German garri-
sons of Western Holland but for a
25-mile- wide gap south of the Ijssel
Nicer tZuider Zee).
Silence blanketed the bulge to the
east where American parachute
troops had pushed into the Reichs-
valid Forest of Germany within
miles of Kleve. The British held a
Smile hold along the Mas (Meuse)
River 13 miles southwest of Kleve,
and Belgians were along the Mas
beyond Maeseyck, 38 miles farther
south.
That bulge covered the left flank
of 1t. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges
battle to open the Aachen crack in
the Siegfried Line into gap for
the assault on Cologne
The communique said the Amer
lean lst Army was meeting stiff
from pillboXes and gun
brlStllng concrete StrongpointS near
Hurtgen, 8 miles southeast of StOl-
berg. The village is in the eastern
fringe of the forest itself, and the
fact that the Yanks were in the
vicinity meant they had battled
through some of the stiffest defenses
OF the Siegfried Line.
In their cloSe-in on Calais, Cana
dian troops seized six of the 14-inch
cross Channel guns the Germans
had been keeping in action until the
last minute in a vengeance battering
of Dover.
Fort Lapin and strong points in
the redoubt area just west of Calais
were cleared of the enemy and the
fight sWirled around the limits of
the port city itself, hard hit again
yesterday by bombers of the heavy
fleet.
Although Allied sources avoided
applying the label of defeat to loss
of the Arnhem bridgehead by the
alr-borne army, the reverse tended