The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-09-11

| tulcty was reporJeu Sneklnk GeT~ man soil from Q dozen frontier out posts after the capture of LuXem- bourg the third Allied capital liberated since D-Day-and 6 sweep toward the border 10 miles beyond,
 The army newspaper Stars and Stripes said in Paris that the first shells fen at Bildohen, A little less than Q mile across the German frontier, after Q First Army advance to the area of Limbourg, lS miles east Liege and Ia from the hor- der.
 Stubborn Resistance
 Ludwig SertorluS, Berlin radio commentator, said American forces met stubborn German resistance at Maastricht," Dutch fortress city near Aachen, indicating that Hol- land had been penetrated in that area,
 Tightly-cenSored front dispatches indicated that the climatic assault on Hitler's west wall had been mounted along front of more than POO miles stretching down from the flooded plains of northern Bel gium, through the rugged Ardennes Forest and down into the Lorraine Basin before Metz and Nancy.
 Arnored columns of It. Gen. Courtney IT, Hodges U, S, lst Army liberated Luxembourg yesterday af- ternoon and famed out beyond the tiny grand duchy's capital against steadily increasing opposition.
 One column drove 10 miles north of the city to Mersch where 1t locked in 0 swirling battle with German tanks and infantrymen, while other Spearheads stabbed out to the east toward the Maxi from tier and southeaStward toward the Moselle river.
 Veteran German troops, fighting now With their backs to the west wall in the black certainty that a breakthrough at this point would spill invaders into their homeland, battled for every yard, but head quarters said Hodges victory flushed men were pushing ahead every where.
 Mystery Offensive
 The lst Army drive threatened momentarily to roll over the flank of the strong German forces de- lending the Moselle river crossings in the Metz-Nancy area, where It. Gen. George s. Patton's U. s. 3rd Army already had launched a "mys- tery offensive" aimed at the Rhine. land.
 Hodges troops in Luxembourg were only an hours forced march from the German towns of Trier (Treves) and Saarburg at nightfall yesterday. Farther to the north, other 1st Army columns were barely 25 miles from the Reich in the Arr dennes forest area eight miles east of Marche. Still another force IS miles to the south was reported east of St. Hubert.
 The city of Luxembourg, situated on high, rocky plateau, formerly was one of the strongest bastions in western Europe, but had been demilitarized since late in the 18th century. When the Germans over ran the duchy in l940 they found it defended by an army of 300 men most of them members of the army band.
 News Held-Up
 Headquarters withheld all in- formation on the progress of Pat tons attack, but it was indicated that the fiery Third Army leader had brought up his armored and artillery endorsements and had thrown his full striking power into the battle of the Moselle.
 bombing Allied planes raked the German battle lines with bombs and gun fire, and the great Hong Toms" of the American armies hurled salvo after salvo across the frontier from forward positions just behind the charging tanks and troops.
 American and British gunners at the northern end of the assault line in Belgium also were pounding Ger man soil from supplements barely six miles from the Reich.
 The barrage raked and tore at Nazi rear guards falling back across the shattered canal lines that fornl- ed the last natural barrier short of Germany, and front dispatches said the British Second Army and units of the American First Army were converging on the German city of Aachen.
 (The Nazi-controlled Scandina-