Evening star., 1944-10-05
Western Front
Continued From First page.)

patch from the Metz front that the
Americans had made their first pen
etration last night into the subter-
ranean tunnels of Fort Driant.
Capture of the fort was announced
prematurely at Supreme Headquar-
ters yesterday on the basis of in
formation from front line head
quarters before the full tenacity OF
the German stand was known.
Now 1t was touch-and-go fight
with the Americans holding on
grin1iy under crossfire from flank
ing forts and sniping from German
trapdoor gun positions.
Some Of Nazis Smoked Out.
The Americans smoked some of
the Nazis out with phosphorus gre
nades and poured flaming oil down
hidden passages on others, but still
had the Job of quarrying out the
remainder Of the German garrison.
The Sd Army repulsed a German
counterattack near Sivrey. 8 miles
north of Nancy.
West of the corridor In Holland an
advance of 8 miles was made lin a
northwesterly direction by British
troops on 10-mile front south of
Tilburg and troops of the Canadian
Army advancing from the other d.
rection, the southwest. approached
to within miles of Tilburg.
However, the Germans launched a
surprise counterattack against Pol
ish troops in the latter area, around
Barrie Nassau, 8 miles southwest Of
Tilburg, which forced the Allies to
give ground temporarily. A British
attack westward Just below Arnhem
reached the area around the village
of Eden, about 2 miles southwest
of Arnhem.
Farther west the Canadians
cleaned up the fort area north Of
Antwerp and ended a weird week
long battle of the suburbs in which
German artillery in northern port
districts periodically harassed Allied
control of the Belgian port.
Smash Through Barricades.
Canadian infantry and tanks,
again rolling fast at the heels of re-
treating Germans, smashed through
street barricades and raced to within
a mile of the Dutch border town of
Putte, only 6 miles from the escape
road out of Walcheren and Zuid
Beveland Islands, where the Nads
admitted thousands of their troops
were virtually trapped by floods
loosed by Allied earthquake"
bombs.
THE Germans are pulling out and
we are jumping right ahead; 1t is
hard to keep contact with the Jer-
ries for they are moving back
mighty fast" said q Canadian head
quarters officer on this front.
The 7th Army kept up its meas
ured gains farther south in the face
of slowly hardening resistance.
Northeast of Epinal, the Yanks
found going hard through newly
reinforced German defensive posi-
tions, but in the Vosges foothills
forests of Gehard and Longegoutte,
between there and Belfort, they ad-
vanced several miles.
At Ronchamp, 10 miles due west
of Belfort, French forces of the
7th Army mopped up one German
hold-out pocket. Other Germans
were fighting from fortified houses
and factories in the city.
The 1uu Of temporary truce hung,
almost unreal, over Dunkerque. The
Germans had cleared q lane
through their defensive minef1eld
and the first of 10000 civilians be-
gan filing out, laden with posses
sions they could carry, into the Ca
madam lines. The evacuation will
end tonight. Then, by agreement,
the Canadians will give the Ger
mans IL hours to relay their mines
before the all-out assault begins at
dawn tomorrow.