Evening star., 1944-09-10
Heavy Fire Poured
On Bridgeheod
South of Metz
ALLIED COLUMNS racing to-
ward Belfort Gap. Page AS
MAP on Page A-5.)
BY the Associated Press.

oy tuC hSoOCidteu FTcaS.
SUPREME ALLIED HEAD
QUARTERS, Sunday, Sept. TO-
Picked troops of the United
States Sd Army fought in a storm
of artillery fire last night to hold
a bridgehead on the Moselle
south of the French city of Metz
as the Germans sailed from
their menaced Siegfried Line to
give battle to three Allied armies
closing for the showdown struggle
for the Reich.
In Northern Belgium the British
End Army hammered out second
crossing Of the Albert Canal and
fought against fresh German re-
serves toward the weakest link in
the Siegfried Line north of Aachen.
The American 1st Army was
pounding down the last 18 miles to
the German border from the Belgian
citadel of Liege and probably was
within heavy artillery range of the
lines outlying positions although
its movements were enveloped in
secrecy. The Germans said they
had thrown in fresh troops here,
too.
16 Miles From Luxembourg.
Farther south in Belgium other
units Of the 1st Army, advancing
through thinly held but difficult
country in the Ardennes Forest,
captured st. Hubert, 16 miles from
the border of Luxembourg and 80
from Germany. Another 1st Army
force took Ecouviez, village on the
rim of the old Maginot Line in
France half-mile from the Belgian
border.
The Sd Army in the Moselle River
area took Pompey, four miles north
west of Nancy. .
Meanwhile the Germans also or
dered their withdrawing troops to
turn and battle against the. United
States 7th Army moving up from
Southern France, and stiff fighting
developed as the Nazis tried to hold
back both American and French
columns driving only Is miles from
Belfort, guarding the strategic Bel
fort Gap into Southwestern Ger
many just above Switzerland.
The heaviest fighting since Nor
mandy was raging along the Mo-
selle. AS 1t. Gen. George S. Pat
tons forces plunged across the river
at one small bridgehead. they were
caught in withering artillery. NOR
tar and machine gun fire from cam
ouf1aged forts, which waited to yank
their lanyards after the first wave
was across.
U. S. Guns Thunder Reply.
American artillery thundered in
reply, as the battle mounted in fury,
more United States batteries were
wheeled up to add to the earth
shaking barrage descending on the
forts.
A front-line dispatch said the
situation was a difficult" one for
the troops, all recommended for
decorations in previous exploits in
France, who were especially selected
for the operation
There was hard and sanguinary
fighting at every one of the five
crossings Of the Moselle, and the
Germans were pulling reserves from
the Siegfried Line in an attempt to
hold this last river barrier before
the rich Saar basin of the home
land.
Earlier, the Germans had risked
badly needed reserves to send
counterattack-the largest since the
Normandy ampaign-rumbling out
OF the forests of Luxembourg, but
1t was cut to pieces by the alert
ness of the Sd Army on the north
ern end of its front.
From the sudden resurgence of
enemy resistance after the dis
asters In France and Belgium, it
seemed clear that the German high
command had elected to fight now,
rather than wait for the lightning
to strike in the outmoded system