Evening star., 1944-10-18
British in Holland Take Venray
And Form Solid 1O-Mi|e Front;
Battle Of 100000 Men |mpends
Nuzis Forecast
New Yunk Drive
East Of Auchen
MAP on Page A-3.J
By the Associated Press

troops IOQay captured Venray
and formed a solid 10-mile front
in Eastern Holland 33 miles from
Duisburg, while Berlin declared
half million men were facing
each other in the Netherlands
ready for battle that may flare
up at any moment"
Canadians to the west pressed
back the German pocket blocking
use of the great supply port of
Antwerp.
Aachen still was being beaten
into submission, and Berlin as
serted the American 1st Army was
preparing new offensive aimed
at Cologne, 40 miles beyond Aachen.
A small German attack east of
Aachen was beaten off today, a
front dispatch said, in another of
the series of vain blows which have
now badly cut up two enemy divi-
sions. One of these divisions is
substantially destroyed as a fight
ing unit, while the second has been
materially reduced. The rest of
the rain-swept Aachen front was
generally quiet.
Sd Army Gains Mile.
To the south, American Sd Army
troops in a mile gain moved within
4 miles of the fortress city of Metz,
and French forces farther south
made progress. punching within
from to 5 miles of two Vosages
~ ;ol,
British I'd Army forces captured
Venray, near the Mas River, and
dispatch from supreme headquar-
ters said the Tommies had linked
up 10-mile front along the Ven
ray-Deurne road
The Germans below the Schelde
Estuary barring the water lane to
Antwerp fell back under Canadian
pressure. A front dispatch said
there were signs this German siege
stand might be ending. Demoli-
tions were reported in the Breskens
area, stronghold of the enemy
pocket, along with considerable
transport movement.
Canadians Reach Ijzendijke.
From Breskens, German strong
point before Antwerp, to Belfort,
this was the picture:
Cd 1t. Gen. H. D. Crerar's Cana
dians have entered Ijzendijke, 81
miles south of Breskens, pressing
hard on the newly formed defense
line of the German troops within
the narrowing pocket. Supreme
Allied headquarters reported bomb
ers had attacked the sea dyke at
West Kapelle on the nearby island
of Walcheren.
British Continue Drive.
(2) In Northern Holland. where
Berlin has reported the Allies have
massed 1900 tanks for a drive into
the Rhine-Ruhr Valley, 1t. Gen.
Miles C. Dempsey's British I'd Army
took Vernay after bitter house to-
house fighting and plunged ON q
miles southeast of the town, which
itself is miles from the Reich
frontier.
Associated Press Correspondent
Ned Nordness, with this force, re-
ported that American armored COL
umns on the right flank had bridged
the Canal de Doom.
90 Gen. EiSenhower's communi-
que described the fighting on the
American 1st Army front as a mop
ping-up procedure There was mop
ping up inside Aachen, which has
set a pattern of punishment for
German cities which resist the AL
lied advance, and mopping up to
the northeast of "segmentS of the
Siegfried Line" to clear the way for
the next drive
Cologne Drive Forecast.
The German radio, finally ac-
knowledging Aachen has been en-
circled described the fighting there
as surprising everything that has
gone before in this war" and said
that Gen. Eisenhower lis planning
an all-out offensive on Cologne
after capturing Aachen."
"a American Sd Army infantry
advanced nearly mile north of
ncy-sur-Moselle to within four
miles of Metz. Associated Press
Correspondent Wes Gallagher said
only light opposition was encoun-
tered.
IS In the Vosges foothills, the
Allied communique reported prog
ress just south of the road junction
at Bruyeres and northeast of LIE
Thillot despite stubborn enemy re-
sistance and strong counterattacks.
In the Overflow area, north of
Venray, the Nazis were reported
pulling out of a pocket approximate
ly 5000 yards long and from TOO to
1000 yards wide along the Mas,
leaving the area a no-mans land.
American armor was poised on the
British southern flank, but was not
yet reported in action.
NaZis Fail to Counterattack.
The Germans yesterday halted
their frustrated attempts to pierce
the American lines surrounding
Aachen while inside the battered
frontier city the Yanks continued
pushing the enemy garrison back
house by house.
officers at Allied headquarters
would not confirm the supposition
that the Germans possibly have
given up hope of saving Aachen.
The lack of a counterattack yester-
day may mean merely that the
Germans have paused to reform for
more counterblows.
Associated Press Correspondent
William S. White estimated the
Nazis had lost 1900 men captured
and 1000 killed in attempts to re-
capture Aachen, or approximately
25 per cent of their attacking forces.
IT, 1n....1..,