Evening star., 1944-09-10
War Review
Allies Poised for Final
Drive on Nazis
By Ho.uard p. BAILEY,

actual accomplishment.
Out of the flood of reports an,
rumors, two things stood out clearly
The Germans are now standing will
their backs to the wall as the Allie
gather power for the final crushin,
blow which Gen. Eisenhower head
quarters declared may easily com,
by early November.
Complete defeat of the enemy ii
the Balkans is about accomplished
Among the breath-taking develop
mentS of the week was the almos
complete freeing of Belgium from
the bondage which has been her
since the NaZis first smashed thei
way into France around the Magino
Line. AS far back as Monday, Brus
sells was liberated and by Friday tn,
Albert Canal Line had been preached
and the American 1st Army ha<
captured and passed Liege, wher,
the Belgians won the admiration O
the world in the First World Wa
by an heroic defense which was des.
tined ultimately to save Paris from
capture.
Finland withdrew from the wa,
Monday, giving the Germans unit
next Friday to remove all theil
troops from Finland or have then
disarmed.
Bulgaria Wars on Nazis.
Bulgaria, after some preliminar,
Sailing which aroused the ire O.
Russia, was brought face to face
with reality on Tuesday when Rus.
sla declared war shortly after which
Bulgaria asked Russia for an armis.
tlce. Russian troops however were
reported to have crossed into Bull.
garla despite this request and &
German report, not substantiated
declared that the Reds swarmec
across Bulgaria to reach Greek terri.
tory. Thursday Bulgaria broke of
relations with Germany and fol.
lowed Friday with declaration ot
war against Germany putting hel
IN the unique position of beins
ofhclally at war with both sides
Moscow on Friday confirmed the
TACT that Russian troops had crossed
the Bulgarian border and Londor
said that they were welcomed as
"brotherly people"
More important than this develop.
ment, however, was the Russian
dash across Romania to make con-
tact with Marshall Tito's Partisans
IN Yugoslavia thus forging a banc
OF iron from the Black Sea to the
Dalmatian Coast and cutting of
250000 Germans now garrisonine
Bulgaria, Greece and Albania.
10 make this position even more
secure, it was reported that both
American and British troops have
landed on the Yugoslavian coast
to bolster Titos forces which even
from Yugoslavian sources have been
trebled almost over night.
The Greek government in exile,
now at Cairo. is preparing to return
to Athens believing that the day of
liberation is at hand.
All highways and rail lines over
which the Nazis might conceivably
have attempted an escape back to
Austria or Hungary have been rem
dered impossible by Allied aircraft
and sabotage and the work of de-
struction of these routes is going
on at a rapid pace
Hungarians Are Rebellious.
Even in Hungary, trouble for the
Nazis was reported during the week
as rebellious elements sought to
take that country out of Hitler's
grasp. During the week, both Rus
sian and Romanian troops pene-
trated deeply into Translyvania, the
province Hitler carved out of Ro-
mania and tossed to Hungary as
bait for its participation in the
war against Russia.
Important as these developments
are, the real threat which makes
Hitler's defeat imminent, was the
astonishing progress made by the
Allies driving forward in France
and Belgium to many points not
more than 25 miles from German
soil and from which the drive to
crack Nazi final defenses open may
sem.
1t. Gen. Patton's Sd Army. which
was temporarily delayed early in the
week until supplies could be brought
up, had established several bridge
heads across the Moselle River in
the general neighborhood of Metz
Io< u
over these crossings troops poured,
in the face of heavy German ar
tillery fire which took regrettable
toll but nevertheless proved unable
to halt the progress.
The American 1st Army under
1t. Gen. Hodges pushed forward
several miles beyond Leige and the
British I'd Army broke through the
Albert Canal line in Belgium.
The 7th United States Army under
1t. Gen. Patch, which made the
landing in Southern France, dashed
to within artillery range of Belfort
Gap, last escape route of the Ger
man 18th Army attempting to beat
its way back into Germany.
Perhaps nothing expresses more
wildly the extent of the Allied VIC
tory and the close approach of Nazi
final defeat than the action of the
British government in relaxing the
blackout of London with lights once
more to go on, though still on q
dimmed basis, one week from today
London announced also that the END
Of the buzzbomb menace had come
though conceding that a few final
bombs might come over Going sta
tistical, the government declared
5000 buzzbombs were launched
against England, of which 2,3OO
reached a target. In combating
them, including raids against the
launching platforms and the fac
tories where they were manufac-
tured, the British lost $50 planes
and 1900 airmen. In addition there
were more than 5000 deaths in Eng
land, with heavy property loss.
On the Italian front the Ger
mans are battling desperately to
hold the Allies at bay and delay
the inevitable defeat. American
troops, marking the end of a year
in Italy Friday, took the town of
Pistoia, last important populated
place south of the western end of