Evening star., 1944-09-15
Western Front

aPo@ t@AAcut0s
| Western Front
Continued From First Pase.)
the city to the southeast and north
east, withdrew during the night and
fired scarcely shot - IN American
general led the way in 4 jeep into
the heart Of the wildly celebrating
city.
A force of Gen. Hodges lst Army,
which crossed the frontier Of Linn
burg Province, was said by the Ger
mans to have advanced to q point
near Valkenburg, IL miles northeast
of Aachen. in the course of the
sweep through Maastricht.
South of AAchen the Germans
admitted the Americans had driven
powerful armored forces into wedges
in the "glacis" or face Of the Siea-
fried Line.
Allied announcements and dis
patches said three penetrations
ffrom 2 to 8 miles deep and 6 to 8
miles wide-one Of them completely
through the first belt Of fortifica-
tions-had been made in the line
toward the Rhine cities Of Cologne
and Coblenz.
The Germans said there was fierce
fighting on the approaches to the
Belfort Gap, to the south Of the Sd
Army.
No Reports on 7th Army.
There were no Allied reports from
the 7th Army of 1t. Gen. Alexander
M. Patch, last reported about 16
miles south OF Belfort. Rome dis
patches said no communiques on the
7th Army would be issued there
henceforth. 1t was assumed the 7th
Army was being brought under a
unified command on the western
front.
Forty miles to the southeast of
Aachen at the German road juno
ton town Of Prum and 80 miles far
ther south In the northwest outskirts
OF Trier the Germans had only rifles
and machine guns in a thinly-
manned defense zone to put against
the power of American tanks and
artillery.
The Americans were capitalizing
on their tremendous advantage in
f1repower along the 90-mile assault
front extending southwark from
Aachen. On this front some of Gen.
Hodges Yanks had bitten into the
Siegfried Line and others were de-
ployed close to the German border.
Zones of Penetration.
These were the three great zones
OF penetration:
l. A 9-mile-wide breach of the
German border from a mile south
OF ,Aachen to south of captured Rot
gen, where the 1st Army swept
through the Belgian border villages
OF 'Her9enrath and Gemmenich and
reached or captured the German
towns of Forstebach, Kovschen
Ormhof and others.
2. A 6-mile-wide pathway 8 miles
deep into the outer "Dragon's
Teeth" and concrete pillboxes o1
the Siegfried line to the outskirts
OF Prum, 7 miles east of the Belgian
town Of st. With and IL miles north
east OF the Luxembourg town OF
Cleryaux.
3. A 2-mile-deep wedge into the
defense zone just northwest OF Trier
near the southern end of the 90-mile
section. A front dispatch said the
Germans fought like fanatics in that
area, but their pillboxes were lightly
armed and thinly garrisoned and the
Americans blasted them out strong
point by strongpoint.
Push East of Pont- -Mousson.
In addition to capturing Nancy,
American Sd Army infantry in
Northern France pushed steadily
east OF Pont-a-Mousson toward the
Saar, while tank-supported forces
occupied Mirecourt, 25 miles south
OF Nancy. The Sd Army now has a
half frm bridegheads across
the Moselle River near Nancy. The
southernmost Of these was at
Charmes, 10 miles northeast OF Mire-
court.
Fighting edged closer to the Mo-
selle west OF Metz and in Thionville
to the north.
The German radio said one claw
of a pincer had reached Chateau
Salins, IA miles northeast of Nancy.
This spearhead was just Is miles
north Of the lower claw which the
German communique said had
closed into Luneville in a thrust
around Nancy from the south.
On the northern flank of the
Allied line the British I'd Army was
mopping up the last isolated pockets
of German resistance in a trap in
Northern Belgium between the Al
bert Canal and the Schelde- -Meuse
Canal east of Antwerp.
Nazis Help Close Own Trap.
The Germans helped to close their
own trap. In haste they blew up all
but one of the bridges over the
Schelde-Meuse Canal before break
ing back from the Albert Canal line.
That remaining bridge, at Degrotte
was seized by the British in a sweep
into Holland.
The Canadian 1st Army, fighting
to clear the southern bank of the
Schelde estuary where German guns
block the use of Antwerp port. lost
its narrow bridgehead over the Leo
pold Canal at Moerkerke northeast
of Brugge.
In a sector to the east, however,
Canadian patrols pushed north from
st. Nicholas to the Dutch border at
Zandloopet, 3 miles south of Hulst
and 10 miles from the Schelde.
Clayton
Continued From First Paee.)
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