Evening star., 1944-09-05
MAP on Page A-3.)
BY the Associated Press,

BY the Associated Press.
LONDON, Sept. 5.-American
troops were believed to be stab
bing into the Rhine Valley be-
yond the German border in a
secrecy -shrouded offensive to-
day. Perhaps they are we'll into
the Siegfried Line defense zone.
This drive, which Supreme Head
quarters has kept under a security
silence for three days, has had time
enough to have penetrated any,
where up to Is miles.
A dispatch from the French from
tier said it was reliably reported
American tanks had reached the
outskirts of the French border city
of Strasbourg, on the Rhine 10 miles
east of Nancy, and that fighting was
In progress on German soil around
Saarbrucken. Other unofficial re-
ports said the Americans had
crossed the German frontier at
three places on a 100-mile front.
Drive On Rotterdam.
To the north a British flying COL
umn which captured Brussels and
Antwerp in a 48-hour border-to
border sweep across Belgium was re-
ported to have raced through Breda.
miles inside Holland. and to be
pushing down the last % miles to
the important port of Rotterdam
Breda has population of 50,792.
Behind these advances German
forces estimated at from $4,000 to
1000 men were caught in a caul-
dron along the channel coaSt-a
Dunkerque in reverse. The Ger
mans had stiffened in a thin arc
around the last Nazi-held channel
ports.
Supreme headquarters announced
that in the area of Mons, Belgium.
where the United States 1st Army
has been operating. large pocket
of Germans has been wiped out,
1000 prisoners have been taken and
40 tanks and $500 motor vehicles
captured or destroyed.
sThree Crossings Reported.
The Siegfried Line was under ac-
tual or impending assault at both
ends. The reports, none of them
confirmed, of the three American
crossings of the German frontier
located the operations at Aachen.
10 miles east of Brussels; Perl at
the junction of the German
French-Luxembourg border, and a
point somewhere on the northeast
frontier of Luxembourg.
In a London broadcast Pierre
Dupong, president and prime min
lister of Luxembourg, welcomed
Allied troops into the Duchy. He
said the Germans were fleeing
across Luxembourg toward the
Reich.
The Premier told his people to get
out flags and don their best garb to
greet the Allied troops He did not
specify at what point the entry was
made, but addressed this message to
the field armies:
welcome to you on Luxembourg
soil and thank you a thousand times
for everything you have done for
Luxembourg, With your blood you
are liberating our country from
harm. The days and months we
were longing for you were frightfully
long. Today you have arrived at
last"
Mop-up in Progress.
In Belgium there was no official
news Of any American push closer to
Aachen than the area of Charleroi.
IS miles to the southwest. A mopup
was in progress around Beaumont
and Florennes, Is miles south of
Charleroi.
Free Belgian broadcasts. however,
were recorded from Namur, Is miles
northeast of Charleroi, and from the
Belgian fortress city of Leige. Is
miles from Aachen, suggesting that
the Nazis might have cleared out OF
been driven out of these cites.
Supreme headquarters announced
the liberation of Antwerp and said it's
port area was being cleared speedily.
The second city of Belgium, Ant
werp, has population of 273,317.
In broadcast to his countrymen
In the Netherlands, Premier Pieter
Gerbrandy said that Allied armies
have crossed the Dutch frontier" !"
Aneta, the Dutch news agency, re-
ported that the British had struck
to Breda. Supreme headquarters of
fered no confirmation of the cross
ing of the Netherlands border, but in
recent days the communique has
beeen many hours behind actual
battle front developments.
Encountering virtually no opposi-
ton, the British pushed 10 miles
northeast of Brussels and took
Leuven uouvain), one Of the strong
points of the old Belgian defensive
triangle of Liege Leuven Namur.
Leuven. which has a population of
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