Evening star., 1944-09-14
BY ROBERT J. CASEY,


WITH THE AMERICAN lst
ARMY IN GERMANY. Sept. 13
DELAYED We hit the Siegfried
Line today.
Five or six little fortresses, COM
manding the highway out on Rot
gen. gateway to the German hinter-
lands. have been smashed or
silenced Dragons teeth" tank
traps-concrete pyramids Of vary
ing height, which range along miles
of Hitler,s frontier-haye been sue
cessfully by-passed
Ingenious road blocks have been
blown apart, an0 hidden tanks and
mobile artillery have been scotched
after some II hours of toe-to-toe
fighting. The Germans, so they say
are falling back through two re-
manning bands Of the line to make
final stand on the Rhine. ts.-
This Is being written at the edge
Of woods on a plateau above the
Veedre Valley.
Over to the left the plateau drops
of into wooded rayine probably
500 feet deep. Beyond this chasn
a ridge comes up. blue black with
pines against sky misty with drift
ing smoke. Ahead of us is a towr
marked as such by church spire.
sticking up out of cluster OF
orchards.
Ridges Lie Behind Town.
There are more ridges behind this
town-a series of them, that look
like something In the Black Hills
OF South Dakota. To the right is a
lower lift of wooded hills. Behind
us is a thicket of pine trees and
holly bushes, pierced by hard road
over which our tanks successfully
have passed the first barriers of the
West Wall. Ahead of us the same
highway goes on toward the silent
town over fat. treeless meadows
where a moment OF. all hell has
broken loose
From where we sit We can see
a series Of fires. At least six tanks
are ablaze and plumed with black
smoke. One is only a. few yards
on the highway, so close that you
can feel something Of its terrific
heat even in the cold breeze. It's
machine gun drums burst like fire.
crackers and now and then heavier
ammunition let's go with showers
of sparks from the turret and orange
streaks mingie with rising columns
of black.
This tank is American and in 1t
is the body OF the pilot who died
In the advance. We came to this
spot-the point OF deepest penetra-
ton into Germany-with forward
elements of the division, a few
minutes after sudden barrage OF
German 88s had set this tank
ablaze. A few months ago such an
attack might have held .up the
column indefinitely because. on a
plateau such as this a fiankine
maneuver is impossible and a
frontal attack is likely to be sui
cidal.
Many Natural Obstacles.
The whole action rs we came on
it when our jeep came out of the
woods was encompassed by natu-
raj obstacles at the limits of the
terrain. We and everybody else in
the neighborhood knew that the
battle was going to be fought to q
vicious conclusion on fiat land DOS
sibly mile wide and no more than
a mile and half long. The com.
mander of the forward unit, instead
of retreating, detached five or siz
tanks. famed them in front OF the
woods and proceeded to fight it out
There was considerable noise while
this was going on, though nothing
to compare with what happened
later. AS we came up. Mai. Walter
McCahan. Harrisburg, w. Va, was
shepherding his tanks into position
IAN anti-tank gun did most o1
this, he said. II think we've got
1t. Over there" And he pointed at 9
45-degree angle across the meadow
to the left. Over there is panther
tank which. as far as / can see. is
disabled if not destroyed. We've also
picked of a couple of their tanks
you see them burning In that
orchard left of the town. They were
well hidden when we came out into
the open and we got them lust q
little too late.
There was no doubt about what
had happened to them. From the
edge of the woods you couldn't see
the "details, but their resting place
was marked by two pillars of fire
Survivors Gene BY.
1t Paul Baer, Reading, Pa. and
Capt. William c. Adams, st. Louis
came by just then. They were two
survivors Of the first tank to pass
through the Siegfried Line. Both
were unhurt but Corpl. Adams. al
he lifted himself into the jeep that
was taking them back f6 duty in
some other place of the armor, took
q critical view Of, the situation.
!, He said: at might make rood
reading for people who think this
war is over" I'LL.
There were q few minutes OF
quiet as the infantry began to filter
-. - I'll T. L y L. -