The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-04-04
(NEA Telephoto)

There were no immediate details on the French breakthrough into Karlsruhe, but communique said French forces had Won new cros- sing of the Rhine at Leimersheim, eight miles north of the city.
 Far to the north, the British Sec- ond and Canadian First Armies raced for the German and Dutch seacoasts in a fast-breaking ar- mored drive to envelop Holland and clear the enemy's V-bomb bases in the Rotterdam, Amster- dam and Hague areas.
 Security Blackout
 A partial security blackout cloak ed the progress of the forward Al- lied columns, but censored front dispatches said they were closing fast on Bremen and the Builder Zee.
 Allied flyers reported long col umns of German military transport streaming eastward from Bremen and Hamburg, suggesting possi- ble evacuation of the two great ports.
 Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomerys British Second and Canadian First Armies wheel ed northWard from the Ruhr along a broad front and raced for the sea- coast against patchy German oppo- sition.
 Canadian forces on the left flank burst across the lower Rhine into historic Arnheim and crossed the Twente Canal farther to the north west in twin advanced that carried within 25 miles of the Builder Zee.
 An unconfirmed Paris radio re- port said the Canadians were only 13 miles from the Builder See. A breakthrough to the coast there would split Holland and trap per- haps 50,000 Germans around the big Dutch western cities of Amster- dam, Rotterdam and the Hague.
 Armored Divisions of the British Second Army were advancing flank to flank with the Canadians, nov ing northward along the Dutch- German border toward Emden and Bremen. Field dispatches, admitted ly tagging hours behind the speed ing British tanks, said the Tommies were less than 40 miles from the North Sea at an undisclosed point.
 Osnabrueck, key German strong hold 25 miles northeast of captured Muenster, was cleared by British airborne troops after savage house-to-house battle The British advanced six miles north of the city to a point less than 60 miles southwest of Bremen. Germans second seaport.
 A second British column 40 miles to the northwest cleared the Ger man border town of Nordhorn and pushed ahead at least five miles to within 60 miles of Emden.
 South of the British and Cana dian forces, the American Ninth Army was running into It's stiffest opposition since the Rhine crossing in series of forest deflles just west of the Weser river on the main roads to Hanover and Berlin, l80- odd miles to the east.
 The Ninth Army's Second and Fifth Armored Divisions broke through to the eastern edge of the TeutQburger Forest on 20-mile front some 20 to 40 miles Southeaset of Osnabrueck, only to run into fanatical opposition from well-en- trenched Nazi Elite Guards, Volk- strum units and paratroop cadets.
 The Tanks by-passed and sur rounded Bielefeld and Herford in their advance and pushed ahead on the main Ruhr- Berlin superhighWay to the west bank of the Weser, 38 miles southwest of Hanover.
 All along the front, however, the Germans were counter attacking savagely and yielding ground only under the heaviest pressure. Scores of 80-ton German Tiger Tanks were blocking the advance at Bielefeld, Herford, and the smaller towns of Oerlinghausen, Augustdorf and Det- mold. four to 13 miles southeast of Bielefeld.
 VaGguards of the Ninth Army were in the outskirts Of all five towns, however, and moving ahead at a slow but steady pace.
 The toughest enemy resistance was coming from Houthful para troops rushed from the German armored training school at Det- mold to man the Teutoburger passes The Nazis were reported short of artillery, but they poured murder ous fire from mortars and Burp guns into the narrow defiles.
 At some points, the Americans were unable to push their tanks through the forest defies in any strength. and infantrymen of the 30th Division were rushed in to root out the Nazis at bayonet point
 Other Ninth Army Red forces teamed up with the American First Army farther to the south to tighten the r.ug about the Ruhr basin and a trapped German force estimated variousIy from 100000 to l5O.OO0 linen.
 The German counter ttacked re- peatedly but in relatively small strength all around the northern. eastern and southern ends of the pocket, apparently probing for . weak spot in the American wall.
 Field dispatches indicated the Germans were trying desperately k reogganize their forces inside the pocket for . full-scale breakout Idriye to the west. abandoning their