The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-15
Germans Saw
RemagenSpan
is Destroyed
First Army Contradicts
Claim; Says Bridge
Better Than Ever

PARIS, Thursday, March 15.-
P)-Infantry and arm6r Of the.
U. S. First Army expanded the
Remagen-Erpel bridgehead today
to within a mile and quarter of
the Frankfurt-Cologne superhigh-
way, and other American forces
extended the fighting along the
far-flung Western Front.
In the bridgehead, now 10 IL
miles long and IL miles deep,
1t. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges
Doughboys punched north, south
and east for gains of up to mile
through the rugged hills that bor-
der the Rhine.
Reinforcements and supplies con-
tinued to pour into the Americans
held area east of the river over
the graf Ludendorff bridge and the
pontoon structure erected by u, S.
Engineers.
The German radio claimed Nazf
bombers destroyed the big double
tracked rail bridge during the
day, but the latest information
available tonight at both SHAEF
and 18th Army Group headquar.
tiers was that the huge steel
structure not only was standing,
but was in better condition than
when it was captured.
A German broadcast also said
Allied reconnaissance thrusts had
been launched across the Rhine
north of Duisburg and north OF
Leverkusen. The enemy report
said "all thrusts were unsuccess-
full
There was no confirmation here
of any Allied activity north of the
First Army front, other than re-
cent reports of the U. S. Ninth
Army Smelling the Ruhr across the
river, but such reconnaissance
would be a normal procedure.
To the south, however, the Ann
erican Seventh Army opened a
new attack against the last enemy
held salient west of the Rhine in
Germany and gained four miles
on a seven-mile front.
The drive west of Saarbrucken.
following up a new attack begun
yesterday by the Third Army to
the north, was intended at the outs
set as line-straightening opera
ton. But the Yanks found only
light resistance and punched ON
to the Saar river, where the Ger
mans had withdrawn into Siegfried
defenses on the north bank.
The 10th Division, spearheading
the new thrust. penetrated more
than mile beyond the French-
German frontier and reached the
Saar in the vicinity of VolkinSeaA
six miles west of Saarbrucken.
The towns of Schaffhausen, Clar-
enthal, Wehrden, Gieslautern and
Schoeneck, all on or near the
south bank of the Saar, were seiz-
ed as the enemy's rearguard resls4
lance was brushed aside.
BY nightfall artillery and mortar
fire was being exchanged across
the river.
The Third Army wiped out tha
last remnants of resistance north
of the Moselle river, overrunnlng
a flying bomb launching site, and
kept up pressure south Of the Mo-
selle, where a new attack opened
Tuesday.
Enemy opposition stiffened in
this area, but the Gath Division
slugged eastward another half-mile
from the vicinity of Holzerath and
other Third Army troops reached
points seven to nine miles south.
east of Caarburg.
More than 5000 Allied war.
planes carried the air offensive
through its 30th consecutive day,
with the Raj highlighting the as.
sault by dropping for the first
time new 11-ton town buster"
bombs. the largest explosive pack.
age in the world.
First Army Doughboys pushed
up to a mile through the billy.
country that rises east Of
the Rhine as they strove tenacious.
ly to knock the Nazis back out
Of artillery range of the two bridg-
es across the river in the Remag.
en- area.
A week after the Remagen tres.
tie was captured, the enemy had
no full-scale counterblow
at the bridgehead. but air recon-
Nuisance late today disclosed q
large concentration Of German for.
Continued on Page Two; Col. a.