Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-03-29

umnS captured Holzhausen, SO miles
west of conquered Marburg This
force was driving north from Cen
trail Germany, perhaps toward a
junction with the British in the
MuenSter area in maneuver which
might trap the entire Ruhr and its
myriad defense forces.
At Amoeneburg, 1t. Gen. Court
ney H. Hodges racing armor was
95 miles southeast of Muenster and
in position to curl around the whole
outfanked Ruhr.
Gen. Hodges also was 152 miles
west of Leipzig, Germanys fifth
city. and 255 miles from Russian
lines. His troops and those of 1t.
Gen. George S. Patton's Sd Army
formed three more linkups west of
Frankfurt-on- the Main The armies,
both commanded by Gen. Omar
N. Bradley, also joined at Kamberg
and Idstein, southeast of Limburg
German lines everywhere were
disintegrating swiftly.
Gen. Patton's hard-hitting, winged
foot 4th Break through Division,
crashing along the Frankfurt Leip-
zig superhighWay, advanced 10 miles
in a day and reached Gutenberg,
214 miles from Berlin and IA miles
east of captured Giessen. One prong
of the break-through division ad-
vanced 8 miles northeast to near
BelterSham, south of the main
Berlin-Frankfurt superhighway.
Frankfurt, a great chemical and
electrical equipment producer as
well as banking center-was all but
conquered. Nearby Hanau and
Aschaffenburg were captured.
In the Ruhr itself. the 9Th Army's
10th Division reached the Rhine
Canal inside Duisburg and cap
tured the dock area Another COM
bat team was in Sterkrade. The
35th Division reached the outskirts
of Gladbeck and other elements of
the 9th Army reached Dorsten in
a wide advance" battle dispatches
said
Gen. Bradley's 1st and Sd Armies
were tanning out in several direc-
tons, swiftly exploiting the clean
and wide break through of the CEN
ter of the German front some las
miles inside Germany and 85 or
more miles east of the Rhine. The
general directions of attack, how
ever, were east and north.
The full extent of victories of the
United States 9th and British I'd
Armies in the Ruhr and on the
Westphalian f1atlands north of its
factories will not be known until
the security ban is lifted. Pilots
reported the British around Duel
man, II miles from Muenster, but
that was many hours before the
censors halted dispatches.
The Lain was crossed at Marburg
and the Germans lost without a
fight strong natural barrier to Gen
Bradley'S eastward drive. Elements
of the 9th Infantry Division rushed
in behind the tanks-the greatest
armored force ever deployed in the
west-to consolidate gains.
Nowhere was the enfeebled enemy
able to check either of Gen. Brad
ley's armies in this fifth day of con-
tinuous. sleepless attack to end the
war.
The Ruhr was burst open by the
9Th Army, but Marshal Montgomery
allowed only few captured places
to be named. Great cities fell or
were falling.
Weisbaden Captured.
The famous spa city of Weisbaden
4 miles north of Main, was captured
Its 172,000 population made it Ger
many's 32d city.
Farther south, the American 7th
Army, exploiting a break-through of
of its own, edged toward the old
university city of Heidelberg GA, $500
less than 8 miles from Mannheim.
Flying weather was bad for the
third straight day-about the only
comfort in the war picture for the
enemy. Rain, fog and low clouds
shrouded most of the front.
The British, at last punishable
reports, were SO miles east of the
Rhine in their break-through aimed