Evening star., 1945-03-24
Gallagher
Continued From First Page.)

German morale 1t was because of
these factors and hundreds like
them:
The calm, icy courage of British
Commands who lay within 1900
yards of Wesel while the Raj put
on one Of the greatest night pre-
cision attacks of the war. Three
town in Is minutes.
The Commands rushed into the
flaming rubble and crushed the re-
sistance of tough German parachute
troopers.
| The bravery of American trans
port pilots who few their cumber-
some ships with heavy gliders in tow
into storm of fax and dropped
grim air-borne troops, Sometimes
they came back across the Rhine in
flames, sometimes not at all.
Smoke Hangs Over Area.
| But these are only snapshots in
the great battle. Here is how it de-
veloped:
Yesterday afternoon pail of
smoke hung over the entire Ruhr
and the Rhine from Dusseldorf to
Arnheim. Some of it was the re-
suit of Allied smoke pots along the
river, but most of it was from fam
ing buildings of the Ruhr and the
impact of thousands of American
and British bombers and fighters.
| There was little movement behind
the front late yesterday afternoon
as the 9th Army and the British I'd
Army lay quiet.
| But with darkness the front stirred
to life. From the forests came the
rumble of tanks and trucks. and on
the ROADS long conveys sprang forth
like magic with loads of every con-
ceivable weapon, thousands of tons
of bridging material and huge land |
ing craft on their giant trailers.
Some of the weapons were still On
the Allied secret list.
Long Lines of Infantry.
You wondered how this vast as
sortment of equipment could get
untangled and arrive at the right |
place at the right time. Most of it |
did. When it did not or failed of
its purpose, American or British
ingenuity found way to do with
out it.
But far more impressive, as always, /
were the long lines of silent infantry |
hiking across the fields and along
the roads. The sight brought a !
tightnesS TO ones throat.
Moor tho rivor diko rro oo
mortars kicked up dust and steel
whistled about the veteran regi-
mental command post in ruined
house
In the cellar the commanding
colonel-a short man with a As
slung on his hip-was just getting
his communications in order. 1t
all had to be done by Telephone,
for this division had been moved |
to the front secretly and could not
use the wireless for fear of ad-
vertising its presence to the Ger
mans.
Difficult to Sit and Wait.
THE worst thing about this
period he complained, lis that you
have to sit and wait. There is moth
ing you can do, just sit and wait.
You can't stop all this stuff from
going on, nor can you help it any
until the battle starts
At the colonels side was 1t John
F. MCGEE of Charleston, S. C. At
% he is one of the youngest regi-
mental operations officers in the
business. He used to be a platoon
leader and is thankful for his pres
ent job, declaring Its safer" just
as mortar shell takes off the top
of the house next door.
Another operations officer finds
the jump-of time especially fitting,
as it is the exact hour he was born
80 years ago. He is Capt. Arne Mel
sen, Oakland, Calf.
Shortly after dark there is
thunder to the north from the big
guns. The British have begun their
preliminary barrage, barrage that
is to 60 on for four hours.
Jump-off Staggered.
The jump-o1 was staggered, with
the British northern flank launch
ing its attack at 8 pm, the southern
flank at pm. and then the 9th
Army to the south at 2 am.
From the time those guns opened
reaching such crescendo at times
that plaster tell from the walls. The
concussion of the guns pulled at
your clothes.
Just north of this command post
British Commands slipped across
the river in the darkness at 10 pm.
and sliced through the river de-
fenses. Then they hid out a scant
1,500 yards from the key German
strong point in Wesel.
At 1890 pm. there was a heavy
droning in the sky and more than
300 Lancas1ers with blockbusters
labored overhead with railway
schedule precision. 1t was their job
to find the town in the dark and
f1atten it without hitting the Com
mandos.
Standing in the back yard, I could
see the attack The FIRST bombs hit ,
and for Is minutes the town famed |
and jumped under the explosions.
Overhead, almost in a funnel
straight into the sky, burst hundreds
of flak flashes. These flashes were
mute testimony that every bomb
was hitting in the target area, for
they funneled directly up over the
town.
Plane after plane thundered by
Some were less than 1000 feet up.
When they finished the town ap-
peared to be Just a red glow.
Twenty, minutes later in the Gel
lar command post came the first re-
port from the Commands. 4
Our only trouble is in taking care