Evening star., 1945-04-04

today, depriving the Germans
of one of their great plane
and tank manufacturing CEN
terS. The 4th Armored Divi-
sion also cleaned out Gotha,
and Suhr, % miles south of
Gotha, was captured.
By the Associated Press.
PARIS, April 4.-British troop
today reached the Ems River, 4s
miles from the North Sea, in 6
drive to trap up to 10000 Ger
mans in Holland, and American
9th Army tanks pulled up to the
WeSer, next to last important
stream on the high road to
Berlin. The Elbe River is the
last big natural barrier before
the German capital.
A Stiffening of German resistance
as the Americans neared the Wesel
River suggested that the enemy was
trying to form a line behind that
barrier. There was no indication
that the foe had been able to salvage
the strength for a major stand.
The 9th Army captured almost
$4,000 Germans yesterday in its
drive to the WeSer along one OF
Hitler's SuperhighWays. The bridge
was blown. At one point the 9th
penetrated to within 10 miles OF
Berlin.
The American Sd Army fought
down the last So miles toward
Czechoslovakia and for the city of
Gotha. l40 miles southwest of Ber-
lin. The Germans said 1t. Gen
George S. Pattons troops had
reached Arnstadt, 70 miles from
Leipzig and ITO miles from the
Czech city of Pilsen. where the
great Skoda munitions WorkS-Hit-
ler's last major arsenal-are To-
Gated. ArnStadt is l3 miles south
east of Gotha.
Engineers Move Up.
The 5th Armored Division of 1t.
Gen. william H. Simpsons 9th
Army reached the Weser at Bad
Oeynhousen, 1873 miles from Berlin,
81 miles south of Bremen and 103
miles southwest of Hamburg. A bat
talon of engineers rode along to
bridge the river.
The north German towns of SAL
zuf1en, Dienhide and Hollinde were
captured on the way
The Germans said the Canadian
lst Army had crossed the Waal
Rhine, presumably at Arnhem, in
a drive toward the zuider Zee-less
than 20 miles from Gen. Henry
Crerar's vanguards.
(The Luxembourg radio as
serted that German divisions
were being shifted from the Rus
sian to the disintegrating western
front. The 9th Army was said
to have encountered the SIS Vik-
ing Panzer Division, which ar
rived without tanks
The French lSt Army captured
Karlsruhe, capital of Baden and ar
important communications ana in
dustrial center of 10000 near the
upper Rhine. karlsruhe was
heavily fortified and once pivot
of the Siegfried line.
The 9th Armys I'd Armored Di-
vision fought past tightly hemmeo
Bielefeld into Detmold, Al miles
southwest of Hanover.
The American 7th Army battled
to the heart of the Bavarian city of
Wuerzburg and closed to within "a
miles of Nuremberg on the front be-
yond the Main River. German re-
sistance there was hardening.
Perimeter of Trap Reduced.
Combined blows by the 1st and
9th Armies closed down the perime-
ter of the Ruhr trap to 100 miles and
Gen. Omar N. Bradley'S headquar-
ters raised the estimate on doomed
German troops in the annihilation
zone to between 10000 and 10000
Little more than the width of In
diana separated Gen. PattonS Sd
Army from Russian front lines, The
forces were last reported 160 miles
apart nearly day ago.
The Canadian 1st Army, in it's ad-
vance to within less than 20 miles
of the Zuider Zee, cut more COM
munications to the rocket coast of
the Netherlands from which the
Nazis have bombarded England.
Important cities fell; others were
falling; others were imminently
menaced.
The important cities taken in
cluded:
Muenster, capital of Westphalia
and a burned-out old cathedral
town. The communications center
of 143,748 fell to the United States
18th Air-borne Division and the
British 9Th Guards Tank Brigade.
British Take Osnabrueck.
Osnabrueck, communications
center of 100000 about 60 miles
southwest of Bremen, toppled to the
British 18th Armored Division
which drove 8 miles north of the
1ity.
Aschaffenburg $4,000 and Fulda,
German Catholic center of $1,000
fen to the American 7th and 9th
Armies
Allied troops stormed into Wuerz-
burg Q08,61D, Heilbronn 100000
Hamm 100000, Kassel (217,085)
Gotha (48,000) and the Dutch city
of Hengelo 100000.
Canadians cleared out all the area