Evening star., 1945-02-11
Western Front
Continued From First Page.

Continued From First Page.)
doughboys crossed the blown crown
of the dam, drove on to the other
side and gained complete control of
the water barrier.
Had the enemy blown the whole
Roer system of seven dams at once,
an 18-foot tide would have swept
down on the British End and United
States 9th Army positions along the
river, creating havoc that would
have taken considerable time to
repair
Will Soon Return to Normal.
A front dispatch said that the
enemy stronghold of Juelich was
flooded by three-foot rise, but
that the river already was falling
upstream at Dueren and should re-
turn to normal in several days.
Even the destruction of the dams
themselves, once the SchWam-
menauel Reservoir is emptied, would
not produce an additional handicap
to the Allies, this account said.
Apparently the Germans were
convinced the British and American
offensive was about to break out,
for they reported strong troop con-
centrations between the dam and
the Canadian front, and in the area
Of the dam itself.
The Canadians of Gen. H. D. G..
Crerar were in the forefront of the
assault from the west for the mo-
ment, and were less than 2 miles
from the center of Kleve, the north
ern citadel, and at least halfway
through the formidable Reich For
est to the southwest.
In gains of 2 miles on the third
day of the offensive, the left wing
of the Canadian attack reached the
Rhine northwest of Kleve, where a
crossing would put the Allies out
on the North German plain.
Pruem Almost Encircled.
Thirty miles south of Schwam-
menauel Dam, Pruem-another key
to the intricate defenses of the
Rhineland - was ringed on three
sides and under fire as the Sd Army
drove across the Pruem River and
was within half a mile of the main
escape road to Coblenz.
In Northern France, the United
States 7th Army, spurred by an
ION to Germany" battle order, was
driving the last Germans from Bit
terly-defended Oberhoffen, Is miles
north of Strasbourg, and launched
three other attacks near the Rhine
in the same area.
The destruction of the Roer Dam
system probably was an even
greater blow to the Cologne in
dustrial region, since it obtains part
of its electric power from them.
Troops of the 18th Division
reached the dam, II miles south
east Of Aadhen, early today to find
demolitions already in progress.
The Germans first blew a small
spillway, the control house of the
south gate, and the bridge over the
central. sluices, to hold back the
doughboys. Then they blew the
gates, smashing control machinery
so that the gates could not be
closed.
Montgomery Advances.
BY threatening to flood the Roer,
the Germans had held that river
line with handful OF men for
months against far superior forces.
allowing Field Marshal Karl Won
Rundstedt to make his great Ar
dennes bid for victory.
Field Marshal Montgomery's
British and Canadians on the
northern end of the flaming front
seized Nuetterden. 2la miles west Of
Kleve, and fought on east into the
last earthwork defenses 2 miles
from the center of the city.
Forces on the north fought into
the Dutch village of Millingen, on
the Rhine 6 miles northwest of
Kleve Here they were more than
a mile beyond the point where the
Rhine divides into the Waal and
Neder Rhine.
On the south flank of the front,
now more than 10 miles wide, an
attempt by the Germans to form
line and halt the rolling advance
was smashed.
The Germans, despite the help
Of rainy weather and flooding from
the Rhine, still were unable to
rally for stand and were having
trouble bringing up reinforcements
over communication lines smashed
by bombs and rockets.
More Prisoners Taken.
As the roll of prisoners topped
$500. the Canadians and British
bored deeper into the dense Reichs-
wald in the center of the front in
what was described as possibly the
most rapid progress anywhere on the
battlefield.
They had crossed a diagonal
highway leading southwest out of
Kleve and occupied strategic
heights, which would place them
possibly miles from a second
highway and railway network at
Goch, 8 miles south of Kleve.
A front dispatch said the German
7th Paratroop Division had been
rushed up from Alsace in an at
tempt to form a line, but was dis
persed by heavy artillery fire along
tho Mas, on the south flank OF the
drive. Allied troops fighting on
that front for the moment were
opposed only by mines and artillery
fire.
1t. Gen. George s. Patton's United