The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-03-02

The Allied left wing blazed 1nbU action with the capture of the Dutch stronghold of Venlo. Nazi broad- casts said Eisenhower had. sent the British Second Army Into Vhe shows down battle of western Germany.
 It, Gen. William H. Simpsons U. s. Ninth Army was setting the pace for the big push. It broke through the last German defenses west of the Rhine, surged onto the bank of the river across from Dues- seldorf and dashed forward IS miles under security blackout to the out skirts of Krefeld.
 Simpsons headquarters an- nounced that his tanks and infan- try rolled up substantial gains today in the payoff sweep toward the Rhine. Behind the big guns loosed shattering barrage on vital indus trial targets beyond the Rhine.
 Aboue 1000 British heavy bombers poured some 5000 tons of bombs iYi- to Cologne They leveled great patches of the Rhineland industrial capital as American First Army shocktroops fought to capture the city.
 After seven days of advances through the toughest belt of Ger many's western defenses, clements of the U. S. 83rd Division reached the Rhine and their big guns were laundering across the river into the industrial strongholds of Hitler's reich.
 Thousands of Allied wArplanes drummed overhead to rake the rec treating Germans, led by fleet cf more than 1000 RAF heavy bomb- CTS that struck at Cologne.
 Field dispatches said the shat- tered remnants of the German 18th Army were fleeing back across the Rhine by ferry, barge and bridge through Allied bombs and shells, with American tanks and infantry men pounding in at their heels.
 Vangaurds of the 83rd Division already were battling through the streets of the Rhine crossing city of Neuss, i-2 miles west of Duess seldorf.
 Neuss By-Passed
 First accounts indicated other ele. ments of the 83rd by-passed Neuss to the south and broke through to the Rhine bank in an apparent bid to capture the big bridges linking NeuSs to Dusseldorf.
 There was no immediate indicaa ton whether the retreating Ger. mans had had time to blow up the Dusseldorf spans.
 German reports indicated the British Second Army had joined in the Rhineland offensive, attacking around the norrhren flank of the U. s. Ninth Army in the Venlo sec- tor.
 At least nine American divisions were on the move for the Rhine or the Ninth Army front at pace that promised to shove the Germans over the river before the close of the week end.
 The sweeping hook into the Kre.. field area represented a gain of about 16 miles for the Second Arr mored division from its last reported position below Grevenbroich on the highway north of Juellch.
 With the blackout finally lifted, 1t was revealed that Allied bombers and fighters worked over practice ally every Nazi held village in the Rhineland to blast @ path for Simp- sons charging tanks and infantry men.
 Compact armored task forces were out in front of the advance, riding over the German de. lenses and leaving scattered enemy strong points by doughboys moving up behind them in trucks and are mored cars.
 Upward of 5000 Germans were captured by the Ninth Army yes- terday and more than 1000 by the First Army.
 Cologne Blasted
 At the same time, great fleet of more than 1000 British heavy bombers caScaded perhaps 4.000 tons of Augmentation and high-explosfve bombs down on the ruins of O0s. ogne to blast path for the Amer
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