The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-24
Continued from Page One)

pie of Messerschmitt 262 jet pro-
PEELED planes poked inquisitive
noses over the bridgehead and
promptly were knocked down.
Assault craft and amphibious
ducks were plying the calm Rhine
back and forth across the river.
The operation. which had been
planned and rehearsed for months,
went off far smoother than any,
one could have hoped.
The Germans simply Wer e
caught by surprise and by the ov-
erwhelming weight of American
arms.
Patton's men moved like light
ming Besides the surprise ele-
ment, the Germans utterly failed
to produce anything like the
amount of fire the Americans were
throwing at them.
Patton's Rhine-conquering ex-
plot followed one of the greatest
armor and infantry thrusts in mil
itary history - the tremendous
sweep through the Saarland.
Together these successes ap-
peared to be decisive blows
against the Germans. The elated
Doughboys, who three weeks ago
were urging the Russians on to
Berlin, now nominated themselves
for the job of taking the German
capital.
i saw the Doughboys who went
in on Omaha Beach in Normandy
last June and I went across the
Rhine with them last night.
The spirit was identical, and SO
was the overwhelming superiority
in men and equipment.
The Rhineland never saw a
more amazing sight than last
night S. Probably it never will. For
miles back the roads were lined
with trucks and other vehicles
struggling up the hills.
Hundreds of conveyances of al
kinds which had pulled up JUS
out of sight of the river during
the day stood silent and shadoWy
in the moon-splashed fields ane
, along the edges of woods near the
! Rhine. Engineers who had spen1
back-breaking months at home
preparing for this show were or
hand to help get the vehicles
across
A fleet of pint sized artillery
spotter planes, impressed into
service as emergency one-mar
, troop carriers, stood ready on {
dozen uncharted wheat fields. The
little coW-pasture transport force
was to shuttle across the river
putting down anywhere it could
. if the Doughboys storming thu
.. Rhine found more than they coule
. handle. But the planes were no
needed.
For months columns of truck
with their tons of assault boat
had been edging toward the from
at night and hiding out by day.
Sometimes they got in the wa.
!, of swearing tankmen and playe'
= hob with traffic.
!: Along toward the end OF tn
!, Third Arny's recent sensational
squirt to the Rhine they Jagged un
easily behind, but they put on .
squirt and were on the spot las
night when needed.
For some of the Doughboys i
was their Goth river crossing. l
was their most important. but no
the most exciting. Not one MAJ
was lost in the actual crossing
last night.
! In groups of II, the men be
! gan assembling along the tree-lin
ed west bank after nightfall Their
q was a quiet command shortly al
ter 10 o'clock and the first wav
f moved out of the shadows lik
p pallbearers carrying their little as
= sault boats with six men on eac
= side.
4 With hardly a sound they slip
: ped the boats into the water
climbed in, and the drive owe
s the last major water barrier be
: fore Berlin was on. Moonlight wa
:. so brilliant the reflection on tn
n water hurt the eyes.
o Besides the moonlight, the Ger
f mans had the advantage of direc
n observation by the light of an am
t munition dump that was fired b
an anti-tank gun during the after
e noon and still was burning throug
S the night, sending up towering pil
. lars of flame and shaking t h
, earth with explosions.
: Between blasts / could hear or
:. ly the heavy breathing of the me
: starting to make the over-Wate
i assault
: At 1925 pm. came this mes
: sage from a Walkie-talkie radio O.
the Rhine's right bank:
BLANK company across. No fir
n received at all. Everything quiet.
t Everybody breathed easier i
: the little riverside cottage wher
> 1t. Col. William Birdsong G
Greenville, Miss, had set up hi
Il command post.
!, THE engineers did a swell jol
getting the boats up without lettin;
l. the Heinies know what was up
God bless en- said Pv. Harr.
r Saghbazarjan of Watertown, Mass.
The colonels runner.
r More men started across, thei
/ long boats dancing crafty on tn
:, only slightly ruffled water which
: reflected the orange glow of fire