The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-02-14

(COntinued from Page l) today brought Allied warplanes out in great strength to support the attack with a series of smashing blows against German troop con- centrations and communications lines all the way back to the mid- dle reaches of the Rhine.
 Fighters, fighter-bombers and rocket firing attack planes struck repeatedly at the enemy's immedi- ate support areas along 10 to 15- mile arc east and southeast of the battlefield.
 Scottish and English troops at tached to the Canadian army ham, mercd out the biggest advances of the past "A hours, driving four miles southeast of KelVe to point three miles or less from Calcar.
 Hasselt, three miles southeast oi KelcVe, was taken aWter fl fierce fight andt he British were report ed well beyond the town this morn- ing.
 Heavy Opposition
 A second attacking column broke out of the eastern end of the Reich forest 5A miles due west of CalcaI and struck Overland toward the town against heavy opposition.
 At the southeastern corner of the forest, other British forces crossed the narrow Niers river west of Kes- gel in assault boats and won a firm bridgchead on the south bank of barely three miles northwest of GOch.
 Hommersum, 1-2 miles west of Goch, was captured and heavy tank and infantry fighting ragged between that town and Kessel, three miles to the north.
 Front dispatches said the Ger mans were counter attacking in steadily increasing force in an ef- fort to throw the British back across the Niers and stabilize their line on the river.
 Two miles north of KleVe, Ca nadian infantrymen cleared the Germans from Griethausen and pushed slowly through sea of mud toward the Rhine crossing at em- merich, three miles to the northeast
 On the Third Army front. Pat tons troops beta off small-scalt German counter-attackS l 1-2 miles northeast of Pruem and continued their stubborn, grinding attack on the Siegfried pillboXes east of the Sure and Our rivers
 ! Is.tnr If FtaFs fn Ina III in the past A hours expanded tho American bridgehead northeast oi Echternach to a width of 10 l.; miles and a maximum depth of l-4 miles.
 PaLtons forces cleared Fersch- weller, four miles north of Echter' mach, and drove directly across thu Sure river opposite the latter towr to capture Echternachbruck. Othel . columns closed in to within rifl' shot of Ernzen and BOllerdOrf, twt miles northeast and four mile north northwest of Echternach. Ammeldingen Falls Ten miles above Echternach, th' Americans pushed the northern edg of their bridgehead to within fou 7 miles of Vianden with the captur ,, of Ammeldingen.
 German resistance was s0fteninl at some points on the Third Arm
 attack front. but there was no sigI of a general break. Most of tn west wall pillb0xes in the area wer being defended stubbOrnrly an
 were cleared only after CTS. coyere' i by machine gun and tank fire, Ina , blasted their crews out with dyna , mite charges.
 The U. s. Seventh Army front i 4 Alsace generally was quiet. althoug , German and American skirmishe i were active in the Pfaffenhoffe 2 area 6 I-2 miles west of Hagenau. ? sharp local fighting also was re 2 ported from Oberhoffen. four mile . southeast of Hagenau. where tn = Americans cleared out strong Ger . man force that had inftltrated int
 the factory area of the town.