Evening star., 1945-04-01
9 Allied Armies
Now East of Rhine;
u. S. 18th in Action
By the Associated Press.

PARIS, April Sunday THE
Allies clamped a steel deathlock
around the Ruhr Basin last night
but the Germans fought savagely
in an effort to break out north
eastward toward Berlin. now
only ITO miles away, and there
was no sign that they were ready
to accede to Gen. Eisenhower
new demand for surrender.
This is the final great battle
of the west" wrote Associated Press
Correspondent Hal Boyle from
Paderborn, six-way road hub in
which the battle of annihilation
centered.
The battered Nazi cohorts, fight
ing fiercely, gave every indication
they intended to battle to the last
There were indications that rem
nants of the German Armies. form
ing as best they were able, were
massing along the Weser River for
final stand and possibly des-
perate, last-ditch counteroffensive,
inspired by Hitler.
Allied Officers Confident.
High Allied officers were confident
that such a suicidal offensive would
shatter against the ring of Allied
steel but admitted it might result
in bloody finish to the war.
American combat officers gave no
evidence of the obvious jubilation of
supreme Allied command officers
and freely predicted the Germans
might try another offensive before
admitting defeat. Very few officers
who have been battling the Ger
mans expect the war to be over
before two or three months.
The Weser River front is in i'm
mlnent danger of being turned from
the south, but the Nazis, by the grace
of logistics, have a certain lease on
life due to the limit of Allied supply
lines.
18th Army in Action.
Supreme Allied headquarters made
no break in it's security blackout,
but broadcast an invitation by Gen.
Eisenhower to all isolated German
forces to surrender.
This broadcast was followed by al
message warning captive workers in
Germany to take shelter away from
such danger points as railroads and
factories and to- stay off the roads,
particularly the main highroads.
Headquarters disclosed that the
new United States 18th Army and
the French lst Army both had
Joined the struggle, raising to nine
the number of Allied armies bat
Ting east of the Rhine.
Armored Divisions Join.
Associated Press Correspondent
Don Whitehead said the United
States 9th and 3rd Armored Divi-
sions had made contact at War
burg, a miles southeast of Pader-
born, to close one side of the trap,
while Yves Gallagher wrote that the
End Armored Division of the United
States 9th Army had thrust east
ward 80 miles and established tao
teal radio contact with the United
States 1st Army near Paderborn.
Exact nature of the contact was
not disclosed, but Mr. Gallagher said
that for all practical purposes the
cutoff was complete.
The huge pocket thus created en-
closed the remnants of three Ger
man armies, estimated here to num-
Der possibly 10000 men, but said by
Mr.. Boyle on the scene to include
scores of thousands"
The Ruhr industrial basin, with
out which Hitlers army leaders have
told him they can no longer wage
war, was isolated or in ruins.
AS if only now aware of their
plight, the Germans flung every
thing they had into the flaming
battle of Paderborn, some 100 miles
northeast of Cologne.
Racing Toward MuenSter.
Repeatedly they attacked with
small infantry forces, led by tanks
Dug-in infantry with bazookas
strove to hold off the rampaging
Americans, but the front dispatches
said each effort cost the Germans
casualties, and Mr.. Boyle wrote:
The German armies in the west
are committing suicide-suicide by
tortured inches"
On the left, the British I'd Army
with American parachutist aid
was racing under a blackout on
what was described as the last lap
of its push to Muenster, while other
British Canadian forces thrust into
Holland.
The United States Sd Army, hav-
ing made contact with the 1st at
Warburg, also was hammering on
either in OF beyond Kassel, Fulda
River stronghold and provincial
capital of Hesse-Nassau, and bat
tied near Lautenhausen, both ITO
miles southwest of Berlin.
Another Juncture in South.
Another juncture was effected at
the southern hinge of the western
front between armored elements of
the United States 7th Army and
the French 1st Army which crossed
the Rhine on 10-snile front. pos
sibly in the area of Karlsruhe, and
Four additional men from
the District area haze been re-
ported killed in this lUar. See
"On the Honor Roll" Page A-2.