The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-03-16
Five Armies
Begin Drive,
Germans Say
Four More Towns Seized
As First Army Ex- ,
pands Bridgehead |
PARIS, Friday, March 16-K-

The U. S. First Army deepened
its Rhine bridgehead to six miles
yesterday, Selling command OF
more than a mile Of the great six
lane military highway to the Ruhr,
and the Germans said five Ameri-
can armies were striking along 235
miles of the blazing Western Front.
The drive beyond the Rhine gain
ed more, than a mile during the
day, swept up four more German
towns and stabbed into five others.
The Germans said the new U. S.
18th Army has sprung into action
on the bridgehead, where 100, 900
American soldiers now were mass.
ed.
The U. S. Seventh Army broke
a long lull with a general assault
on a 50-1nile front from the Saar
to the Rhine in a synchronized at
tack with the U. S. Third Army.
and gained three more miles or
more, driving the Germans into
retreat to the Siegfried Line.
The U. S. Third Army smashed
six miles south from Its newly-won
Moselle river bridgehead near Co.
blenz in an offensive that was cut
ting in 80 miles or so behind the
Siegfried Line facing the Seventh
Army front.
Already the push had sealed off
the Rhine transit city of Coblenz,
was nearing the Rhine south of the
city, was pinching orr the enemy's
little Ruhr"-the Saar Basin-apd
was challenging the Nazis' last
150-mile grip on the Rhine's west
bank.
The third Army was by far the
deepest into Germany of any AL
lied Army in the west. AS it closed
on Boppard, an ancient Rhine CEN
ter six miles south of Coblenz, it
was 80 miles north Of the Saarbor-
der, and nearly 70 miles east Of
the enemy frontier.
Enemy accounts said the U. S.
Ninth Army, drawn up in force on
the Rhine, had stormed across in
| to the Ruhr at Duisrubg and had
been thrown back to the west bank
in hand-to-hand combat.
This might well have been an
enemy propaganda attempt to cap
italize on the repulse of a small
raiding party, out to test the pow
er Of hurridly-depployed German
defenses on the east bank.
The Rhine crossing by the First
Army at Remagen, whefe the
Americans now hold II miles or
more of the east bank, was SO
solid that it was announced OF.
ficially the danger of its being dis.
lodged now was past.
The Germans were throwing In
tank-led counterattacks, trying to
hold back the tide from the SUI
perhighway, which the enemy him.
self said the Americans and COM
pletely severed at the northeast
corner of the bridgehead.
One force driving for the high.
way-over which the Germans are
shutting forces and massing
troops east and northwest Of the
bridgehead - captured junction
of six highways about four miles
east of the Germans fallen north
ern anchor of Honnef.
One force then battled half
mile or. so east into Rottbitze,
while another fought on more than
a mile north into Aegidienberg,
eight miles northeast of the Re-
magen bridge and 1000 yards
from the super military highway.
It was in this area that Ger
man war reporter at the front said
the Americans had fought out on
to the highway.
The German High Command has
been robbed of much of its free
dom OF lateral movement, and will
be harder pressed to check the
push northward to the open Ger
man pain.
1t Gen. Courtney H. Hodges
seemed to be mounting that push
now, for American troops fought
a mile north of fallen Honnef, selz.
ed Rhoendorf and were within five
miles of clearing the last low hills
before the plain, leading 10 miles
north 10 the southern Ruhr Basin
The deepest penetration was in
to Steinshardt, six miles east of
Remagen bridge, where stiff fight.
ing broke out after Americans had
overr,!n the nearby towns of Hes.
Seln, Lorscheid and Hahnen
10, scheid, a mile northwest AZ
steinshardt, fell only after tho