Evening star., 1945-03-17

PARIS, Mar. 17.-American Sd
Army tanks today advanced an
other 10 to Is miles in a race
down behind the Siegfried Line
in the huge Saar triangle and
were rapidly closing a trap on
thousands of Germans between
the Rhine and Moselle Rivers.
While other of 1t. Gen. George S.
Pattons forces were occupied in the
Coblenz area, these tanks drove to
points Is miles southeast of Sim
mern, which is 25 miles below Co.
blenz and As miles from the Remagen
bridgehead.
Third Army units around CoblenZ
advanced to the Rhine south of the
city of $1,000, isolating it and pushed
up the east side of the Moselle to
the outskirts of the ancient citadel.
Gen. Patton's tanks, already half
way from Coblenz to Mainz, threat
ened to pocket remnants of two
German armies in the triangle
formed by the Rhine and Moselle.
and now stood only As to so miles
from American 7th Army troops
pushing up from the south.
7th Army Takes Bitche.
The 7th Army. attacking ON a So
mile front, was driving Germans
back to the doubtful security of the
Siegfried Line, and had taken the
Maginot fortress of Bitche.
The Sd Army captured 7 towns,
cleared II, and entered another, but
security measures did not permit
their Identification Immediately.
German resistance continued weak
and disorganized, and roads south
were clogged with retreating Nazi
vehicles and troops.
The tank columns neared Bingen
on the Rhine, and Berlin broadcasts
admitted breach in major depth"
west of the Lower Vosges Noun
tains.
The American 1st Army in its ex-
panding Rhine bridgehead deployed
tanks on the superhighway connect
liiS ollh1 u1 dllo tllC JOOk
four more towns and won two-thirds
of Hoenningen at the southern end
of the bridgehead, now 13 miles long
and miles deep
Other Towns Captured.
Heeg, Reiffert, Bremscheid and
Hohen were taken in the bridgehead
and some American units were
within 3 miles of open plains leading
north to the Ruhr. House-t house
fighting ragged in Hoenningen. The
enemy there was using antitank and
antipersonnel mines for the first
time in the bridgehead fighting, a
front dispatch today said.
The German high command an
nounced evacuation of Koenigs-
winter at the northern end of the
bridgehead. Latest Allied dispatches
said Americans had won more than
half of that town.
German broadcasts declared again
that the new United States 18th
Army had been thrown into action
in the bridgehead, aiming at a
reak-through on the Ruhr- Frank
furt superhighway, but insisted the
thrusts had been halted except for
gains ito the north and east on a
bread front"
Berlin admitted loss of the
Drachen Fels dragons Rock, a
1,055-foot peak south of Koenigs-
winter, and other heights dominat-
ing the Rhine's eastern bank.
Breakthrough Attempt.
One German war reporter said the
United States 18th Army tried to
finish the first phase of the battle
with a breakthrough at the auto
balm (superhighway) in order to
transform the narrow bridgehead
into a vast operational area" The
American war machine, deploying
air forces and artillery in very great
strength, pushed forward against
the German positions, but could not
crush the elastic German defense
ring, he said.
Volksturm battalions and all other
available reserves have been thrown
against the Sd Arnys forced march
to the south, Berlin said. The broad
casts reported especially heavy
fighting against Sd Army units driv-
ing in against the Moselle- Rhine
triangle from the west.
Northward on the American 9th
Army front where the Rhine guards
great Ruhr war cities, Americans
and Germans stepped up patrol
thruSts over the river. Three Allied
armies are arrayed along this area
of the Lower Rhine.
Gen. Patton's 4th Armored Divi-
sion, racing south and southeast
from its Moselle River crossing
southwest of Coblenz, was under
Sea,era additional ano4 fXo.. |