Evening star., 1945-04-24
Sd Army Sweeps
18 Miles Closer
ToNuziHid
MAP on Page A-2.J
yy the Associated Press.

~ e3io ASSoSAoeSA iSSSs
PARIS, April 24.-Lt. Gen,
George S. Patton's Sd Army swept
18 miles closer to the final Ger
man hideout in the Alps, closing
within los miles of Berchtes-
gaden and within SO miles of the
Austrian redoubt bastions of
Salzburg and Linz.
A junction splitting Germany In
two was expected momentarily be-
tween the Russians and the Amer
ican 1st and 9th Armies. Russia S
troops were on the Elbe at Muehl-
berg, % miles from 1st Army forces
east of Leipzig.
(The French press agency,
quoting Moscow reports reach
ing London" said American and
Russian troops had joined at
Eilenburg, 8 miles northeast OF
Leipzig.)
The Sd Army overran the traffic
center of Ulm and burst across the
Danube River at third place.
Gen. Patton's troops, charging for
ward unchecked on a broad front,
entered Cham, 28 miles northeast
of Regensburg and closest to Berch-
tesgaden, Linz and Salzburg.
Impressive Advances.
All along the 225-mile southern
front, impressive gains were made.
Some 20 infantry and tank
divisions total OF more than 375,-
900 men-had been committed to
the crucial battle by the American
Sd and 7th Armies and the French
1st Army.
German disintegration proceeded
swiftly. During April alone more
than 1,015,000 prisoners have been
captured by Gen. Eisenhower's nine
western armies which since D day
have captured more than 2,345, 900
Germans.
In the north, the British intensi-
fed the siege of blazing Bremen
and tightened an arc around Ham
burg. The city of Harburg, which
lies across the broad Elbe south Of
Hamburg, was being cleaned up.
The Sd Army was within IL miles
CT Rogensburg and within Is miles
of Valhalla, the Doric marble temple
where the Germans placed busts of
their heroes and pagan gods.
Seventh Army Closest to Munich.
The 7th Army was closest to Mu-
mich, last reported so miles away,
and beating down the last 10 miles
to Ulm. The French frightened their
hold on the Black Forest pocket and
moved within Is miles of Austria.
Augsburg, one of Hitler's last IA
cities, was within II miles of Al
lied troops beating on the roof of
the Bavarian Alpine redoubt. The
7th Army was pouring infantry and
tanks across intact bridges cap
tured on the Upper Danube.
It was the first time in history
that American troops were crossing
that river, which the Russians had
conquered from the Black Sea to
beyond Vienna.
The southern redoubt was coming
swiftly to its supreme test in the
same hour that ruined Berlin was
falling to the Russians. Canadian
and British crossings of the Mas
River south of Utrecht threatened
to turn the flooded Grebbe River de-
fense line and open gates for de-
struction of the German 25th Army
trapped in Western Holland.
Security Blackout.
The Sd Army offensive proceeded
under familiar security blackout,
used in the past to hide decisive VIC
tories in the making.
Gen. Patton, however, was closing
on Regensburg from the west, north
and northeast with impressive gains
against scattered to light resistance,
a dispatch from Gen. Bradleys 18th
Army Group headquarters said.
Regensburg is a major rail center
for much German traffic which
might be intended for the Alpine
redoubt. It's capture would 60 far
to head off large Withdrawals into
the mountains.
BY moving into Cham, the Sd
Army's Thunderbolt Q1th Armored)
Division severed three more main
routes from the final Pilsen- Prague
munitions plants to the Alps. Pilsen
was 43 miles from advanced Sd Army
troops, Prague was 81 miles from
troops around besieged Chemnitz
in Saxony.
The full extent of the gains was
censored.
Associated Press Correspondent
Nine additional men from
the District area haze been re.