Post by kanowarrior on Dec 25, 2012 16:25:49 GMT -5
Front page articles:
FIRST 50 MI. BEYOND RHINE, 2 ARMORED FORCES SPEED EASTWARD; DOUGHS MEET THIRD
Two armored spearheads of the First U.S. Army rolled almost 30 miles farther into German yesterday, and last night they were 50 miles east of the Rhine in the deepest announced penetration into Germany from the West. At the same time, it was reported that the First and Third Armies joined east of the Rhine in the vicinity of Lahnstein, southeast of Coblenz, where unidentified forces of the First met the Third's 87th Inf. Div.
To the southeast, Third Army tanks smashed into Bavaria, in southern Germany, across the Main River, but a news blackout screened their progress. They were last reported 40 miles beyond the Rhine in the Aschaffenberg area.
NINTH IS COUNTER-ATTACKED
Above the Ruhr, in the Ninth U.S. Army sector, the Americans head a bridgehead 14 miles deep, but progress was slowed temporarily yesterday as the first counter-attack since the crossing was reported from the 30th Inf. Div.'s front.
Just north of Mannheim, at the southern end of the Rhine front, the Seventh Army had a bridgehead 19 miles long and four miles deep.
The First Army tanks which burst out from the Remagen bridgehead were facing only light resistance. One column east of Bad Godesberg on the Rhine as another armored tip reached a point two miles north of Wetzlar, about the same distance from the river.
Wetzlar is the home of Leica camera factory.
TANKS NEAR WIESBADEN
It was disclosed yesterday that the Ninth Armd. and Second Inf. Divs. are participating in what was described as "the First Army's Berlin drive."
Ninth Armd. spearheads rolled 21 miles southeast of Limburg to reach a point five miles southeast of Wiesbaden, just north of Mainz.
Hundreds of First Army tanks-one of the greatest armored forces ever assembled-rolled through Germany, by-passing unimportant towns. Motorized infantry followed close behind for mopping up operations. Behind them came the old-fashioned doughfeet, who took care of the final cleanup.
The First Inf. Div. pushed ahead five miles along the Sieg River. Chief resistance was at one strongpoint containing four self-propelled guns and rockets. The doughs flushed the strongpoint, kept moving and reached a position 16 miles east of Siegburg.
ARMOR POURS OVER RHINE
In the Ninth Army's Westphalian bridgehead, armor was pouring across the river despite German counter-attacks, assembling for a potential smash through the enemy's defenses above the Ruhr.
One counter-attack against the 30th Inf. Div., made by 100 men and a few tanks, was quickly contained but a second Nazi thrust, considerably stronger and including an estimated ten tanks, was still gaining last night.
Despite the increasing resistance, the 30th's 119th Regt. drove through Gahlen to the east at the furthest point of advance in that sector. The 119th also took Heisterkamp, slightly west of Gahlen.
ARGENTIA DECLARES WAR
BUENOS ARIES, Mar. 27 (AP) - Argentina today declared war on the Axis.
WORST OF ALL - THEY DIDN'T RECOGNIZE (Big Red One Patch)
By Dan Regan, Stars & Stripes Staff Writer
WITH FIRST INF. DIV., Mar. 27 - They didn't know what the big, red "1" meant the division insignia worn proudly through Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium and Germany. Some thought it was the First Army patch. Most didn't know what it was.
They asked questions like: "Did you fight at night? Did you ever kill a German? What is that purple ribbon you're wearing? Where did you get all thouse ribbons, in a five-and-ten cent store?"
But, worst of all, they didn't know what the big, red "1" stood for. And that was what hurt most.
BACK FROM FURLOUGHS
The 30-odd officers and men of the division, just back from 30-day furloughs in the States, still thought it was a great place and that it was good to get home even if it had to be for a few days or a few hours. They didn't mind coming back, although they "dreamed a little."
Their reaction to the home front, after being away for two years or more, was not a favorable one mainly because they felt to many people didn't know what war is like. That is, except their immediate families and those of other soldiers overseas. Perhaps they thought, they were expecting too much of people who weren't geographically close to the war.
GOOD FOR MORALE
Asked if he thought the furloughs were good for morale, even if they knew they had to return to the line, S/Sgt. James Hines of Manchester, N.H., said, "Sure it's worth it. Any chance to see your family and friends is swell."
Capt. Linwood Billings of Dover, N.H., had the same feeling. "It seemed great to get home and find out how family affairs were," he said.
But, not knowing what the big, red "1" was...
"Not only don't they know about the First Division, but they think (Gen.) Patton is winning the war." one dough said. "Yeah, he is the idol at home. But he should be good. The First Division trained him. Jeez, don't put my name on that, though."
Hines however, spoke for the group when he said: "Don't get us wrong. We'd go back again tomorrow, if we could."
NAZI DEFENSE LINE IN WEST SMASHED - IKE
SHAEF, Mar. 27 - Gen. Eisenhower, today said that the main German defense line in the West is smashed.
The Supreme Commander also declared that there would not be a negotiated unconditional surrender by Germany, but rather an imposed unconditional surrender, when the Allies in the West link up with the Russian armies driving from the East.
Gen. Eisenhower also warned against expecting a clear road to Berlin.
"I would say that the Germans, as a military force on the Western front, are a whipped army." he told a press conference. "But, that does not mean that a front cannot be formed somewhere where our maintenance is stretched to the limit, and their defensive means can be better brought to bear."
There will be no "negotiated unconditional surrender," said the general "There will be an imposed unconditional surrender, and the first thing to do is to enforce order, and we're going to have to do that by force of arms."
Eisenhower also reviewed the smashing Rhine-bound campaign, climaxed by the river crossing. He asserted the end of this campaign meant the Allies had reached the conclusion of one phase and were now entering another.
"There have been a quarter of a million Germans captured since Mar. 1," the general said. "You can see what a quarter of a million men would mean to the German Army east of the Rhine if they were available now."
He said the Rhine crossing "has gone much quicker and has been much less costly than we expected," and recalled that on the first day's crossing two U.S. infantry divisions - the 30th and 79th - had less than 35 men killed.
He repeated his belief made several weeks ago that if the Germans lost Silesia, the Saar and Ruhr, the Wehrmacht's power to continue the war could not be prolonged for a long period.
The Ardennes offensive, said the general, "was the costliest mistake the Germans have made since their decision to stand in the face of our Avranches breakthough last Summer."
He denied reports that German civilians were firing in organized bands on American troops east of the Rhine, but asserted: "I have told my Army commanders that any civilian resistance will be dealt with sternly and on the spot. I will not tolerate civilians out of uniform firing on my troops."
As to soldier-civilian fraternization in the Reich, the Supreme Commander declared that "generally the conduct of our troops while the battle is going on has been exemplary."
Eisenhower added that the V-bomb menace to England may end shortly with Allied troops cutting communications lines leading into northern Holland.
Picking through any possible balloon of optimism on the home front, Eisenhower frankly told correspondents: "I would not have you think I have written off this war. No one knows what the German can do within his own country. But he is trying to do everything that he can. I believe so far as he is able the German will stand and fight wherever we find him."
FIRST 50 MI. BEYOND RHINE, 2 ARMORED FORCES SPEED EASTWARD; DOUGHS MEET THIRD
Two armored spearheads of the First U.S. Army rolled almost 30 miles farther into German yesterday, and last night they were 50 miles east of the Rhine in the deepest announced penetration into Germany from the West. At the same time, it was reported that the First and Third Armies joined east of the Rhine in the vicinity of Lahnstein, southeast of Coblenz, where unidentified forces of the First met the Third's 87th Inf. Div.
To the southeast, Third Army tanks smashed into Bavaria, in southern Germany, across the Main River, but a news blackout screened their progress. They were last reported 40 miles beyond the Rhine in the Aschaffenberg area.
NINTH IS COUNTER-ATTACKED
Above the Ruhr, in the Ninth U.S. Army sector, the Americans head a bridgehead 14 miles deep, but progress was slowed temporarily yesterday as the first counter-attack since the crossing was reported from the 30th Inf. Div.'s front.
Just north of Mannheim, at the southern end of the Rhine front, the Seventh Army had a bridgehead 19 miles long and four miles deep.
The First Army tanks which burst out from the Remagen bridgehead were facing only light resistance. One column east of Bad Godesberg on the Rhine as another armored tip reached a point two miles north of Wetzlar, about the same distance from the river.
Wetzlar is the home of Leica camera factory.
TANKS NEAR WIESBADEN
It was disclosed yesterday that the Ninth Armd. and Second Inf. Divs. are participating in what was described as "the First Army's Berlin drive."
Ninth Armd. spearheads rolled 21 miles southeast of Limburg to reach a point five miles southeast of Wiesbaden, just north of Mainz.
Hundreds of First Army tanks-one of the greatest armored forces ever assembled-rolled through Germany, by-passing unimportant towns. Motorized infantry followed close behind for mopping up operations. Behind them came the old-fashioned doughfeet, who took care of the final cleanup.
The First Inf. Div. pushed ahead five miles along the Sieg River. Chief resistance was at one strongpoint containing four self-propelled guns and rockets. The doughs flushed the strongpoint, kept moving and reached a position 16 miles east of Siegburg.
ARMOR POURS OVER RHINE
In the Ninth Army's Westphalian bridgehead, armor was pouring across the river despite German counter-attacks, assembling for a potential smash through the enemy's defenses above the Ruhr.
One counter-attack against the 30th Inf. Div., made by 100 men and a few tanks, was quickly contained but a second Nazi thrust, considerably stronger and including an estimated ten tanks, was still gaining last night.
Despite the increasing resistance, the 30th's 119th Regt. drove through Gahlen to the east at the furthest point of advance in that sector. The 119th also took Heisterkamp, slightly west of Gahlen.
ARGENTIA DECLARES WAR
BUENOS ARIES, Mar. 27 (AP) - Argentina today declared war on the Axis.
WORST OF ALL - THEY DIDN'T RECOGNIZE (Big Red One Patch)
By Dan Regan, Stars & Stripes Staff Writer
WITH FIRST INF. DIV., Mar. 27 - They didn't know what the big, red "1" meant the division insignia worn proudly through Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium and Germany. Some thought it was the First Army patch. Most didn't know what it was.
They asked questions like: "Did you fight at night? Did you ever kill a German? What is that purple ribbon you're wearing? Where did you get all thouse ribbons, in a five-and-ten cent store?"
But, worst of all, they didn't know what the big, red "1" stood for. And that was what hurt most.
BACK FROM FURLOUGHS
The 30-odd officers and men of the division, just back from 30-day furloughs in the States, still thought it was a great place and that it was good to get home even if it had to be for a few days or a few hours. They didn't mind coming back, although they "dreamed a little."
Their reaction to the home front, after being away for two years or more, was not a favorable one mainly because they felt to many people didn't know what war is like. That is, except their immediate families and those of other soldiers overseas. Perhaps they thought, they were expecting too much of people who weren't geographically close to the war.
GOOD FOR MORALE
Asked if he thought the furloughs were good for morale, even if they knew they had to return to the line, S/Sgt. James Hines of Manchester, N.H., said, "Sure it's worth it. Any chance to see your family and friends is swell."
Capt. Linwood Billings of Dover, N.H., had the same feeling. "It seemed great to get home and find out how family affairs were," he said.
But, not knowing what the big, red "1" was...
"Not only don't they know about the First Division, but they think (Gen.) Patton is winning the war." one dough said. "Yeah, he is the idol at home. But he should be good. The First Division trained him. Jeez, don't put my name on that, though."
Hines however, spoke for the group when he said: "Don't get us wrong. We'd go back again tomorrow, if we could."
NAZI DEFENSE LINE IN WEST SMASHED - IKE
SHAEF, Mar. 27 - Gen. Eisenhower, today said that the main German defense line in the West is smashed.
The Supreme Commander also declared that there would not be a negotiated unconditional surrender by Germany, but rather an imposed unconditional surrender, when the Allies in the West link up with the Russian armies driving from the East.
Gen. Eisenhower also warned against expecting a clear road to Berlin.
"I would say that the Germans, as a military force on the Western front, are a whipped army." he told a press conference. "But, that does not mean that a front cannot be formed somewhere where our maintenance is stretched to the limit, and their defensive means can be better brought to bear."
There will be no "negotiated unconditional surrender," said the general "There will be an imposed unconditional surrender, and the first thing to do is to enforce order, and we're going to have to do that by force of arms."
Eisenhower also reviewed the smashing Rhine-bound campaign, climaxed by the river crossing. He asserted the end of this campaign meant the Allies had reached the conclusion of one phase and were now entering another.
"There have been a quarter of a million Germans captured since Mar. 1," the general said. "You can see what a quarter of a million men would mean to the German Army east of the Rhine if they were available now."
He said the Rhine crossing "has gone much quicker and has been much less costly than we expected," and recalled that on the first day's crossing two U.S. infantry divisions - the 30th and 79th - had less than 35 men killed.
He repeated his belief made several weeks ago that if the Germans lost Silesia, the Saar and Ruhr, the Wehrmacht's power to continue the war could not be prolonged for a long period.
The Ardennes offensive, said the general, "was the costliest mistake the Germans have made since their decision to stand in the face of our Avranches breakthough last Summer."
He denied reports that German civilians were firing in organized bands on American troops east of the Rhine, but asserted: "I have told my Army commanders that any civilian resistance will be dealt with sternly and on the spot. I will not tolerate civilians out of uniform firing on my troops."
As to soldier-civilian fraternization in the Reich, the Supreme Commander declared that "generally the conduct of our troops while the battle is going on has been exemplary."
Eisenhower added that the V-bomb menace to England may end shortly with Allied troops cutting communications lines leading into northern Holland.
Picking through any possible balloon of optimism on the home front, Eisenhower frankly told correspondents: "I would not have you think I have written off this war. No one knows what the German can do within his own country. But he is trying to do everything that he can. I believe so far as he is able the German will stand and fight wherever we find him."
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