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_ ■■ -* State and National News
rOL^;~~'S^' 10-_____WILMINGTON, N. C., WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1945. ' FINAL EDITION "
American Offensive Plunges To Erft River;
Soviets Smash 44 Miles Through Pomerania;
Marines Gain Slightly Against Foe On I wo
New Red Push
Sets Trap For
PanzigForces
100 German Communities
Captured In Russian
Baltic Sweep
LONDON. Feb. 27.— (<P)—A 4
pljs smash through the German
lines in Pomerania carried the
gecond White Russian Army today
within 22 miles of pocketing the en
emy forces in Danzig, the north
Polish Corridor and East Pomer
ania, Moscow announced tonight.
The breakthrough, which began
, four days ago, was disclosed by
Premier Stalin in an order of the
day, and the subsequent regular
Soviet communique broadcast
from Moscow credited Marshal
Rokossovsky’s troops with captur
ing more than 100 German com
munities in their continuing north
ward sweep towards the Baltic.
Except for the capture of 12 ad
ditional blocks inside besieged
Ereslau in Silesia and the seizure
of seven villages in Czechoslova
kia, the brief Russian communi
que dealt entirely with Marshal
Rokossovsky’s significant offen
sive. t
The German High Command
acknowUedged the gains, and Ger
man ty*oadcasters said the Russi
an? /flready were fighting on the*
anproaches to Koeslin. through
which run the last highway and
railroad along which the Nazis in
the northeast could retreat.
By both German and Russian of
ficial accounts, however,' the far
thest point of Rokossovsky’s ad
vance came with the capture of
Bublitz, 22 miles southeast of
Koeslin and 28 miles from the Bal
tic Sea.
The Germans stated that the
drive was aimed at slicing off the
Danzig and Gdynia territories.
Their defense forces confronted
imminent entrapment identical to
that in which the Nazis in south
west Latvia and East Prussia long
have writhed.
German Commentator Ernst von
Hammer said the great Soviet of
fensive was aimed at taking Koes
1 n, Kolberg, Stolp and Neustettin
and that the Russians carried or
ders to cut all communications be
tween Danzig and the great Baltic
Port of Stettin.
Neustettin, stubborn German de
fensive center, was in danger of
being surrounded, with the Russi
sns already holding a great arc
around it from Gross Born, 11
nules southwest, to Bublitz, 15
miles northwest.
Besides Bublitz, Stalin’s order
announced capture of the strong
Points of Baldenburg, Schlochau,
“tegers and Hammerstein .All on
le routes leading northwest to
ward the Baltic
•larshal Rokossovsky’s forces
“JS were moving rap.Mly up close
t" , “ght nank °f Marshal Zhu
whi 1 ^ilS' White Russian Army
‘ V ,nas been prosectuing the
m? 1 dll'ect drive on Berlin.
th;.T°r news dispatches said
on u Ukov's riSht Hank also was
that \lm°,ve toward >he Baltic and
Germans were hurling in
temm ffSerVes in desPerate at
Danzi1 T’ kcep open llle route to
was f \ . 6 Ge,'maos said Zhukov
cure u-j? l°ward Stettin to se
froniai'1 j .fiank f°r an ultimate
Glr dnve on Berlin,
the s;T’an broadcasters said that
sides theWLjvVhite Russians- be"
had k, i 8 ,ance m Pomerania,
Grud7iaa Pri, irito tbe fortress of
Polish r Z' bebind the lines in the
°f Dar7;°md0r and 56 mRes south
was in Iff and that street fighting
St uu progress.
BresP u°rn figbting continued for
Plan frrit another surrounded Ger
Army W’.°nthe First Ukraine
That ‘ ln fiesta,
nev auari?y’ under Marshal Ko
rn.;,- t-°.had mossed the Neisse
GermarVsfiASfVeral points> the
fense later claimed the de’
sians, had rePusled the Rus
said H;f'nan miUtary spokesman
that "no fighting
where excent ”8 t00k place” any*
front B °n the Pomeranian
Churchill Says Allies
Ready For Nazis ’Fall
Commons Promised That Germany Will Be
Rendered Impotent to Wage War for
‘Generations’; Poland Gains Land
LONDON, Feb. 27.— (.UP) —
Prime Minister Churchill told a
cheering House of Commons today
that Allied plans were complete
and ready for the collapse or sur
render of Germany, and he prom
ised that that country would be
rendered impotent to wage w'ar
“for generations to come.”
He named rich areas of eastern
Germany which will be given to
Poland and asserted that after the
Crimea Conference the Big Three
were more closely united than ev
er before in both political and mil
itary spheres.
“Let Germany recognize that it
is futile to hope for divisions
among the Allies and that nothing
can avert her utter defeat,” the
Prime Minister daid. “Further re
sistance will only be the cause
of needless suffering.
“The Allies are resolved that
Germany shall be totally disarm
ed, that Nazism and militarism in
Germany shall be destroyed, that
war criminals will all be tried
justly and quickly punished and
that all German industries capable
of military production shall be
eliminated or controlled and that
Germany shall make compensa
tion in kind to the utmost of her
ability for the damage done to Al
lied nations. . . there will be a
place one day for the Germans in
the community of nations, but on
ly when all traces of Nazism and
militarism have been effectively
and finally extirpated. On the gen
eral plan there is complete agree
ment.”
Churchill defended with the ut
most vigor the settlement of the
Polish question agreed upon at the
Crimea Conference.
“In supporting the Russian
claim for the Curzon Line. I re
pudiate and repulse any sugges
tion that we are making a ques
tionable compromise or yielding
to force or fear, and I assert with
the utmost conviction the broad
justice of the policy upon which
for the first time all the three
great Allies have now taken their
stand,” he said.
‘Moreover, the three powers
have now agreed that Poland
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 1)
Cherry Backs Principles
Of Medical Care Program
RALEIGH, Feb. 27.—(.Pi—Governor Cherry went personally before
the Legislature today and supported the general principles of the hos
pital and medical care bill, but reminded that teachers had a priority
-*on any surplus. Too, he said, many
GEN. WATSON, AIDE
TO FDR, IS DEAD
White House Secretary
Stricken After Crimea
Conference
AT SEA WITH PRESIDENT
ROOSEVELT, Feb. 20—(Correct)
—(UR)—Maj. Gen. Edwin M. Wat
con, military aide and secretary
to President Roosevelt, died at sea
today aboard an American cruiser
bearing the Presidential party
home from the Crimea Conference.
Watson, 61, became ill just as
the President and his staff were
leaving Russia by ait' to rejoin
the cruiser in 1he Mediterranean.
He died early today of a cerebral
hemorrhage.
The general, who had been on
the President's stall since 1933,
was one of the Chief Executive s
closest friends. His sudden death
greatly saddened Mr. Roosevelt.
° “I shall miss him almost more
than I can express,” the President
said. "There was never a cloud
between us in all these years. He
helped me greatly.”
It was expected that Watson
would be buried in Arlington Na
tional cemetery.
Aboard ship, Watson was given
every oossible medical attention
under the direction of Vice Adm.
Ross T. McIntyre, surgeon general
of the Navy and Mr. Roosevelt s
_rthvsirian.
The President said in a state
ment that Watson “fortunately,
suffered little, if at all.’
“He deserves every tribute that
can be given, both as a close
friend and as an officer of the
United States Army.
“He had been on almost every
previous trip with me during the
last 12 years and, though he had
been ill for a short period about
a year ago, it was his sense of
duty and determination to see the
war through that made him insist
on taking this trip with me.’’
Watson was ill briefly during
the Tehran Conference in 1943.
Shortly afterward, because of his
physical condition, he went on the
Army retired list in order as he
explained to friends at the time,
not to retard the promotion of men
behind him in seniority.
Watson's principal White House
task was supervising the Pres
dent’s appointments. As appoint
ment secretary for the past five
years, he arranged Mr. Roosevelt’s
entire White House schedule. In
the dual role of aide and secretary,
he accompanied the President on
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 2)
of the incorporated proposals
“must be postponed until some fu
ture date.”
Pursuing his oft-voiced advocacy
of conservative spending and a bal
anced budget, the Governor said
that “we cannot safely and se
curely build and expand our State
services on a war-time prosperi
ty.”
The bill, introduced last night
after weeks of discussion outside
the Legislative chambers, would
appropriate $100,000 for expenses
of the North Carolina Medical Care
Commission: $1,000,000, if available
after payment of the contingency
emergency salary to teachers and
low-salaried State employes, for
assistance of local hospitals car
ing for indigent patients: and $50,
000 for loans to medical students
who agree to practice in rural
areas for a! least four years. Trus
tees of the University of North Ca
rolina would be empowered to ex
pand the universities two-year
(Continued on Page Two; Col. 4)
Yanks Finish
Conquest Of
Verde Island
Mt. Mataba Captured As
U. S. Clears Japs From
Manila Area
MANILA, Wednesday, Feb. 28—
l/P)—Twenty-fourth Division Yanks
have completed the destruction of
the Japanese garrison on little Ver
de Island, invaded Sunday, Gen.
Douglas MacArthur reported to
day The island, between Luzon
and Mindoro, is astride the short
est supply route from the United
States to Manila.
Fourteenth corps troops clear
ing the Japanese from the Manila
watershed east of the liberated
capotal captured Mt. Mataba,
east of the town of San Miguel.
They also secured the south and
west slopes of Mt. Pacawuan.
South of there, the First Cavalry
Division pressed its attack 'on
Antipolo, just north of Laguna de
Bay, in the face of heavy mortar,
artillery and machinegun fire. This
opposition reflected reports of gath
ering enemy power in the sector.
Mopping up of Japanese rem
nants continued in the hills flank
ing the central Luzon plain and on
blasted Corregidor fortress at the
mouth of Manila Bay.
Borneo was pounded with 100
tons of bombs concentrated on air
dromes and port facilities. Many
hits on the target areas were re
ported, and smoke covered the
area.
Formosa took a 60-ton bombing.
Fires were started in barracks
areas. Three coastal ships were
damaged in the nearby Pescadores
Islands. Two American planes were
lost.
Heavy damage resulted from a
destructive bombing of Camranh
Bay on the Fench Indo-China coast.
Fighters escorting the attacking
Liberators shot down two enemy
interceptors and wiped out three
on the ground.
The Melbourne radio reported,
meanwhile, that Australian troops
now hold a 150-mile area south of
the Genga river on the west coast
of Bougainville in the Solomons,
and “complete occupation of Bou
gainville's west coast is in sight.”
Known Japanese casualties on
Bougainville since the Americans
left w'ere reported at 1,200.
Democracy was reborn in the
Far East Tuesday as Gen. Doug
las MacArthur solemly and tear
fully reestablished the Philippine
commonwealth government while
his forces of liberation expanded
their hold on vital territory with
in the archipelago. j
Ten miles east of Manila, on the
Wawa - Antipolo battle line, the
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 3)
Taft Seeks To Block Cat
In Newspaper Employment
WASHINGTON, Feb. 27.— (IP) —
Senator Taft (R-Ohio) introduced
an amendment to the manpower
control bill today to prevent any
sharp slash in the number of
workers employed by newspapers.
Taft proposed to modify the au
thority of the War Manpower Com
mission chairman to set employ
ment ceilings by forbidding him
to establish any which would re
duce the number of employes of
any regular daily, weekly of
monthly publication or newsgather
ing organization below the level
prevailing in such establishments
in any month of last year.
The employment ceiling clause,
together with a parallel provision
giving the WMC chairman power
to forbid employers to hire new
workers, is the key section of the
bill worked out byt'he Senate Mil
itary Affairs Committee as a sub
stitute for the work-or-jail meas
ure approved by the house Febru
ary 1.
To back up the grant of power,
the Senate bill provides stiff jail
and fine penalties for employers
who disregard the ceiling and hir
ing destrictions, and for deferred
farm workers who leave the farm
without their draft board's permis
sion.
Senator Burton (R-Ohio) hardly
had resumed discussion of the
manpower bill after a three-hour
delay occasioned by an insurance
measure when Senator McKellar
(D-Tenn) took issue with his pre
■ diction that ths Nation will face
a war crisis in the next , three,
four or five months.
“I disagree with the Senator’s
statement that we are approach
ing a crisis in the war,” the Ten
nesseean said. “In my mind we
have passed the crisis. The rest of
it is just mopping up.”
McKeliar explained that was
merely his own conclusion based
on the trend of the fighting, and
he conceded he might be in error.
However, he added, citing
Americans war production record:
‘‘I can’t see why we should dis
card our own system which has
operated so marvelously, ana take
over another system which hasn’t
worked so well in other coun
tries.”
Burton argued that passage of
the bill would be a great spur to
the soldiers’ morale “because it
will show them we are putting
our manpower to the best possible
use.”
Senator Chandler (D-Ky-, an op
ponent of any manpower control
legislation at this point, contend
ed “the workers don’t want this
bill, and the employers don’t want
it either, especially with that pen
alty clause.’’
Burton told his colleagues the
House bill would affect only about
one-third of the U. S. labor force,
since it w'ould apply only to ci
vilian men of 18 to 45, w'hile the
Senate bill would take in all work
ers regardless f sex or age.
Japanese Resistance
High Despite Losses
Enemy Still Clings To 0 n e Tip Of Central
Airfield; Yank Artillery Breaks Up Tank
Led Counterattack During Night
U. S. PACIFIC FLEET HEAD
QUARTERS, GUAM, Wednesday,
Feb. 28.— (f) —Two of the three
Marine divisions battling side by
side toward the high north part
of Iwo gnawed out small gains
Tuesday through thickly-studded
Japanese defenses but enemy re
sistance remains high and still in
cludes tanks after nine days of
ceaseless hammering.
The Nipponese grimly clung to
one tip of the central airfield af
ter a week of flaming action con
centrated on and around that two
ruway fighter base.
Adm. Chester Nimitz announced
in a communique today that the
Marines resumed a power-packed
push from the south half of Iwo
Tuesday morning after artillery
broke up a tank-led counterattack
Monday night. Enemy infiltra
tion attempts were repulsed.
The gains were registered in the
center by Maj. Gen. Graves B.
Erskine’s Third Division, which
holds virtually all of the central
airfield, and on the east shore
by Maj. Gen. Clifton B. Cates’
Fourth Division.
No mention was made of any
gain on the west by Maj. Gen. Kel
ler E. Rockey’s Fifth Division.
The fiercely resisted advance
'was supported by Marine artil
lery, carrier-based planes and
warships of the Fifth Fleet.
Mortar units blew up two Jap
anese ammunition dumps to fur
ther lessen the fighting power of
a garrison which is receiving no
reinforcements, no naval support
and little support from the aTr.
The Third Division has counted
800 enemy pillboxes in its zone
of action, indicating the tough
type of battle which must be
waged.
Land-based Army Liberators,
(Continued on Page Two; Col. 5)
233 Jap Planes, 31 Ships
Destroyed By Navy Fliers
U. S. PACIFIC FLEET HEADQUARTERS, Guam, Feb. 27.—<rP>—
Airmen of a mighty U. S. carrier task force smashed vital Japanese
aircraft plants and chased the enemy air force to cover in Sunday
VE-DAY TO START
YANKS HOMEWARD
America Can Expect About
200,000 Veterans
Each Month
WASHINGTON, Feb. 27.— UP! —
American families can expect a
lot of their servicemen to start
pouring home—200,000 to 250,000 a
month—once Hitler is out of the
way.
About half of them are likely
to be disabled, to small or large
extent.
This was the big news today in
a $2,453,177,125 supply bill turned
over to the House by its Appropria
tions Committee. The money is to
round out various agencies’ expen
ses for ibe fiscal year ending June
30.
Brig. Gen. Frank T. Hines, head
of the Veterans Administration, is
authority for the Army-returnees
estimafes. He quoted the War De
partment.
Hines also told the committee
the present rate of discharges is
around 90,000 monthly. (That’s 10,
000 above current Army draft
calls.)
The Veterans Administration is
down for $246,775,000 in the bill.
Most of this item is for increas
ink pension costs. There is also
$5,567,400 for the War Manpower
Commission, the bulk of it to fi
nance worK of finding jobs for vet
erans.
l^asi oepiemoer, me war de
partment set up a point system to
decide which men will get home
first when there is no one left to
fight but Japan.
This allows credit for length of
Army service, overseas duty, com
bat awards and parenthood. The
value of the various point credits
is to be announced only after the
war in Europe is over.
More than two-thirds of the
money in the catch-all bill is for
the still building Navy. It is al
loted $1,914,120,488, which, with
contractural authority for $114,
300,000, raises Navy funds for the
current fiscal year to approximate
ly $30,000,000,000.
Testimony on the measure was
released today. Among the items
covered:
A prediction by Chairman Can
non (D-Mo) that the end of the
war will “drop on the American
farmer the greatest surplus of
food and fibers ever known.”
A proposal (not acted upon) by
Rep. Johnson (D-Okla) that Japa
nese aliens in U. S. segregation
camps should be sterilized and
thus be made unable to breed.
An estimate by Price Adminis
trator Bowles that 13 per cent of
food sold at retail is sold above
ceiling prices.
pcinvi im/uuo y i uiuo vu x u.ij u cxiivx
Hachijo island, 175 miles south of
the capital. Adm. Chester W.
Nimitz reported today.
In their second attack on Tokyo
and vicinity in 10 days, the Yank
fliers from warcraft skirting Ja
pan’s coast battled wind-driven
snow and sleet, and pierced heavy
antiaircraft fire. Incomplete re
ports indicated they destroyed or
damaged 233 enemy planes and
sank or damaged 31 small vessels,
Nimitz said.
Vice Adm. Marc A. Mitscher,
commander of the daring task
force, said his fliers left the Ota
aircraft assembly plant, 47 miles
norhwest of Tokyo, a smouldering
ruin.
The Keisumi plant, where a sub
stantial portion of Japanese com
bat planes were assembled, was
virtually in ruins, Mitscher told
Bob Geiger, Associated Press cor
respondent with the fleet.
The Ota plant, only three mi-les
from the Keisumi factory and 12
from the Japanese emperor’s pal
ace, was blasted further Sunday
when Superfortresses from Mari
anas bases pounded the Tokyo
area in the biggest B-29 attack
of the war, staged by more than
200 of the huge aircraft.
The number of American carrier
planes making the bold strikes
was not mentioned by either
Nimitz or Mitscher, but Tokyo
radio during the raid days made
frantic estimates of from 600 to
1,200.
Nimitz said nine Navy fighter
planes were lost in combat, with
five pilots saved. Task force ships
received no enemy-dealt damage
while the American fliers were
blasting their targets, but two
Fleet units suffered minor dam
age during retirement, the com
munique said.
----.*
Back from Iwo Jima
' —■'
Lieutenant Commander John W.
McClain of Marion, O., a former re
porter, is the first man back from
the invasion of Iwo Jima. He de
scribed the island as “the most im
pregnable objective that could be
built.’’ (International Soundphoto).
LIEPZIG BLASTED
IN AERIAL DRIVE
Huge Allied Assault Con
tinues; Berlin Swept
By Fires
LONDON, Feb. 27—(UP)—Allied
bombers carried the greatest non
stop aerial offensive of the war
into its third week today, striking
a powerful blow at Leipzig, fifth
city of Germany, while neutral
sources reported that Eerlin was
still swept by great fires from yes
terday’s history-making American
assault.
American and British warplanes
from English bases and heavies of
the 15th Air Force in Italy—an
estimated 3,500 planes in all—rang
ed over southern, western and cen
tral Germany to strike new blows
at enemy communications and at
the Reich’s dwindling oil reserves.
More than 1,100 Fortresses and
Liberators of the U. S. Eighth Air
Force, escorted by more than 700
fighters, blasted railyards at the
eight-way junction of Leipzig and
the city of Halle, 23 miles to the
northwest.
Some 750 Fortresses attacked Le
ipzig, dropping their explosives
through clouds on the city, chief in
dustrial center of Saxony and sec
ond only to Berlin and Hamburg
in commercial importance. Rail
lines from Leipzig, which had a
pre-war population of more than
700,000, fan out to all parts of the
Reich. They had not been bombed
in the past two week’s unprece
dented assault on German com
munications.
The attack on Halle, a six-way
rail hub. also was aimed at crowd
ed freight yards.
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 1)
MEXICO CITY, Feb. 27. —(JPI -
The United States managed to
postpone for 24 hours today a sur
prise move to commit all the
American nations to guarantee the
frontiers and political independ
ence of the countries in this hem
isphere with their armed might.
Senator Warren Austin (R-Vt),
member of the Foreign Relations
Committee, intervened just as a
commission of the inter-American
conference here was about to pass
the plan by acclamation.
Entitled “The Declaration of
Chapultepec,” the resolution com
bines proposals put forward by
Uruguay, Colombia and Brazil.
The surprise came in the deter
mination of the other countries
here to forge links of steel among
the American republics immedi
ately, without waiting for estab
lishment of a world security or
ganization at San Francisco.
The “Declaration of Chapulte
pec” goes beyond the Dumbarton
Oaks plan in one important point:
The signatory nations would be
obliged to use force when aggres
sion or a “sure threat” of aggres
sion developed on this continent.
Austin managed to get the vote
put off until tomorrow on two
grounds. The resolution was in
Spanish, and he said he did not
have an English copy. Also, since
he said it would commit the arm
ed forces of the United States, he
wanted to wait to consult Senator
Tom Connally (D-Tex), chairman
of the Foreign Relations Commit
tee, due later today.
If approved by the commission,
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 6)
U. S. Postpones Decision
On Armed Peace Proposal
Ruhr Valley
Menaced By
Yank Drive
Prisoners And Towns
Scooped Up By Racing
Doughboys
PARIS, Feb. 27.—UP)—American
infantry and armor smashed across
the flatlands of western Germany
today in advances of ten miles or
more, plunging all the way to the
Erft river and within 8 1-2 miles
of Cologne in a great drive that
threatened the whole industrial
Ruhr.
German prisoners were scoop
ed up by the hundreds and town
alter town fell to the waves of
troops racing forward by truck and
afoot.
German resistance was so
feeble and apparently demoralized
that a complete news blackout
tonight was clamped on all opera
tions of Ninth Army divisions
which have broken through in this
area. It was thought the Germans
themselves might not know the full
extent of the American break
through.
With the Ninth Army already at
the Erft, last natural barrier be
fore the Rhine river, 13 miles
away, the U. S. First Army surged
toward Cologne, capturing the
cross-roads village of Sinzdorf, 8
1-2 miles southwest.
At the same time the Canadian
First Army lashed out in an in
tensified attack against the Ger
mans’ northern flank, rolling back
the weakened Nazi defenses two
to four miles between the Maas
and the Rhine, and driving with
in 30 miles of a wing of the Ninth
Army probing northward beyond
Muenchen-Gladbach.
U. S. Third Army troops to the
south fought into the important
road hub of Bitburg and streamed
across the Bitburg-Trier highway
in several places in a general two
mile advance all along their sec
tor of the sprawling battle front.
Gen. Eisenhower’s whole mighty
offensive swept irresistibly toward
the Rhine through German forces
officially described as being in “ex
treme confusion.” Several German
divisions were counted as com
pletely destroyed since the First
and Ninth U. S. Armies slammed
across the Roer river last Friday.
At the center of the assault, the
30th Division powered up to the
Erft river midway between
Duesseldorf and Cologne, captur
ing the river village of Morken on
that last natural barrier before the
Rhine. East of Dueren armored
spearheads of the First Army
blasted to within nine miles of
blackened Cologne and almost to
the banks of the Erft, beating down
desperate Nazi counterattacks on
the day.
The Germans brought tanks
across the Erft and met the on
rushing American Shermans in
tank-in-tank slugging matches, but
failed to check Lt. Gen. Courtney
H. Hodges’ powerful drive across
the Cologne plain.
Today’s .flanking .drive past
Muenchen-Gladbach revealed what
previously had been a military
secret, AP Correspondent Wes Gal
lapher asserted—“that Gen. Eisen
hower’s winter drive is aimed at
bigger stakes than just reaching
the Rhine. It is part of the blow
at the heart of the Nazis—the
Ruhr.”
To the south, LI. Gen. George S.
Patton's American Third Army
troops stormed into Bitburg, the
German “Bastogne”, after throw
ing armored claws about the town.
The town was lightly held, but its
Nazi garrison put up determined
resistance as Patton’s foot soldiers
and tanks moved in for the final
assault.
The suddenness of Patton’a
sreakthrough in this area yeeter
lay forced the Germans to with
draw most of their forces from
Bitburg, despite its great strategic
importance as a main highway
center between the Third Army and
:he Rhine at Coblenz.
With three great American arm
es ripping through the vitals of
:he enemy’s Rhineland defenses,
field Marshal Montgomery’s Bru
sh and Canadian forces on the
torth pierced the Nazis’ last de
lenses in the Hochwald Forest and
smashed on through crumbling en
;my resistance.
Field dispatches said hundreds
)f tanks had broken the backbone
)f the Germans in that sector and
hat the Allied advance was assum
ng the proportions of a break
Continned on Page Three; Col. 4)j