Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (February 24, 1945)
FROM
(A) SHAEF MAIN
ORIGINATOR
PRD, Communique Section
DATE-TIME OF ORIGIN
241100A February
TO FOR ACTION
(1) AGWAR
(2) NAVY DEPARTMENT
TO (W) FOR INFORMATION (INFO)
(3) TAC HQ 12 ARMY GP
(4) MAIN 12 ARMY GP
(5) AIR STAFF
(6) ANCXF
(7) EXFOR MAIN
(8) EXFOR REAR
(9) DEFENSOR, OTTAWA
(10) CANADIAN C/S, OTTAWA
(11) WAR OFFICE
(12) ADMIRALTY
(13) AIR MINISTRY
(14) UNITED KINGDOM BASE
(15) SACSEA
(16) CMHQ (Pass to RCAF & RCN)
(17) COM ZONE
(18) SHAEF REAR
(19) SHAEF MAIN
(20) PRO, ROME
(21) HQ SIXTH ARMY GP
(REF NO.)
NONE
(CLASSIFICATION)
IN THE CLEAR
Communiqué No. 322
UNCLASSIFIED: Between the Rhine and the Meuse, Allied forces have occupied Moyland while other units have made further progress south of the Goch-Udem railway.
We have resumed the offensive across the Roer River and have captured Rurich, Glimbach, Gevenich and Boslar in the Linnich area. Our elements have cleared Jülich except for the citadel and northern part of the town and have occupied Selgersdorf.
North of Düren, we have cleared Huchem-Stammeln, and are fighting in Birkesdorf and Düren against increasing resistance.
The attack was preceded by a heavy artillery preparation. River crossings were made in assault boats, storm boats, and by ferry. Opposition to the crossing was in the form of small arms and mortar fire.
Mersch and Stetternich, fortified towns at junctions on the main roads leading to the northeast and east of Jülich were attacked several times by fighter-bombers. Many other targets west of the Rhine between Krefeld and Andernach were bombed by other fighter-bombers.
Our elements, in gains of a mile and one-half on a six-mile front southwest of Prüm, have captured Kopscheid, Lauperath, Hölzchen, Krautscheid, Heilbach and Ammeldingen.
Enemy armored vehicles, principally in the area between Prüm and Bitburg, were attacked by fighter-bombers. More than 170 vehicles were destroyed and many others were damaged.
Armored elements have captured the town of Jucken, four miles east of Dasburg on the Luxembourg-German border and have pushed three-fourths of a mile beyond the town. Our armor also has made gains of up to two and one-half miles on a four-mile front, capturing the towns of Preischeid and Affler, in the area south of Dasburg.
We have reached the wooded area two and a half miles northeast of Vianden. Farther northeast, our units captured Obergeckler and Sinspelt.
There is house-to-house fighting in Ockfen, on the east bank of the Saar River, north of Saarburg. In this area we have crossed the river, and an enemy counterattack by tanks and infantry has been repulsed. Serrig, on the east bank of the Saar River, south of Saarburg, has been cleared with the exception of four houses.
The communications center and industrial town of Essen and the Alma-Pluto benzol plant at Gelsenkirchen were attacked by escorted heavy bombers.
West of the Rhine, bridges near Krefeld and Münchengladbach were targets for medium bombers. Road facilities in several towns ranging from Erkelenz and Grevenbroich in the north to Zülpich and Meckenheim in the south, were heavily bombed by medium and light bombers. Rail targets, principally on the Köln plain and along the Rhine Valley from Krefeld to Andernach, were successfully attacked by fighter-bombers in great strength. In the course of these attacks nearly 1,500 railcars as well as a number of locomotives, were destroyed and rail lines were cut in many places. Road transport in the same general area also was bombed and strafed.
Our forces clearing Forbach made further progress in hard fighting. The remaining enemy troops have been pushed into the eastern section of the town.
Four enemy attacks, two of which were supported by armor, were repulsed farther east. We have occupied Schönbach on the west bank of the Saar River. On the east bank, three miles south of Saarbrücken, stiff fighting continued in the southern outskirts of Bübingen.
Allied forces in the west captured 2,700 prisoners 21 February.
Bridges, locomotives, rail cars and other communications targets were attacked by fighter bombers in the Kaiserslautern area.
Escorted heavy bombers in very great strength carried out widespread attacks on railyards and other communications targets in south, central and southeast Germany, while many of the escorting fighters strafed transportation targets and airfields, destroying 14 enemy aircraft on the ground.
Last night, heavy bombers attacked the communications and industrial center of Pforzheim in the upper Rhineland. Light bombers attacked Berlin.
COORDINATED WITH: G-2, G-3 to C/S
THIS MESSAGE MAY BE SENT IN CLEAR BY ANY MEANS
/s/
Precedence
“OP” - AGWAR
“P” - Others
ORIGINATING DIVISION
PRD, Communique Section
NAME AND RANK TYPED. TEL. NO.
D. R. JORDAN, Lt Col FA4655
AUTHENTICATING SIGNATURE
/s/
