Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (March 4, 1945)
FROM
(A) SHAEF MAIN
ORIGINATOR
PRD, Communique Section
DATE-TIME OF ORIGIN
041100A March
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. 330
UNCLASSIFIED: Allied forces east of the Hochwald Forest are fighting against fierce enemy resistance. We have occupied Kevelaer and to the west have advanced beyond the villages of Bergen and Langstraat on the right bank of the Meuse River. Contact has been made between elements of our forces advancing from the Roer and our units moving southward from the Reichwald. Farther south we have occupied Geldern, Sevelen and Kempen.
Enemy troops, defense positions, observation posts, road transport and barges in an area around Xanten and near Sonsbeck; objectives in the Wesel area, and rail and road traffic to the eastward were targets for medium, light and fighter-bombers and rocket-firing fighters.
The city of Krefeld has been completely cleared of the enemy. Three bridges across the Rhine in the Neuss-Düsseldorf area were blown by the Germans.
We are fighting in Frimmersdorf, southwest of Grevenbroich, and in Stommeln, northwest of Cologne while other units have reached Pulheim, four miles from the outskirts of Cologne. In this area Büsdorf, Fliesteden, Manstedten and Geyen have been cleared.
Mödrath, on the Düren-Cologne road, and Herrig, Lechenich, Ahrem and Weilerswist, southwest of Cologne also have been cleared.
Enemy positions north of Krefeld, communications on both sides of the Rhine and rail traffic around Cologne were hit by fighter-bombers.
Zülpich has been cleared.
Our forces across the Erft River north of Euskirchen, repulsed a counterattack supported by tanks and self-propelled guns after a hard fight.
We have crossed the Schwammenauel Dam and have mopped up the area between the Schwammenauel Lake and the Urft Lake to the south. Numerous minefields were encountered.
Northeast of Prüm, we have entered Weinsheim, and repulsed a small counterattack in that area. South of Prüm, our armor has crossed the Nims River. We have captured Oberlauch, Niederlauch, Schönecken and Dingdorf. A bridge at Schönecken was taken intact.
Our units hold the high ground overlooking the Nims River in the area ten miles northwest of Bitburg. We have captured Heilenbach.
Armored elements have reached the junction of the Kyll River and the Moselle River northeast of Trier. Southwest of Trier, we have taken Langsur, Igel, Zewen and Euren.
Two counterattacks were repulsed by our units in the area two miles southwest of Zerf.
Fortified towns in the area of Bitburg and Trier were attacked by fighter-bombers.
Breaking a week’s lull, our forces made limited gains in an attack in Forbach against stiff resistance.
Farther east, a slight gain was made north of Bübingen on the east bank of the Saar River in Germany.
Fighter-bombers set on fire a large ammunition dump at Eschringen east of Forbach, and attacked rail traffic in the Kaiserslautern area.
In northern Alsace and along the Rhine River, there was little activity.
Allied forces in the west captured 9,599 prisoners 2 March.
Medium and light bombers attacked supply and communications targets in the Ruhr Bassin and western Germany, including ordnance and motor repair depots at Schweim, Bergisch-Born, northeast of Cologne, Giessen, and Wiesbaden, rail bridges at Remagen and Heimersheim between Bonn and Koblenz, and at Simmern, an ammunition dump at Rheinbach, roadblocks at Kirn and a storage depot at Nahbollenbach to the southwest.
Oil, rail, and industrial targets over a wide area of Germany were attacked by escorted heavy bombers in very great strength. They included railyards at Chemnitz, synthetic oil plants at Magdeburg and Ruhland, north of Dresden, oil refineries and other factories in the Braunschweig and Hanover areas and a road and rail bridge spanning the Weser River at Nienburg, northwest of Hanover. Fighters strafed rail transport and destroyed 20 enemy aircraft on the ground. Ten enemy aircraft were destroyed in the air.
Last night, heavy bombers were over Germany in strength with Kamen as the main objective. Würzburg was also bombed. Light bombers again attacked targets in 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/