America at war! (1941–) – Part 4

Führer HQ (March 6, 1945)

Kommuniqué des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht

Zwischen Dran und Donau lebte die Kampftätigkeit auf. In der Slowakei brachten unsere Truppen in zäher Abwehr die von Süden geführten Angriffe der Bolschewisten im Raum südlich Schemnitz zum Stehen.

An der mittleren Ostfront kam es nur im Raum von Lauban zu größeren Kämpfen. Nordöstlich der Stadt drängten unsere Truppen den Feind weiter zurück, hielten das im Angriff gewonnene Gelände gegen zahlreiche Gegenangriffe und vernichteten 30 feindliche Panzer.

Der Brennpunkt der großen Schlacht in Pommern liegt zwischen Stargard und Greifenberg. Die Angriffe starker Panzerkräfte der Sowjets in Richtung auf das Stettiner Haff wurden durch Verbände der Waffen-SS nördlich Stargard, nordöstlich Gollnow und bei Platte aufgefangen. Auch bei Kolberg und Belgard sind erbitterte Kämpfe mit den gegen die Küste drängenden Angriffsgruppen der Bolschewisten entbrannt. Eine in Pommern eingesetzte Panzerarmee vernichtete innerhalb der letzten acht Tage 300 feindliche Panzer, davon 135 durch Nahkampfwaffen.

In Westpreußen setzte der Feind auf breiter Front seine Angriffe fort. Seine Erfolge blieben trotz hohen Materialeinsatzes auf geringe Einbrüche nordöstlich Rummelsburgs und nördlich Großwollental beschränkt.

Die unerschütterliche Widerstandskraft unserer tapferen Truppen in Ostpreußen zwang die Bolschewisten infolge ihrer hohen Ausfälle an Menschen und Material gestern zu einer Kampfpause. Schwächere Vorstöße im Raum von Zinten brachen vor den eigenen Stellungen zusammen.

Auch in Kurland haben die Durchbruchsversuche der Sowjets südöstlich Libau unter dem Eindruck unserer Abwehrerfolge an Wucht und Geschlossenheit verloren. Südöstlich Frauenburg setzten die Sowjets ihren Großangriff fort, ohne daß ihnen ein tieferer Einbruch in unser Hauptkampffeld gelang.

Am Niederrhein wiesen unsere Verbände die Angriffe der Engländer und Kanadier im Raum von Xanten auch gestern ab. In der Zeit vom 2. bis 5. März wurden hier 203 feindliche Panzer vernichtet. Den Amerikanern gelang es nach blutigem Ringen von Südwesten und Süden auf Rheinberg vorzudringen, während ihre Angriffe gegen Orsoy scheiterten.

An der gesamten Front zwischen Düsseldorf und Euskirchen stehen unsere Truppen in erbitterter Abwehr gegen starke feindliche Kräfte, die in Richtung auf den Rhein Vordringen konnten. In den westlichen Vorstädten von Köln wird gekämpft.

Die Mehrzahl der amerikanischen Vorstöße zwischen der Schnee-Eifel und der Mosel Wurden abgewiesen. Nur nordöstlich Kyllburg gelang dem Feind ein tieferer Panzervorstoß, aus dem im Gegenangriff 12 Panzer abgeschossen wurden.

Die Stellungskämpfe bei Forbach und Stirning-Wendel dauern an.

Im Etruskischen Apennin haben die Amerikaner ihren Druck auf den gesamten Abschnitt zwischen Montese und Vergato ausgedehnt. Ihre Angriffe wurden vor neuen Bergstellungen zum Stehen gebracht.

Bei den Februarkämpfen in Kroatien verloren die Banden nach jetzt vorliegenden Meldungen über 7.000 Tote, 1.300 Gefangene, 250 Maschinengewehre und zahlreiches weiteres Kriegsgerät, größtenteils englischer Herkunft. Säuberungsunternehmungen deutscher und kroatischer Kampfgruppen im Großraum von Bihac an der dalmatinischen Küste schreiten gut vorwärts.

Nordamerikanische Bomber führten am Tage Terrorangriffe gegen Chemnitz, Groß-Hamburg und Gelsenkirchen. Durch weitere anglo-amerikanische Bomber- und Tieffliegerverbände wurden vorwiegend am Mittelrhein Verluste und Schäden verursacht. In der vergangenen Nacht war Chemnitz erneut das Ziel eines schweren Angriffs der Briten, die außerdem Bomben auf Städte im westlichen, südlichen und mittleren Reichsgebiet warfen. Durch Luft-Verteidigungskräfte wurden 32 amerikanische Flugzeuge, in der Mehrzahl viermotorige Bomber, zum Absturz gebracht.

Deutsche Flugzeuge, die in breiter Front in den Bereich der britischen Insel vorstießen, erzielten außer den bereits gemeldeten Abschüssen britischer Terrorbomber noch weitere Erfolge durch Bomben- und Bordwaffenangriffe gegen kriegswichtige Industrieziele und militärische Anlagen in beleuchteten Orten.

London liegt weiter unter unserem Vergeltungsfeuer.

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In Kurland zeichnete sich Oberleutnant Heyduck Kompaniechef der ersten Kompanie des Grenadierregiments 44, durch entschlossenen Kampfwillen und kühnen Angriffsgeist aus. Er eroberte eine wichtige Höhe nach sechsmaligem Verlust im Gegenstoß mit nur acht Mann immer wieder und behauptete sie schließlich gegen alle feindlichen Angriffe.

Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (March 6, 1945)

FROM
(A) SHAEF MAIN

ORIGINATOR
PRD, Communique Section

DATE-TIME OF ORIGIN
061100A 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. 332

UNCLASSIFIED: Allied forces continue to make good progress in reducing the enemy bridgehead west of the Rhine. Our units have occupied Wardt and advanced to the approaches of Xanten. Mopping up operations in the area of Geldern have been completed and farther east we have reached Rheinberg and captured Orsoyerberg. Moers and Alt-Homberg have been cleared of the enemy and we hold the left bank of the Rhine River from Homberg to Neuss. Farther south, our units reached the Rhine at Grimlinghausen and have captured the town. South and southeast of Grimlinghausen, the towns of Schlicherum and Nievenheim were captured, and we reached Dormagen after a four-mile advance. In the same area. Cavalry elements cleared Benrath-Chorbusch, a forest, and occupied Straberg and Delhoven.

We reached the Rhine River at Worringen, cleared Roggendorf, and pushed south to occupy Longerich. Köln has been entered by our armor which has penetrated more than one mile within the city limits. Other units are fighting in the western Köln suburbs of Müngersdorf and Junkersdorf. To the south, we have taken Gleuel and Burbach. Farther south of Köln we have occupied Schmarzmaar and our armor cleared Euskirchen and pushed 800 yards southeast of the town. Billig and Kreuzweingarten, south of Euskirchen, have been taken. East of the Forest in Gemund, we have taken Berg and entered Glehn. The town of Gemünd has been captured. Northeast of Prüm we captured Schönfeld, Duppach and Schwirzheim. East and south of Prüm, we captured Kopp, Malberg and Neuheilenbach. Our units have reached the Kyll River on a two mile stretch in the area nine miles southeast of Prüm.

East of Bitburg, our forces crossed the Kyll River and captured Pickliessem and Ordorf. In the Saarbrücken area we have cleared Forbach and nearby Marienau after hard fighting. Our units also have driven the enemy from a large part of Stiring-Wendel. Some 1250 allied prisoners of war were liberated at Stiring-Wendel. Most of them were ill. In northern Alsace, and along the Rhine south of Strasbourg, enemy patrols were repulsed. Allied forces in the west captured 7454 prisoners on Mar 4.

Rail lines in Holland and north of the Ruhr were attacked by fighter bombers. Medium and light bombers attacked rail communications over a wide area mainly east of the Rhine. Targets were rail yards at Nuttlar, 45 miles west of Kassel: Altenhundem and Kreuztal, north of Siegen; Marburg, Wetzlar and Bingen; a rail junction at Westerburg, and the communications center of Meckenheim, southwest of Bonn. An ordnance depot at Unna, east of Dortmund also was attacked. Rail yards at Kaiserslautern and Neustadt and rail traffic in the Zweibrücken area were targets for fighter bombers. Escorted heavy bombers attacked railway marshalling yards at Chemnitz and oil refineries at Harburg, near Hamburg. Other escorted heavy bombers made a concentrated attack on a benzol plant near Gelsenkirchen. Last night Chemnitz was again attacked by heavy bombers which were over germany in very great strength. Targets in Berlin also were bombed.

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/

U.S. Navy Department (March 6, 1945)

CINCPOA Communiqué No. 290

After the most intense artillery bombardment of enemy positions since the operation on Iwo Island began, elements of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Marine Divisions resumed the attack on the morning of March 6 (East Longitude Date). Fighting was heavy throughout the day with the enemy offering very stiff resistance and subjecting our forces to a heavy volume of small arms and mortar fire. By 1730 on March 6, the Marines had made small local gains on the left flank and in the center of the lines. Carrier aircraft supported the attack and naval guns were in action throughout the day.

The Marines had counted 14,456 enemy dead at 1800 on March 5.

Army fighters are using the southern Iwo airfield and air evacuation of wounded by transport plane continues. Unloading conditions continue to be favorable.

Army Liberators of the Strategic Air Force, Pacific Ocean Areas, bombed the airfield on Chichi Jima in the Bonins on March 5.

On the same date fighters of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing bombed and set afire an oil dump, a supply dump and a house in the Palaus. Marine Corsair and Avenger torpedo planes attacked targets in the Palaus and on Yap in the Western Carolines on March 6.

Marine fighters strafed targets on Rota in the Marianas on March 6.

The Pittsburgh Press (March 6, 1945)

Patton breaks through – Cologne falls to Yanks

Third Army plunges 25 miles eastward toward the Rhine

Churchill: ‘One good strong heave’ can beat Nazis

Premier visits Germany, tells troops ‘decency, fair play’ will rule after war
By Leon Kay, United Press staff writer

Showdown drive imminent on Iwo

Leathernecks mass to annihilate Japs

GUAM (UP) – U.S. Marines were massing strength today for an all-out assault to split and annihilate the last thousands of Japs in Northern Iwo.

How many Japs remained to oppose the American push was not known definitely. A total of 12,864 enemy dead had been counted by 6 p.m. Saturday, but field dispatches estimated that at least three-quarters of the original garrison of 20,000 had been wiped out.

2,050 Yanks killed

American dead for the first 13 days – through Saturday – of the bloodiest campaign of the Pacific war totaled 2,050 (A Jap communiqué claimed “about” 20,000 Marines had been killed or wounded and 250 American tanks “either stranded or set afire” in the battle of Iwo).

The fighting front has remained virtually unchanged for more than 48 hours while the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions brought up munitions and supplies for the attack. The 3rd Division, in the center, has only a quarter mile to go to the northeast coast to split the decimated enemy garrison.

Japs attack

The Japs tried time and again to infiltrate the American lines Sunday night and early Monday, only to be broken up and thrown back. Hundreds of the enemy were killed, but the infiltration parties did bring the Marines under “substantial” artillery and small arms fire.

Army Liberators bombed Chichi, in the Bonin Islands just north of Iwo, Sunday.

$11,000 gift from Canada –
First Lady gets mink coat (sleeves 3 inches short)

Second is donated to fundraising committee but Mrs. Roosevelt says she’ll keep hers
By Florence Feiler, North American Newspaper Alliance

Cincinnati to get 70-foot flood

Cloudburst hits Wheeling, West Virginia
By the United Press

Negotiators study 3 UMW demands

I DARE SAY —
Bringing in the sheaves

By Florence Fisher Parry

Senators laud world council voting plan

Results called best obtainable

In Washington –
Congressmen laud Vinson as loan chief

Wallace and Jones also praise him
By Lyle C. Wilson, United Press staff writer

Dewey will sign New York bill

Spires of undamaged cathedral guide Yanks to heart of Cologne

Smoke rises from ruins around church
By C. R. Cunningham, United Press staff writer


Yank hate for Germans extends even to civilians

Officer apologizes for chasing them, ‘but after you’ve seen what we’ve seen…’
By Ann Stringer, United Press staff writer

Plane hits hangar – 9 die, 14 hurt


Frank Sinatra put back in 4-F

Allies advance 800 yards in Italy

More peaks reported taken near Bologna

100,000 Japs wiped out in Luzon battle

Yanks ring remnants in three pockets

Forrestal: Iwo battle points to long Jap war

Enemy force totals five million men

WASHINGTON (UP) – Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal, just back from a three-week tour of the Pacific, has dimmed any budding hopes of an early end to the war with Japan.

He told a press conference late yesterday that the battle on Iwo Island demonstrated clearly the stiffening resistance that the Japs will put up as the war nears their homeland. Up to last Saturday, he said, American dead on Iwo numbered 2,050 Marines – more than twice the number killed on Tarawa.

Despite “severe and costly casualties,” Mr. Forrestal said, overall results of the battle have been highly successful. And once the island is conquered, the United States can send fighter-escorted bomber fleets over the Jap homeland.

The lean, 53-year-old Navy Secretary drove home these facts about Japan:

That despite the enemy’s heavy losses, he still has an estimated five million men under arms in his far-flung conquests, while the Americans have never had more than 12 divisions – about 180,000 men – in action at any one time.

That “the task still ahead of us is obviously immense.”

That Allied forces must be prepared to deal with the Japanese “in whatever theater the final death struggle of Japanese militarism occurs.”

“Japan is still a formidable and fanatical foe,” Mr. Forrestal concluded.


116,875 words sent from Iwo

ABOARD ADM. TURNER’S FLAGSHIP OFF IWO ISLAND (UP) – Correspondents covering the Iwo Island operation have been given the best press and radio transmission facilities of any amphibious campaign in the Central Pacific.

From the day of landing February 18 through March 1, the flagship communications office transmitted 116,875 words from wire service and special correspondents, exclusive of stories broadcast from the flagship by pool network correspondents.

United Press writers filed 154,092 words of this total.

Three censors worked aboard the flagship and stories were expedited to the United States via Guam and Honolulu.

Capt. Charles F. Horne of New York City, communications officer for Vice Adm. Richmond Kelley Turner, was credited with providing the excellent facilities.

Superfortresses stab at Jap homeland

China coast port also hit, enemy says

Government’s clothing plan called failure

Consumers’ group submits protests