Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (May 2, 1945)
FROM
(A) SHAEF MAIN
ORIGINATOR
PRD, Communique Section
DATE-TIME OF ORIGIN
021100B May
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 MAIN
(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) HQ SIXTH ARMY GP
(21) WOIA FOR OWI WASHINGTON FOR RELEASE TO COMBINED U.S. & CANADIAN PRESS AT 0900 HOURS GMT
(22) AHFQ, ROME FOR PWB
(REF NO.)
NONE
(CLASSIFICATION)
IN THE CLEAR
Communique No. 389
UNCLASSIFIED: Allied forces advanced seven miles beyond Leer to Hesel. We are two miles from the outskirts of Oldenburg.
West of Hamburg we occupied Horneburg and Stade meeting no resistance. The Elbe bridgehead, east of Hamburg, is now 30 miles in length and armor has broken out to the north. We captured Geesthacht and Boizenburg and crossed the Hamburg-Berlin autobahn.
Two airfields in the Lübeck area and road transport around Luebeck and Schwerin were bombed by our medium and fighter-bombers.
Northeast of Grafenau, our forces crossed the Czechoslovakian border at two points.
Farther south, our armor crossed the Austrian border in the vicinity of Oberkappel and entered Oepping northwest of Linz.
We reached the vicinity of Kollersberg, northeast of Passau, and an armored column advanced into Austria to reach a point 23 miles southeast of Passau.
West of Passau we entered Kriestorf and reached the vicinity of Poerndorf south of Deggendorf.
Advancing rapidly against light resistance, our armor reached the Inn River in the vicinity of Braunau. Other armored elements captured Eggenfelden and entered Koesslarn northeast of Braunau.
We captured Oberhoecking, south of Landau, and pushed 12 miles to the southwest.
Our units cleared Landshut and repulsed and enemy counterattack of 200 infantry southwest of the town.
South of Landshut we cleared Hubenstein and reached the vicinity of Dorfen.
The capture of Munich was completed. Southeast of Munich, our units reached the Mangfall River and south of the city we circled around the Starnberger See from north and south and continued five miles east of it.
Our forces crossed the Austrian frontier north of Scharnitz, ten miles northwest of Innsbruck. Garmisch-Partenkirchen, north of the border to the west, was reached.
Near the Plan See in Austria, we took a prison camp and liberated a number of high-ranking French and Belgian civil and military officials including seven French generals.
Gains southward were made generally through difficult Alpine terrain in Austria. South of Fuessen we advanced ten miles along the Lech River to within 35 miles of the Italian border.
West of the Iller River along a 20-mile front from Immenstadt to Bregenz, we gained up to eight miles southward. South of Bregenz we pushed five miles into Austria.
From the Munich area to the Iller Canal, 26,946 prisoners, including five German generals, were taken during the 24 hours ending midnight 30 April.
Enemy resistance on the Oleron Island on the French Atlantic Coast has been eliminated. The enemy was overcome rapidly following the liberation of the capital, St. Pierre d’Oleron. The commandant of the German defenses on the island surrendered and numerous prisoners were taken.
An ammunition plant near Stod, 16 miles southwest of Pilsen was attacked by light bombers.
During the day, 13 enemy aircraft were shot down, five of them in the Elbe bridgehead area. One of our fighters is missing.
Food supplies for the Dutch population were dropped at the Hague and Rotterdam yesterday by approximately 400 heavy bombers.
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/