Septemer 22, 1944;

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY, SEPTEMBER 22,1944:

ALBERT LEA, MINNESOTA, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1944

Troops Battling for

Life in Effort to Keep

Rhine Crossing Open

Ixmdon, Sept. 22—(AP)

Airborn British and Poles, fiercely beset by a Germanman counterattack from all sides, fought a desperate battle for perservation tonight in an effort to hold open the strategic crossing, of the Rhine's upper branch in Holland so the allies could sweep into Northern Germany.

The position of the airborne soldiers, who leaped into the middle of the Germans' northern river defenses 50 miles ahead of allied lines last Sunday, was officially described as critical at Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's supreme headquarters.

A determined rush of German guns and troops had brought to a standstill the relieving advance of Lt. Gen. Sir Miles C. Dempsey's Second Army tanks two miles north of Nijmegen and six miles short of a junction with the beleaguered force.

 Reinforced By Poles