ET's History: March 24, 1945;

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY, MARCH 24, 1945:

Bulletins

Basel, Switzerland, March 24. (Reuters)—

Unconfirmed reports reaching here today said the French 1st army crossed the Rhine at Rastatt, southwest of Karlsruhe.

Washington, March 24. (BUP)

—A U.S. blue network broadcaster reported from Paris today that almost 40,000 British and . American paratroopers were landed in. the Rhine bridgehead today:

Paris, March 24. (AP) —

The British 2nd and U.S. 9th armies have made at least four Rhine crossings north of the Ruhr on a front-of 20 to 25 miles.

Twenty-first Army GroupHeadquarters, March 24 (AP)—

Pilots flying over Germany east of the Rhine and north of the Ruhr before dawn today reported seeing "whole towns and villages burning* like torches."

Allied Supreme Headquarters, Paris, March 24 (AP)—

The last German elements west of the Rhine have been all but wiped out, headquarters announced today in a regular daily communique, which also

said that the U.S. 3rd Army had won its Rhine crossing without air or artillery preparation.

By BRITISH UNITED PRESS

A Columbia Broadcasting system broadcast from Paris said today that Prime Minister Churchill was at Marshall Sir Bernard L. Montgomery's 21^st army group headquarters as the offensive across the Rhine got under way.

London, March 24. (Reuters)

—The German high command admitted this afternoon that Allied troops had .effected breaches in the German positions on the lower Rhine between Rees and Wesel.

London, March 24. (BUP) —

An unconfirmed Brussels radio broadcast said today that Allied ground troops were three miles beyond the Rhine at an undisclosed

point on the 21st Army group front.

WINNIPEG, SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 1945

Paris, March 24. (BUP)—

Four Allied armies, three ground and one airborne, broke across the Rhine today on a broad front north of the Ruhr, beat down the first line of enemy resistance and drove two to three miles east in a bid to knock Germany out of the war. Field Marshal Montgomery's British 2nd, Canadian 1st and U.S. 9th armies started the final assault on Germany and fought under the greatest air umbrella of the Avar to link, up with paratroops and glider infantrymen of the Allied 1^st Airborne Army. The air soldiers glided down behind the German lines beyond the ground forces bridgehead. The whole operation started before dawn.

Hundreds Surrendering

Hundreds of beaten Germans were reported surrendering to the British infantry along the east bank of the Rhine. By mid-morning, however, the Nazis appeared to be rallying and returning airmen said a colossal battle was raging on the burning Westphalian plain north of the Ruhr.

The Allies were established solidly on a 12-mile stretch of the Rhine's east bank between Wesel and Bees and apparently had other footholds in the 30-mile area southward from Wesel to the Ruhr: city of Duesseldorf.

Bislich, almost mid-way between Wesel and Rees, was captured by Scottish troops and British commandos in the first wild rush across the Rhine and the 2^nd army men were mopping up few die-hard Nazis in the streets of the two flanking towns.

Montgomery's headquarters said the attack was going extremely well in the opening hours and British United Press front correspondents reported that all initial

objectives had been taken with amazingly light casualties.

Canadians Are Engaged

In Assault On Gateway

By ROSS MUNRO, Canadian Press War. Correspondent

With British and Canadian Forces on the Rhine, March 24.(CP Cable)—

Along a broad front north of the .Ruhr, British, American and Canadian troops stormed across the Rhine today to assault the gateway to the north German plain. The ground troops attack was followed dramatically by a tremendous airborne landing behind the river line in this thundering climax to the western front campaign.

Bridgeheads were established rapidly by British and American assault infantry in a moonlight crossing during the night. Scottish troops of the British 2nd army won

a bridgehead at Rees while British Commandos entered Wesel, across the Rhine from Zanten. Captured by the 1st Canadian Army in the closing hours of the army's offensive which ended March 10. Rees is 10 miles down river from Wesel

The Highland Light Infantry regiment of Gait. Ont.. was the first Canadian regiment over the Rhine-, crossing shortly after clawn into the Rees bridgehead.

" Never since D-day last June 6 has there been anything like this. For the concentrated fury of attack, the Rhine crossing operation eclipses the Normandy landings

Air Armada

Blasts Reich

London, March 24. (AP)—

More than 3,000 Allied planes; the greatest armada ever to fly from Britain at one time, swarmed toward northeastern Germany today and joined thousands more bombers and fighters streaming up from continental bases to lash the Germans

east of the Rhine.

A huge force of British heavy bombers smashed at the northern Ruhr during the night and pilots declared whole towns and villages were "burning like torches."