March 29, 1945 German West Front is Crumbling{

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY, MARCH 29, 1945:

PORT ARTHUR, TEXAS, THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 1945.

British, Yanks

Racing Across

Reich In North

Duisburg Captured And Frankfurt-On-Main

Nearly Cleared; Tight Blackout Clamped

Over Troops On Crumbling West Front

By James M. Long

PARIS, March 29 (AP).—

British and American troops racing today through a wide break in German lines north of the Ruhr were reported menacing Hannover, 142 miles from Berlin, while First Army shock troops raced to a point 207 miles

southwest of the capital.

Duisburg in the Ruhr ran up the white flag. All of Frankfurt-On-Main except the northern outskirts was captured by the Third Army, whose advance troops operating in echelon with the First Army moved eastward to within 214 miles of Berlin. Hamborn, Weisbaden, Hanau, Aschaffenburg and the northern half of Mannheim fell to Gen. Eisenhower's victory flushed armies fighting up to I 45 miles deep in Germany.

Blackout Blankets West Front

'I he full extent of the advances in Westphalia was hidden by a portentous security blackout, but AP Correspondent Ned Nordness said  Vluenslcer, Osnabrueck and Hannover all were threatened by the sweeping gains outflanking the Ruhr to the

north. Several dcfendable rivers were crossed easily. Hannover is 112 miles from last publishable British positions on the approaches to Muensler,

capital of Westphalia.

The nearest First Army approach to Berlin was at Amocneburg, 85 miles .beyond the Rhine and 255 from Russian siege lines in the cast. The First and Third Armies scored advances 'of 20 miles or more overnight, capturing the important Lahn river

traffic center.

RED ARMY

IS DRIVING

ON VIENNA

Soviets In 39 Miles

Of Capital; Nazis

Admit Retreats

LONDON, March 29 (AP). —

The Red Army, lancing through the shattered defenses of the Bratislava gap in the

Danube valley, has reached places along  the Austrian frontier, it was reported from Moscow today. The big Stalin tanks and armored cars of Marshal Feodor Tolbukhin's Third Ukraine Army, smashing ahead from captured Csorna, hammered at the defenses of Pamhagcn, 39 miles southeast of Vienna. St. John on the frontier to the northeast, and Moson (Wieselbourp). near the Danube 21 miles

southeast of Bratislava, Moscow dispatch said.

May Just Be  Scouting

"Whether the units which fought their way to the frontier planned to remain or whether these were. scouting troop feeling out the strength of the much-heralded fortified zone is not known," said dispatch from AP Correspondent Eddy Gilmore.

"There are no Indications that any of these tanks and armored cars actually crossed the frontier into Austria. "

The German communique, announced a withdrawal north of the Danube to the Nita river and a 25-mile advance by the Russians from the broken Hron river line.

This push in Slovakia, dovetailing with the assault below the great river of southeastern Europe. apparently placed the Russians close to the city of Nitra.

40 miles east of Bratislava, capital of the puppet government of Slovakia. and possibly as close as 30 miles to the border of Moravia.

Koenigsborg Menaced

In the north the German  communique announced the evacuation of Kahlholz cape, their last toehold on the East Prussian mainland except north of Koenigsberg.

The early fall of Koenigsberg, capital of East Prussia, also was probable.

Americans

NORTH OF

CEBU CITY

By H. D. Quigg

MANILA, March 29 (UP).

American troops captured Cebu's burned and blasted capital city and speared northward today in a drive that may have over-run the Lahug airdrome.

Cebu City, second largest city in the Philippines, fell to units of the American division which advanced five miles in one day and outflanked elaborate Japanese pill-box fortifications on the capital's: western approaches.

City Badly Damaged

The city, once one of the most beautiful in the archipelago, was damaged nearly as badly as Manila.

Demolition, fires, started by the Japanese when the Americans landed Monday, practically wiped out the business district and many residential sections.

The port area was reportedly found undamaged, however, and the excellent harbor, second only to Manila, will be able to accommodate shipping and naval vessels almost immediately.