April 1, 1945;

OGDEN CITY, UTAH, SUNDAY MORN.ING,' APRIL 1,1945

Germans in Trap

Turn Northeast

In Escape Effort

Last Great Battle

Of West, Scribe

Writes at Paderborn

By Edward Kennedy

PARIS. Sunday, April 1 (AP)—

The allies clamped a steel deathlock around the Ruhr basin last night, and the trapped Germans turned frenziedly northeastward in a savage effort to break out

toward Berlin, now only 170 miles away.

"This is the fina1. great battle of the west." wrote Associated Press Correspondent Hal Boyle from Paderborn, six-way road hub in which the battle of annihilation

centered.

By The Associated Press

American tank columns Saturday night were less than 170 miles from Berlin. Here is that distance as measured approximately between intermountain cities: Twin Falls to Idaho Falls, Pocatelo to Salt Lake City, Lewiston

to Sandpoint.

Allied supreme headquarters made no break in its security blackout but broadcast an invitation by General Eisenhower to all isolated German forces to surrender. 'He

disclosed that the new U. S. Fifteenth army and the French First army both had joined the struggle, raising to nine the number of allied armies battling east of the

Rhine.

Cutoff Complete

Americans Seize

Jap-Held Port

In Flashing Blow

Invasion of Sugar-Rich Negros Island

So Swift Nips Unable to Explode

Prepared Demolition Charges in Bacolod

By Ray Cronin

AP. War Editor

Powerful allied naval and air forces knocked mightily at the approaches to the

Asiatic mainland Saturday.

American invaders of sugar rich Negros island in the Philippines captured the excellent port of Bacolod in an envelopment so swift the Japs were unable to explode prepared demolition charges.

Thus Bacolod, a city of 50,000, escaped the destruction that was the fate of Manila and Cebu city on recently-invaded Cebu island.

U. S. fliers blockading the China sea intercepted a convoy off Indo- China and sank 10 ships, including five large merchant vessels and two destroyers. A third destroyer and three more freighters were sunk off Hainan.

Legaspi Pounded

Legaspi, important harbor on southeastern Luzon, was hit with 320 tons of bombs, the greatest pounding yet.

For nine days, without letup the big guns of battleships and swarms of carrier planes have hammered.

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NEW YORK, March 31—

A Tokyo broadcast heard by NBC said Saturday night that Jap land planes are. attacking "a full A m e r i c a n fleet off Okinawa island" in the Ryukyus.

The broadcast added that the battle "will be as fierce as the second battle of the Philippines—the American landings on Leyte."

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The strategic Ryukyus, on the southwestern flank of the Jap homeland, and radio Tokyo said an invasion fleet was moving in on Okinawa, main island of the chain.

The Ryukyus stand guard at the approach to the east China sea.