BBC Chester Wilmot Reports From Montgomerys H

Hello BBC, this is Chester Womack speaking from Field Marshal Montgomery's headquarters. The German bridgehead west of the Rhine, opposite Basil, has been wiped out. Yesterday afternoon, three columns of Canadian, British and American troops broke through the last German defences, five miles south-west of Basil, and reached the western end of the two bridges, which the Germans had blown yesterday morning.

The end was sudden and swept. On Friday evening, the Germans were still resisting strongly, holding a line across the neck of the bend on which Vaisal stands. But during the night they evidently withdrew the bulk of their forces, and when Montgomery's troops attacked yesterday morning, they found little more than rear guard parties covering

roadblocks. During the day, the Germans were driven back more than five miles, and in the evening British infantry of the First Canadian Army linked up with 9th Army troops opposite Vaisal. This means that the Allied Army is now control the West Bank of the Rhine from Arnhem to Endenach, former House North of Kebrenz. There may still

be a few German stragglers at odd points along the West Bank and one pocket in an old force upstream from Vaisal had not been fully cleaned up last night. The The 21st Army Group began its drive to the Rhine 33 days ago.

In that time, it's captured more than 50,000 prisoners. Of these, 29,000 have been taken by the Ninth Army and 21,000 by the British and Canadians. In that time, Montgomery's forces have driven the Germans back between 12 and 25 miles along a 60-mile front.