World: Thorny Package

The richest German industrial prize in the west—the Ruhr Valley—last week turned out to be a thorny package.

When units of the U.S. First and Ninth Armies joined hands at Lippstadt (TIME, April 9), the Germans in the Ruhr were cut off in a pocket about 200 miles around, anchored on the Rhine from Bonn to Duisburg. Trapped inside were elements of the German Fifteenth, First Parachute and Fifth Panzer Armies—120,000 to 125,000 troops.

These men could be depended on to fight hard—and they did. Even the Volkssturm fighting alongside them performed well. The pocket was believed to be plentifully supplied with ammunition,...