MACHINE GUNNERS of a First Army division covering a road intersection (top). Infantryman passes burning U. S. vehicles that were ambushed by enemy troops (bottom). During the first fighting in the Ruhr the enemy showed spirit. On 4 April ten counterattacks were launched in an attempt to break out of the pocket. Heavy fighting continued in many towns with the civilians fighting alongside German soldiers. Dug-in self-propelled guns supported the German infantry. The line was drawn tighter by the Allies and on 10 April Essen, home of the great Krupp armament works, was cleared by the U. S. assaulting troops. By 13 April the mopping-up stage had been reached.] [Illustration] [Illustration: GERMANY PRISONER OF WAR ENCLOSURE. On 14 April the Ruhr pocket was split in two, and prisoners arrived in such large numbers that Allied facilities were taxed to the limit. On 16 April the eastern half of the pocket collapsed and two days later the pocket ceased to exist. There were 325,000 prisoners, including 30 generals, counted as they were taken. This represented twenty-one divisions as well as many nondivisional units.] [Illustration: GERMANY INFANTRYMEN PASS A DEAD GERMAN as they cross a stream (top). Third Army troops climbing a steep hill in the mountainous region (bottom). On 10 April the Ninth, First, and Third Armies resumed the attack to the east with twenty-two divisions. Only in the Harz Mountains was any serious organized resistance encountered. The Germans had hurriedly assembled about 10,000 men to form an army which was initially to break through into the Ruhr pocket. When that failed it was to break through to the Thuringian pocket. This also failed and the small army which represented the last of the German manpower was encircled by the U. S. forces.] [Illustration] [Illustration: GERMANY VEHICLES OF AN ARMORED DIVISION passing through a burning German town. On 18 April the three armies were along the Elbe River-Mulde River-Chemnitz-Plauen-Bayreuth line which was a restraining line established because of the probability of contact with the Russian troops advancing from the east. In the north the 21 Army Group was advancing on Bremen and the Elbe between Wittenberge and Hamburg.] [Illustration: GERMANY ENGINEERS, building a bridge across the Saale River, pull a tank across on one of the pontoon sections (top). Magdeburg, showing the results of bombing (bottom).] [Illustration] [Illustration: GERMANY TANK DESTROYERS moving through the destroyed town of Magdeburg. Scenes such as this were found in many German cities by the advancing Allied forces. Most of the buildings were reduced to rubble by aerial attacks and artillery shelling, and many streets had to be cleared before the troops and vehicles could pass.] [Illustration: GERMANY