BRITISH THREAT TO OUTFLANK CAEN

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 152, 29 June 1944, Page 5

BRITISH THREAT TO OUTFLANK CAEN

I (N.Z.F.A. Coovrisht. Rec. noon.) ' " LONDON, June 28. British forces have made a wide breachv in the enemy's line in the eastern sector of the Normandy bridgehead and have crossed the Odon River south of Caen and seriously increased the threat of outflanking that key town. "A big tank battle is raging in the open, rolling country of the plateau betwe-en the Odon and the Ome, the forcing of which would place the German garrison in Caen in extreme peril," says Reuters correspondent in a dispatch frcm the battle area. "The British have advanced more than 10.000 yards in a battle which j has already lasted three days. A staff officer told me this morning: 'I think the operation has been most successful. The Germans are in an awful situation. Our thumb is hourly pushing j more deeply into his defences.' '

No Time to Get Second Wind ; 4 'Twenty German tanks were i knocked out in the fighting yester- | day." the correspondent continues. "A tank battle is being fought out j in an area a mile north-east of i Esquay, which is across the Odon. j Our sweep through to the Odon and | the capture of the bridgehead across j the river was carried out with such; : power and force that the enemy was i | given no time to get his second "wind. ! j "The latest summing-up is thst our: } positions are strongly held, but the 1 | withdraw. He has gat a" number of I I small but strong infantry positions, very often well under ground in tha; woods and in the close country from ; which he guards the exits of the narrow roads with anti-tank guns and a background of Panther and : Tiger tanks. "We securely hold Colleville and Mouen and are fighting in Grainvilie. The Germans still hold positions on rising ground dominating the British crossing of the Odon." : Heavy Tank Clashes The Exchange Telegraph agency i correspondent with the' British forces i reports that heavy fighting and tank ; clashes went on all this morning. • The infantry fighting is fiercest on the right Sank, where the wooded i

j country ends. "Our tanks and antij tank guns engaged enemy tanks which "were sent out in "groups." ! the correspondent proceeds. "Some pockets of resistance are still being mopped up. although the Germans : are endeavouring to hang on until the very last. Several more villages were captured to-day. Allied Air Forces fully supported the fighting : men when the advance was continued in the first light of dawn. They attacked gun positions and shot up transport." The Daily Express correspondent : says German Tiger and Panther tanks are taking a beating from our ' heavy anti-tank weapons and accurate artillery fire. About the Size of a Bus "One knocked-out Panther was about the size of a bus. but much wider and squatter." the correspondent adds. "Its sides were skilfully sloped to make anti-tank shells skid on. The Panther carried an immensely long 75mm gun. which was probably more troublesome than the Tiger tanks' heavy SSinm gun. "Panthers and Tigers were first troublesome in small villages and hamlets, where they could hide from air observation. Consequently we had to adopt the American method of simply bashing down these villages and hamlets."