DIETMRR LOOKS ROUND EUROPE

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 217, 10 June 1944, Page 7

DIETMRR LOOKS ROUND EUROPE

Fronts Of Invasion SIGNS OF A ROUT IN ITALY

illy Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (Received June 9. 11.45 p.m.) NEW YORK, June 9. The Washington correspondent of the “New York Tinies”’ays informed circles regard the Italian campaign, as well as new blows which are expected on the Russian front, as being co-ordin-ated with the invasion of France. He adds: “There is real evidence of the disorganization of Kesselring’s forces, whose withdrawal in Italy looks more like a rout than a retreat. There is an indication that General Alexander will pot be content with limited gains and may compel the Nazis to pull reserves from other theatres to Italy for a desperate stand below the Po Valley.” , , “The Normandy coast battles constitute only the first act of the invasion, ' paid the German High Command spokesman, General Dietmar, in a broadcast. “This won’t .be an affair of here today and gone tomorrow. The troops we now face arc fighting with traditional AngloSaxon bulldoggedness. The grim battle in Italy is continuing with umliminisbcd fury. It is only a matter of time when Stalin will switch the lever and unleash his armies on a grand-scale offensive. Sooner or later the Balkan coasts may become the target of yet another diversionary invasion. “The stake is high. Some people m Germany thought the Allied preparations were only a gigantic bluff to pin down the German forces in the west while the real deciison would be sought elsewhere. The German High Command was not fooled. It is justified now in having kept; baek its reserves, even at times when it was rather difficult. Till now the enemy at no point has been able to ent. through the fortifications in depth. His actum has been according to plan—our plan. ’

WHERE IS ENEMY WEST WALL? Tour Of Front Line LONDON, June 8. “Allied tanks are rapidly widening the great bulge inside the Atlantic Wall,” says Richard McMillan, the British United Press correspondent with the invading forces. “J have just completed a tour of the front line covering nearly 30 miles, including captured towns and villages. What surprised me most was the weakness of the German defence line. “I examined with great care the socalled Atlantic Wall along this coast. It constitutes the biggest bluff of the war, for it simply does not exist. Some prisoners told me that the Germans bl>ve been frantically trying to complete the defences but that the task was too vast for them.”

In another dispatch Mr. McMillan.says: “The Germans staked all their cards on it landing over a short stretch of 21 miles between Dover and Calais, The Allies took a longer route and caught the enemy napping, The havoc wrought ]>y the Allied bombardment from sea and air could be seen in the coastal belt. The bombardments wrecked some roads and also hamlets which the Germans used as headquarters." Wall Deep Inland? “The Allied troops have pot yet breached Hitler’s Atlantic Wall," Sava Jxvwell Thomas, the “New York Daily News” correspondent, “At present we are fight’ ins only the advance guard of the German army. This fact does not seem to be generally understood by the public, and it is worrying military men. “Too many people- believe we broke through the Atlantic Wail.when we lauded in Normandy but the Atlantic Wall still stands between us and Paris. We haven’t breached it. nor have we parachuted over it. In fact, our commanders expect that we wjil meet n lot more German? before we reach these main defences. “The Atlantic Wall extends from the vicinity of Nantes, follows the Loire River to near Angers, and then goes north-west to Le Mans and north-east past; Paris to St. Quentin, near the Belgian border [an average of 100 miles beyond the coast]. The wall is protected hy stretches of water, minefields, and fortifications, and is backed up by many squadrons of German tanks. > “It is clear that we did not win any overwhelming victory when we fought our way ashore. Nobody expected that the main German armies would be waiting for us on the beaches.”

VAST WAR RUSH JOB Waterproofing Invasion Vehicles

(Received June 9, 11.55 p.m.) LONDON, June 9. The entire capacity of the steel sheet rolling industry jn Britain was taken over for waterproofing vehicles of the Allied expeditionary force to ensure they reached the shores of France with all engines in working order. This was stated by S.H-A-E.F. when it disclosed that the waterproofing was one of the greatest rush jobs of the war. Two hundred and eighty factories working night and day telescoped the task into a quarter of the time normal!}' necessary. Not a single factory produced an entire set of equipment. Many did not know what they were working on and only knew that the job niust be done in a hurry. A spokesman revealed that there had been long research on waterproofing following the first trials at Dienue* which were not very happy. Tanks landing in Normandy went through 6ft. of water, plus a wave allowance. RODNEY’S SHELLS HELPED LONDON. June 7. A British United Press correspondent aboard the destroyer Scorpion says that the Iti-ineh guns of 11.M.5. Rodney hurled scores of 20001 b. shells on a couple of German strongpoints late yesterday afternoon to help advanced A*, led troops who were pinned down at q‘s spot several miles inland. The British troops, as a result of this shelling, retook two places which had beep lost to German cou n ter-.'i t tacks.