TOUGH GOING IN CAEN SALIENT BATTLE

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 249, 18 July 1944, Page 5

TOUGH GOING IN CAEN SALIENT BATTLE

British Widen Wedge ; Esquay Still Disputed

LUFTWAFFE MORE IN EVIDENCE

LONDON, July 1 7. Heavy fighting is in progress south-west of Caen, where the British forces are slowly extending the flank of their salient... They have advanced two and a half miles since oaturday night, including new, ground taken in the last 24 hours, though according to one front-line report the town of Esquay, which was captured yesterday, is itself now a no-man’s-land. An advance has been made down the main highway in the angle between the Odon and Orne. It is tough going against very stubborn resistance.. The Germans have thrown in a larger air force than for a long time past. To the west the Americans are battling little over a mile from St. Lo at one point.

(By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.) LONDON, July 16. The British troops who ’ stormed Esquay carried the attack over 2060 yards south-west of the town to Hill 113, less than a mile from Evrecy and commanding the latter town, says Reuter s correspondent on the Odon front. A second thrust from the north reached the outskirts of Bougy, a mile and a half north-west of Evrecy. The attack was launched under a shattering artillery barrage and divebomber support. The guns put up a staggering weight of fire power, comparable with some of the heaviest barrages of the campaign. . In a message from Normandy tonight, Reuter's correspondent says that after a day of bitter fighting between . the Odon and Orne Rivers all the British gains have been consolidated. Our positions have been improved despite a number of counter-thrusts in which the Germans suffered infantry' and armour casualties. A series of . little counter-attacks against the British salient on Hill 113 was broken up and flung back without achieving the German aim. Nervous jabs which ceased at 4 p.m., cost the Germans at least 10 tanks. A staff officer said: “The battle has gone very well for. us? _ We are taking on elements of three divisions between the rivers on a front of five miles. This fighting is achieving an important purpose, because it is forcing the enemy to draw on units which were resting to nil gaps in the fractured defence line.” Ships’ Searchlights Help. The German news agency, describing the opening attack, says that Allied warships turned on giant searchlights to illuminate heavy cloud layers over the battle area, and the light reflected from the clouds bathed . the entire area in a greyish-white twilight, making it . possible for the outlines of the terrain to be roughly perceived. One British force has taken 150 prisoners, many of which were foreigners. The British guns were invisible in the hedgerows. Their unexpected barking was one of the most unnerving things in the battle. Near Bougy, where flame-throwers joined in the fight, we captured several tanks intact. The flame-throwers did a fine job last night. They have done well throughout this fighting. Prisoners say the flame is a terrible thing, licking down into the deepest trenches and seeming to curve round broken houses in villages. ~ , .... , The British artillery has now lifted the range and is beginning to engage at full pressure. There are several reports of the Germans forming up for a counter-attack. The main weight of our shells is falling on them. There is no sign of the battle slackening. Canadian patrols before darkness set in last night crossed the Orne from Caen

in flat-bottomed boats under enemy gunfire, and fought their way through several streets of Fauberge de Vaucelles before retiring again to their positions in Caen. The patrols were sent out to investigate reports that the enemy was evacuating Fauberge de Vaucelles. The reports were found to be groundThe battle for the Ay River, in the area of Lessay, raged along a front seven miles today, says headquarters.-.. The Germans are reported to be pulling 7 back south of the Ay River, but are fighting stiff rearguard actions and are heavily shelling the Americans on the north bank of the river. The Americans have made more gams north of the St. Lo-Periers road. Northeast of St. Lo Americans are closing in on the town. Further thrusts are reported on a front of 2000 yards north of the town, and with them the villages of Les Ifs and Emilies have fallen to the Allies. . The weather continued to deteriorate this morning in the Normandy battle area, but in spite of the low cloud-ceil-ing the German infantry dug in near St. Lo has had no respite from air attack. Marauders, using the pathfinder technique, attacked strongpoints holding up the American advance, and dropped over 60 tons of bombs. In addition to attacking enemy frontline positions, medium bombers, escorted by fighters, struck against rail targets at Paris, Dreux, Granville, and near Argentan. Bridges at Boisse Ilalanda, Ambrieres, aud near Dreux were also attacked. No planes are missing.

NEW PLAN, OLD FEAR

Germans Want Chivalry LONDON, July 10. The Germans in Normandy are fighting the battle on a new plan, but with the old fear, said a military observer at Allied supreme headquarters. The Germans no longer establish their main positions along the crest of a hill. They hide them on the far side, but what they cannot hide is their fear of the bayonet. As in the last war, they cannot stand up against cold'steel. The bayonet is still the only weapon that can mop up and consolidate a position. The German commander in Normandy, Field-Marshal von Kluge, interviewed by a German war correspondent, said: “We are not faced by infantry who. are truly imbued with the o'ffensive spirit. The British, the Canadians, and the Ameri-. cans only attack whep they think they have smashed everything with bombs and heavy weapons. More and more we are adapting ourselves to the methods of the invasion armies. We shall give them, a licking which will live in their memories as long as they live.” Von Kluge expressed the hope that the battle of western Europe would be fought on “chivalrous lines.”