Late War News TOULON BATTLE CONTINUES

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 280, 23 August 1944, Page 6

Late War News TOULON BATTLE CONTINUES

Initial Victory In

South CALL TO TROOBS (Received August 23, 1.30 a.m.) LONDON. August 22. General Patch, coinmander-in-chief ol tlio Allied forces in southern France, has issued an order of the day to his troops stating: “We have achieved a great initial victory. The enemy is perplexed and stunned. Except for the coastal defence force, the Germans are in tun letreat.”

He calls on the troops to see that the enemy gets no time to recover. “An opportunity for decisive results is in front ot us, and we must move with the utmost speed and skill," he states. The French have reached the sea between J?oulon And Marseilles, and other forces are eight miles north-east of Mar-, seilles and in the area of the lake to the north-west of the city. Inside loulon itself the Germans arc fighting hard in forts and strongpoints, and a correspon dent says it may be some time before the whole town is liberated. _ In the north the Americans have Occupied Aix, the capital of Provence, aud other forces, 60 miles inland, .are advancing nloug the mountain road toward G bridgehead in southern France is now over 2000 square miles in extent, it having been doubled m the last three days. . , North-west of Paris 30 German tanks have been knocked out in an enemy coun-ter-attack against the Seine bridgehead opposite Mantes.

Of the 50,000 or more Germans originally in the Normandy pocket it is estimated that 30,000 are now in our bands. The Germans have grouped most of their trapped armour into an area southeast of Argentan, bat a correspondent says that iu spite of all their efforts they do not look like getting out. Dutch and Belgian troops have captured two towns on the coast west of the Seine mouth. The Swiss radio, quoting a “most reliable quarter,” says that the Germans arrested Marshal. Petain in Vichy on (Sunday and took him to an unknown destination.

Swiss radio, quoting a report from southern France, says the F.F.I. has liberated Lyons.

Evidence that the Allied landings iu southern France took the Germans by surprise increases as more ground is captured, states Reuter’s correspondent with the Seventh Army. The Germans actually established formidable defences along the whole landing coast, but the Allies found the positions abandoned. Partisans say the Germans withdrew a week before the landing. It seems they expected landings elsewhere and abandoned most of the coast defences and beach-head area to reinforce other points.