PARIS BATTLE RESUMED; AID TO PATRIOTS

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 283, 26 August 1944, Page 7

PARIS BATTLE RESUMED; AID TO PATRIOTS

Leclerc’s Men Enter Capital

(By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.) ?( Received August 25, 1 1.30 p.m.) LONDON, August 25. The Allied supreme headquarters announced this morning that ments of the Second French Armoured Division under General Leclerc have entered the outskirts of Pans. ... It was announced at the Allied supreme headquarters that been resumed in parts of Paris. The French Forces of the Intenor he d aP«t of the city. A correspondent at the headquarters said it was now now and the Gerthe capital earlier in the week there was a local agreement between the.b.b.l. and the uer mans, who asked for an armistice to enable them to withdraw from the city. The- Germa appeared to have changed their minds later, and they threatened to destroy-the city. Ihe F.F.I. then called on the Allies outside Pans for help. That help was being g Headquarters correspondents today report that the entry of General Leclerc’s troops was made in the early hours of this moming. The troops had to fight their way into the outskirts, and they met with considerably more opposition than had been expected, in the shape of road-blocks, demolitions, and mines, borne German casualties were inflicted and prisoners taken. This morning an American correspondent broadcast from a radio station controlled by French patriots He said that General Leclerc’s troops entered by the Port d Italic, in the south-east of the capital. They were only patrols as yet. Their object is to . rr T 7 i nrc mnnnin? uo nests of German resistance.

The correspondent says that General Leclerc’s units, as they made their way to the He de la Cite, in the heart of Paris, had an excited welcome from the Parisians. . It was, however, no triumphant parade, as the troops found Paris in full battle. The correspondent was broadcasting from the Hotel de Ville, in the centre of the city, and he said that as be spoke he could see and hear shells bursting and machinegun fire. The Germans had set fire to the Hotel Trillon, and the sky was ablaze in the direction of the suburbs near the Bois de Boulogne, and also on the other side of the city. Earlier Situation. A British United Press correspondent with the French forces outside Paris, in a dispatch lodged late yesterday, said: •‘French troops under Generals Leclerc and de Gaulle are driving . on Pans. Bitter fighting is, going on inside and outside the capital.” . . Reuter’s correspondent with the -third Army, in a dispatch lodged at the same time, said that two columns, one French and the other American, were driving on Paris and were meeting with stiff resistance from the Germans,, who were well dug-in at strongpoints with tanks, artillery and mortars. The strength, of the resistance indicated that the Germans had been reinforcing what was at first intended as a covering screen of defences for Paris. One Allied column by last night had advanced to within 15 miles of the city, while other armoured forces were reported to be fighting five miles south-west of Paris. A Blue network correspondent, broadcasting from outside Paris yesterday, said: “The Germans are moving strong new forces into Paris and have entrenched themselves throughout the city. I’he French forces, however, control most of the suburbs.” A British reporter, broadcasting from the front last night, said that at dusk on Wednesday he joined an American reconnaissance unit moving toward Paris. Civilians 18 miles from Paris warned the unit not to proceed because the Germans were resisting outside the capital. German shells began coming over, seemingly from the direction of Versailles. Two men of the Maquis arrived from Versailles and reported that the Germans had set fire to one wing of the Versailles Palace, where the Peace Treaty was signed in 11)19, They said that the Germans were in strength in the whole area before Paris.

PATTON’S THRUSTS

Being Aided By German Supplies LONDON, August 24. The swift American advance has not only taken the Germans by surprise, but has caused much confusion in their ranks, stated Reuter’s correspondent with the American armour beyond Sens, south-east of Paris. A senior staff officer expressed the view that the German high command had not the least idea bow it was going to reorganize its forces in the present battle area. This was borne out by a German. commander captured in Sens, who said he was completely unaware that the Americans were in that neighbourhood till less than an hour before their arrival. Germans cross the path of.the American armour, sometimes in one direction and sometimes in another. One American armoured. column advancing westward barely missed making contact with a German column heading north in the area south of Paris.. Ihe Americans a few hours later ran into a second German column moving southward. The Americans caught up with the latter and succeeded in knocking out the entire rear element.

One fast American armoured column which , rolled beyond Sens met so little Germa’n resistance that the major problem is no longer the enemy, but supply. The latter problem lessened when motorized cavalry found huge caves near Sens filled with carloads of food left, by the Germans. The same units a few miles further on captured an entire trainload of 37 trucks of fuel. Diesel oil. and food, which was immediately turned over to the troops. “ ‘Communications are so bad in this area that the enemy does not know of our presence till it is too late for him to destroy his supplies,’ said an officer as we ate German tinned roast beef, potatoes, and jam after a delicious hors d’oeuvre of tinned tunny fish.” the Reuter correspondent says. “We saw in Sens stacks of. can de cologne and other toilet preparations of French manufacture in a German warehouse, evidently ready for shipment to Germany. We also saw in Sens several rooms in a hotel stacked with radios, presumably confiscated from civilians.”

HUGE AERIAL LOSS Totals Since Invasion

LONDON, August 21. In the first 70 days of the invasion r>£ France the Allied air forces destroyed 2990 enemy aircraft in aerial combat, it was announced today at the supreme headquarters. During the_same period the Allied losses totalled 2959. It is announced in Washington that the first five days of the southern France, invasion cost the United States 2975 casualties, comprising 1221 men killed and missing and 175-1 wounded. The Senate has confirmed the promotion of Major-General Patch, Commander of the United States Seventh Army in southern France, to the temporary rank of Lieutenant-General.