CITY THAT SUFFERED

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 11, 13 July 1944, Page 5

CITY THAT SUFFERED

THE PLIGHT OF CAEN

(Special P.A. Correspondent.) Rec. 9.10 a.m: LONDON, July 12. The plight of the people of Caen, which, being the burial place of William the Conqueror, has special interest for Britain, is the subject of comment by many correspondents. It is stated that Caen has suffered as few towns have suffered, it has been very heavily bombed not by the enemy but by friends. It felt the rancour of the German army in the savage retreat, and a battle has been fought over it, yet the people welcomed the British and Canadian troops as liberators. "The Times" correspondent says it is to be feared that the loss of life among the inhabitants was far heavier than was thought at first. The Prefect of Calvados says that the number may be 5000. "The Germans confiscated all the wireless sets in Normandy last March," the correspondent says, and few people were able to hear the warning broadcast from London of the heavy bombing of the city that was to follow the landings. In view of other attacks on such towns as Falaise, Flers, Vire. and Argentan, the Prefect puts the loss of life in Calvados as high as 20 000. He said that nothing could surpass the relief of the people of Caen at being freed of their oppressors. They welcomed the British troops as liberators. If * the demonstrations of welcome were not very massive it was because the city was still under enemy bombardment. i "Like other officials appointed under General de Gaulle in Normandy, the new Prefect of Calvados belongs to the Departmental Committee of Liberation, and in issuing the first proclamation in the name of the Provisional Government he named this committee as his consultative body. The shape of things to come in France thus emerges more clearly from the ruins of Caen than it has elsewhere."

NECESSITY FOR BOMBING.

The "Daily Mail's" correspondent Alexander Clifford, says that while the people of Caen are unbelievably generous about the Allied bombing, they do question the necessity lor it a little. They say: "There were almost no Germans in the town at the time. Did you really mean to bomb us so terribly? Is the price of liberation so high?" Mr. Clifford learned from the general commanding the battle that the bombing was the reason why the Germans failed to mount an organised counter-attack. It blocked bridges and the approaches to bridges. The Germans, who were forced to improvise other lines of communication, could not mobilise sufficient material to counter-attack, and the British and Canadians won the battle. "The people of Caen should be told that they could bear their tragic losses better if they understood the reason for them." He adds: "For the Germans they have black hatred, because of their cruelty, outrage, and brusque tyranny. "It is reported that the two abbeys founded by William the Conqueror survived the bombardment. William the Conqueror is buried at St. Etienne. and on the tombstone let into the floor before the great altar is an inscription, 'Here lies buried the most unconquerable William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy and King of England, founder of this house, who died in the year 1087.'"