EVACUATION ORDER

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 39, 15 August 1944, Page 6

EVACUATION ORDER

Marseilles Civilians LONDON, August 14. The German commander in the south of France has ordered the civilian population to evacuate Marseilles. A French broadcast said that the only people who could remain were those who were working directly or indirectly for. the German armed forces, and they must have a permit. Anybody without a permit would be punished and forcibly evacuated.

ant points were seized, from which our artillery will be able to shell the retreating columns. Prisoners are flowing into the British front. Six hundred were captured today. The enemy armour pulling out of the pocket is mostly concentrating around the southern lip of the gap and facing the Americans near Argentan." AREA OF CANADIAN DRIVE. Describing the Canadian drive, the correspondent indicated that it occurred in a triangle represented by Brette-ville-le-Rabet, 9| miles north-north-west of Falaise. and Sassy, 7 miles north-enst of Falaise, with its base in Falaise itself and the main part of the operation on the west side of the Caen-Falaise road. Tanks moved across the dusty plain towards the Laison valley, and planes flew over to attack the German positions in the area between Olendon and Sassy, in which a strong anti-tank screen protected Falaise. There was some shelling as tanks and infantry crossed the plains. As the heavy bombing progressed, the leading tanks, which had crossed the Laison River, mounted the slopes of the first feature—hills running from south-east of Potigny to Sassy. Beyond that lay the main feature, running through Versainville and Damblainville, which are about 1£ miles northwest and 3J miles west-north-west of Falaise respectively. The Americans and Canadians are using 2000 tanks in the present battle, states Gunther Weber, correspondent of the German overseas news agency. Reuter says that the Third American Army and the First Canadian Army each have 1000 planes at their disposal. CLEARING UP OF SALIENT. Describing the movement which resulted in the capture of Clair Tison, Reuters correspondent says that the Canadians crossed from the east bank to the west bank of the Laize to aid the British in cleaning up the German salient, and struck southward so swiftly from this area that they captured two bridges across the Laize. They fought their way back to the east bank 1 several miles further down, and have a good bridgehead across the Laize. The drive captured Le Mesnil and Tournebu, about a mile south-west of Le Mesnil. The Exchange Telegraph correspondent says that Thury-Harcourt has been cleared of the enemy and the town has been burning since Saturday night. British troops are less than two miles from Conde-sur-Noireau. It is officially announced that the Third United Stales Army is now operating in France with the First American Army.