THREE BIG THRUSTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 55, 2 September 1944, Page 7

THREE BIG THRUSTS

Allied Armies' Fronts Rec. 9.30 a.m. LONDON, Sept. l.; Three great Allied thrusts, each on a broad front, are swiftly drawing the curtain down on the battle in northern France, states a SHAEF report. The Second British Army and the First Canadian Army on the left are closing in towards Belgium and Luxemburg along a great arc from Laon to south of Troyes .measuring 130 miles: Nowhere on these combined fronts of almost '300 miles does there appear to be any organised large-scale opposition. The Second British Army has a front of at least 12 miles on the Somme and on the coast a front of 90 miles from Amiens to a few miles from Le Havre. The First United States Army in the centre is driving northward in the direction of Belgium on a front of 70 miles from Beauvais to Laon The Third United States Army on the right is smashing eastward towards Germany and north-east-ward on the Somme from Corbie to a few miles west of Amiens. iti ■"•■■■•"■■•■imttiuiiiiiiiuiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiifiiiiiiiii Dieppe took some prisoners. They were the only Germans encountered in the dash from Rouen to the Channel coast. While Dieppe was being captured other Canadians reached the Channel at Le Treport. The Belgians who are driving on Le-Havre are meeting with little resistance, and it appears that the port may not be defended. Two other Canadian armoured forces are three miles south-west of Abbeville, where they have practically linked up with British elements also •driving on .the city. The speed of the advance .is"'-.only limited by the speed at which the vehicles can move. Great sections of the "Atlantic Wall" have fallen into, the . bag, together with flymg-bomb sites. Elements of General Dempsey's armoured columns in the last 24 hours have sped forward 30 miles' from Amiens to reach Arras, in which the Maquis are fighting. ■ Two more bridgeheads have been established across the ;Somms one at Hangest, 20 miles north-west of Amiens, and-the second-five miles down the river towards Abbeville.