BATTLE WON

Grey River Argus, 17 August 1944, Page 5

BATTLE WON

POCKET SEALED ALLIES AT FALAISE Vast Destruction of Enemy IN 1000-MILE SQUARE [Aus. & N.Z. Press Assn.l LONDON, Aug. 15. After a night of fierce fighting Allied troops were strongly established on Tuesday morning on high ground two and a half miles north of Fala!se, and dominated the main Fal-aise-Laize road, which the enemy has been using as his main escape route. Canadians north of Falaise advanced about four miles and a-half from the town. Germans succeeded in withdrawing some armoured forces from the bag. For troops which remain (here are no other main roads between Argentan and Falaise, through which they may be withdrawn. Canadian armour on Tuesday moved towards Falaise and in the valley beyond. During the night the Allies advanced north-north-east of Falaise and occupied Sassy, dendon, Epancy and Fontaine le Pin. Germans fought strongly throughout Monday night, but were relentlessly pushed back. Pockets of resistance, by-p.assed, held out in woods and villages, which they con-

verted into strong points, but Canadian infantry got in among them, mooning up all of them. British troops forming part of the Canadian Army are engaged in widening the salient by pushing eastwards. They made quite good progress, driving the enemy from several well defended localities. Canadians bursting through the last gun screen north of Falaise to within one mile of the town on Tuesday night reduced the escape gap for von Kluge’s trapped forces, now estimated at 50,000, to eight miles, states Reuter’s correspondent with the Canadians. Torrential rain began to fall over the gap after the worst thunderstorm for years in this part of Normandy. The r.ain threatens to clog the escape routes, making the roads impassable for tanks just as the battle of the gap is nearing its climax.

The Americans’ Advance STARTLING SPEED. OVER 40,000 ENEMY ACCOUNTED FOR (Rec. 5.5.) LONDON, August 16. “The Times’s’’ correspondent with the American forces, states: “Nothing seems to halt this American blitzkreig. Its speed is startling. It imposes an enormous strain on the supply and other services, which are forever pursuing swiftly moving armour and motorised infantry, with tne foot infantry also ahead all the time. Advances have been made so quickly, and they have been of such an extent that wire for communications has been apt to run out, but not for long. Trucks with urgent supplies keep assault troops provisioned through shot and shell. The supply and communications services have also achieved triumphs equal, in their own way, to those daily recorded by combat troops. However, if the Americans’ drive embarrasses its own forces, it is nothing to the disorganisation and chaos they are spreading among the enemy, who are being given no time to thinx, and little enough to group anywhere for a fight. One American group alone has taken thirty-one thousand five hundred prisoners since the beginning of the month. It is estimated that they also have killed nine thousand three hundred Germans, and wounded thirty-eight thousand. Another “Times” correspondent in Brittany says: The American Third 'Army, which went into action on August 1. had within a week liberated an area of France, in which the normal population was three and ahalf millions. This army swiftly cut off the Brittany Peninsula. It has since played a vital part in trapping the German force, and in the drive towards Paris.

Allied Official Reports FALAISE CUT OFF.

(Rec. 12.30). LONDON, August 16. Wednesday’s S.H.A.E.F. communique says: Allied .troops are in the outskirts of Falaise, and dominate the communications in this area. 1

Our forces all along northern flanks of the enemy pockets are driving steadily forward, in spite of enemy attempts to delay us by mines and booby traps. The villages of Cosses Seville and Treprei, between the Orne and Laize Rivers, were taken. Conde was bypassed by a thrust across the River Noireau. a few miles east of the town. Tinchebray has been captured.

Our troops along the western ana' southern flanks of the pocket also advanced generally. Domfront, Ger and La Fertemace have been freed. Our forces have entered Yvrandes, three fiiiles south of Tinchebray. / Other units, further east, have been pushing northward beyond Ranes where strong enemy opposition is being met. Mopping up operations are proceeding south-east of Ranes and m the vicinity of Alencon against enemy groups cut off by the advance northward. In Argentan we hold portion of the city. The enemy resistance here is stubborn. ~ . Tn Brittany, the Citadel of Saint Malo continues to hold out. Organised resistance has ceased at Dinara. No changes are reported from Brest or L’orient. i( A Reuter correspondent says: in a surprise attack from the north-west on Tuesday night, Canadian troops fought their way into the outskirts of Falaise. The Germans, launched several counter-attacks. One was by infantry, supported with tanks. In 1 ’ proved a vain effort to stave off the loss of the city. The bulk of the, fighting during Tuesday night was west of the main Caen-Falaise road., The Canadians were battling their way in a south-easterly direction towards the city. Falaise is now completely written off as a German escape route. All its roads have either been cut by the Canadians, or are dominated by Canadian troops of the Second British Army further west. Germans have taken some grim punishment. Heavy guns on Tuesday were firing against German columns retiring eastwards from .Falaise, while more guns moved up alono- the roads packed with Allied reinforcements. Troops stormed forward* over shell craters and clusters of German dead to meet the steadily increasing resistance being shown in some parts of the defence lines still -holding. The correspondent passed droves of Germans marching from battle lines. One column numbered 400; they looked bewildered and disheartened. . The bridges over the Orne in thsack area have been broken for days by bombs and gunfire, and the substitute bridges have been smashed as fast as Germans tried to build them. A correspondent expresses the opinion that the gap has been closed for remaining heavy armour; British infantry captured St, Den's

de Mere, two miles north-east of Conde.

An Army spokesman stated that the bag had much more closed around 'the Germans than yesterday, but there was no sign of panic among them. The value of Falaise to the Germans is all but Jost as the Canadians have seized the high ground north of the town from which they dominate the escape routes eastwards. 15,000 of Enemy Caught BY CLOSING OF GAP (Rec. 11.30) NEW YORK, Aug. 15 The “New York Times” correspondent with the First United States Army says:— Nothing seen since the break-through compares with scenes in the Normandy pocket. The pocket is roughly a thousand square miles of destruction. The escape corridor is now as good as closed.' The pocket may be considered sealed. This battle has been won, though fighting continues at some points around the feriphery at the pocket. The general order under which the battle was fought was: “Find, fix and destroy the enemy!” The enemy has been found and as far as possible fixed. Now it is a matter of destroying him. /That process has progressed so far that it can now be said that the Seventh Army has ceased to exist as a fighting force. Estimates of the number of Cormans pocketed originally and tnc number who have escaped vary. Perhaps as few as fifteen thousand live Germans remain. Those who es ■ caped must be even more disorganised than those remaining. It is hard to see how they can be restored to much military usefulness before _ a swift Allied tide sweeps on far beyond them. A ‘correspondent before Falaise describes the 50 square miles of battlefield as a wilderness of cindered tanks, bare, smouldering woods, an<] skeletons of villages, with every where dust, smoke . and the sickening stench of decay. A pocket of Germans believed to be typical of the thousands trapned in the Falaise bag taken to-day from the front were all in the words | of an American captain “drunk as goats,” report Reuter’s correspondent on the American front. The Germans, commanded by a major, had been the garrison of a portion,‘ of the town. The major said: “We have been waiting for two days for you to come to get us. We had a large amount of liquor and decided we might as well get drunk and be merrv.” The group, though drunk fought stubbornly as a rearguard until they apparently realised that their plight was hopeless, when they surrendered.

A correspondent savs: The Germans are getting some of their crack Panzer groups out of the Falaise trap badly battered, but more or less in one piece. Many German units actually don’t know where they are, or whither they are going. One body of Germans seen marching eastwards three abreast were apparently unaware that Allied troops were anywhere near. One of our tanks opened up, resulting in hundreds being killed and a large number captured, The British north-east of Falaise met a column. of Germans waving white handkerchiefs as they marched. They were promptly taken prisoner. Similar reports of German confusion come from many parts of the- front. Crack units continue to fight well and probably a great percentage of them will escape with as much armour and guns as can be salvaged. The ordinary infantry fare differently. There is a gap east of them which is probably not more than a few miles wide, raked with high-explosive.

R.A.F. BOMBS FALL ON CANADIANS

LONDON, Aug. 15

A considerable weight of the bombs dropped north of Falaise by the R.A.F. heavy bombers yesterday, fell in the Canadian lines, reports Reuter’s correspondent with the Canandians. The .first bombs fell with pin-point accuracy, then two or three bombers swerved from the line of attack others followed suit. Bombs rained down in the Canadian positions for about an hour. It was the second time within a week that friendly planes had bombed the Canadians. ALLIED BOMBERS OVER BATTLL; AREA. (Rec. 1.10.) LONDON, August 16. Wednesday’s S.H.A.E.F. communication says: Heavy damage resulted from a bombing of the Auvers-sur-Oise and Lisleadam bridges over the River Oise. Serqueix. a railway centre was attacked. Fires resulted from a medium bomber mission against a fuel dump in Forte de Chantilly, 20 miles north of Paris. Fighter-bom t> ers and rocket-firing ’planes continued to seek out targets in Normanuy pockets. More than 175 vehicles were destroyed and an equal number damaged in the area. Thirty locomotives, were put out of commission in a fighter-bomber sweep against railway yards at Braine le Comte, in Belgium, and thirty-seven ’planes were destroyed in the air. Twenty bombers and sixteen fighters are missing from these operations. Allied Air Forces attacking the trapped Germans are believed, at a conservative estimate, in 48 hours to have destroyed over 1000 tanks and vehicles, says Reuter’s correspondent on the American front. He adds that the German suicide rearguards are now lining three sides of the dwindling pocket.

TUESDAY’S ALLIED AIR ATTACKS.

LONDON, Aug. 15.

Eleven hundred Lancasters and Halifaxes, and close on a. thousand Fortresses and Liberators, made crushing attacks at mid-day on Tuesday on twenty Luftwaffe targets in Belgium, Holland and Germany, including nine night-fighter bases, dropping over 5000 tons of .bombs to cra'ter runways, and the airfields themselves. Each of nine forces of Lancasters and Halifaxes—four on targets in Belgium, five on targets in Hollaiid—had both R.A.F. and American fighter cover. Fortresses and Liberators attacked three Air Force stations along the Rhine, four Air Force stations in north-west Germany, one airfield in north-west Germany, one in Belgium and two in Holland. The bombers reported destroying 13 enemy fighters, and escorting fighters destroyed 14. Besides escort duty, the fighters destroyed a number of enemy grounded aircraft, disabled 62 locomotives and destroyed or damaged 188 railway wagons. Sixteen Allied bombers and five fighters are missing. In the Gironde on Tuesday Mosquitoes attacked a destroyer, escort vessel and trawlers off Le Verdon with bombs, depth charges and cannon. Beaufighters struck at a depot ship and other trawlers off St. Vivien. An explosion was seen on the destroyer and fire started on the escort vessel. Rocket projectiles were seen to strike the depot ship. Four of our aircraft are missing. 21 Luftwaffe Main Stations BOMBED ON TUESDAY. (Rec. 1.10.) LONDON, August 16. Wednesday’s S..H.A.E.F. .communique says: A massive force of Allied heavy bombers was thrown against

key German Air Force stations i western Germany and the Low gouiitries on Tuesday. Twenty-one Luftwaffe headquarters control stations and airfields were attacked oy nineteen hundred four-engined bonioers, with a fighter escort in great strength. Key installations bombed were at Cologne, Ostheim, Wiesbaden, Frankfurt (all the Rhine Valley Air Force stations); Wittmund, Bactswischewahm, Vechta, Handore, Hopsten, Plantlumme (north-west Germany); Florennes (Belgium); ana Twentyeenschede and Venlo (Holland). Other targets attacked were at Le Gulot, Saint Trond, Tirelemont, Brussels, Nelbroek (Belgium), and Gilzerijen, Deelen, Sbesberg, Voikel and Eindhoven (Holland). Medium bombers attacked communications targets and an ammunition dump m northern France, and defences in the Saint Malo area. The New Zealand Lancaster Bomber Squadron, No. 75, operated m Tuesday’s great raids when Allied Air Forces bombed Luftwaffe airfields in Germany, Belgium and Holland, ine New Zealanders were led by a GlSborneite, Squadron-leader N. A. Williamson, ar»l Flight Sergeant r AStott. They attacked a target in Belgium. They met no fighters and very little flak. They described the operation as “excellent”. They returned with first class photographs. It was the second daylight raid in succession for the squadron, which the previous day bombed Germans at Falaise.

Huge Sweep on Paris AMERICAN PREDICTION (Rec. 12.50) WASHINGTON, Aug 16 Military authorities in Washington are openly enthusiastic regarding the situation 'in north-western France. They pointed out that although the southern landings were important, northern or central France would oe the scene of decisive action, which might come soon. Officials declared that the Germans had drawn much strength from south to bolster their forces in the north, and for that rea son the Allies might be able to move up from the Mediterranean against weaker resistance, and join the forces of the north, enabling the whole Allied effort to swing north-eastward, like a gate hinged along the Seine River, to the west of Paris. One authority expressed the opinion that this sweep might be the final stage of the war in Europe.

ARE GERMANS RETREATING?

LONDON, Aug. 15. Correspondents of the London morning papers emphasise that the Germans’ eastward move continues. Opinions vary whether the German forces in Normandy are attempting to retreat from a pocket roughly 30 miles across in which the Allies are rounding them. Some observers, judging by the small amount of movement of troops and supplies through the Falaise gap, consider the enemy army is standing its ground, as the Sixth Army did in somewhat similar circumstances at Stalingrad. In support of this view, it is pointed out that the country between Falaise and Mortain is, generally, thickly wooded, with many hedges and leafy lanes, whereas east of Falaise there are wider open stretches. In the present case, the bulk of the German armour in western Europe is thought to be either inside the ring or committed to battle elsewhere in Normandy.

Half of von Kluge’s army inside the Falaise-Argentan pocket is now believed to have escaped. The reason why the Germans were able to get out roughly half their forces is their undeniable cleverness at concealment, states an Exchange Telegraph Agency correspondent. They have been getting out more by night than day and dodging the main roads .and exploiting the network of lanes.

T'he Luftwaffe appeared over the Falaise gap to-day, in the greatest strength so far, states Reuter. Twelve Mustangs sighted 80 to 100 enemy planes. A doe-fight against 50 ensued in which the Mustangs, without loss, destroyed five and damaged others. These claims may be increased.

Germans still in the sack are estimated at 50,000, states Reuter’s correspondent with the British forces. Typhoons blitzed enemy .armour which was observed massing in the Falaise sector for counter-attacks. The “Efaily Express” correspondent from the Falaise road says the Germans have not lost control of the situation. Panic may break out locally, but the withdrawal as a whole is orderly.

EISENHOWER’S CAUTION UPSHOT UNCERTAIN LONDON, Aug. 15. General Eisenhower in a statement at the advance command post in Normandy on Tuesday said: “This week will mark a very definite climax in one phase of the operational plan that has been in effect since D Day. Just what will result in the sum total no one can say. German forcc'is _ cjpncenlira'ted on our front are taking a good sound beating. Even if we realise our fondest hopes in a situation such as this, we are still a long way from the Rhine.” His order of the day was intended to impress on Allied troops that they had a great opportunity to take advantage of Hitler’s mistake in trying to hold on to the area south of Caen too long. The stem German resistance against the Canadian push towards F.alaise was a damper on too much optimism, regarding an early end of the war. He said: “If the Germans knew they were beaten, they wouldn’t be fighting so desperately. The w’hole German nation is in the grasp of .a group which has nothing to lose if they fight to the last man. Good weather is giving the Allied Air Forces a value it is impossible to over-estimate. The Germans are admittedly short of equipment, transport and sometimes munitions, and are fighting under conditions less favourable than when the invasion began. There is a real battle out there. However, the enemy is attempting to pull back, and our Air Forces are having .a field day, but they cannot destroy the enemy completely as the men on the ground can.”

General Eisenhower said the German manpower situation was so serious the enemy was unable to fill gaps in the ranks, and unable to provide, reserves for the three fronts against the victorious armies without pulling in troops from some areas, which sooner or later he must be reconciled to abandoning. Even Hitler may finally learn. GEN. BRADLEY'S PROMOTION. (Rec. 5.5.) LONDON, August 16. The American, General Bradley, has been appointed to be Commander of the Twelfth Army Group. This m no way affects General Montgomery's positions as overall Commander of all Allied ground forces in France. Under General Eisenhower. General Montgomery still commands the Twentyfirst Army, within which is the Twelfth Army Group, meaning that General Montgomery is over General Bradley; but they both are under General Eisenhower, as Supreme Commander-in-Chief. The Twenty-first Army Group consists of all British and Canadian forces and the Polish armoured division, the Twelfth Army group consists of Americans and the French armoured division.