ON PARIS HILLS

Grey River Argus, 21 August 1944, Page 5

ON PARIS HILLS

AMERICAN TANKS ALLIES CLOSE POCKET And Reach the Seine TERRIBLE ENEMY LOSSES 1400 TRUCKS, 85 BARGES AND MANY TANKS. FAus. & N.Z. Pr«w Assn.J (Received August 21, 1.8 a.m.) LONDON, Aucust 20. According to reliable reports from Vichy reaching Madrid, American armoured units and self-propelled guns have reached the hills at Saint Cloud and Mendon, west of Paris, overlooking the entire city. GERMAN RETREAT TO THE SEINE. ENORMOUS LOSSES. LONDON, Aug. 19. It was announced that twentyfive German divisions north of the Se ne had been reduced to ten, which on their retreat from Normandy, suffered the greatest blitz eyer inflicted on a mechanised army in a few hours. It was said there was virtually no German Army left in France. Allied advances have drawn heavily on German reserves. The enemy has been using the army north of the Seine for reinforcements and now, to all intents and purposes has no army north of the A Press correspondent stated: It looks as if the entire German Seventh Army will be wiped out either before or on the Seine. A company commander said: “We are catching them in droves. They have lost all real cohesion because we are cutting their communications. Some of the fiercest fighting is going on in isolated pockets, particularly where there are S.S. men. Prisoners say that their compatriots are still fighting because they are crazy.” A headquarters staff officer said: “It is open warfare along almost our entire front. Some of our men have been fighting almost without a break for five days, but they carry on because they realise they are in on the greatest defeat the Germans have yet suffered on the Western Front.” German communications are so badly disrupted that the prisoners did not know they were cut off.

Remnants of the German divisions whose troops marched under fire from both flanks all the w.ay from ■Vire have been identified among prisoners. South of Falaise their only thought was to fling themselves down in the shade away from the choking dust and broiling sun.

An American broadcaster said: We are moving. The roads are choked with German machines and men.

With the Americans giving a righthand punch, the British, Canadians, and Poles are moving in a beeline for the Seine.

A Reuter correspondent said that hundreds of British, Canadian and American guns were annihilating the remnants of the German Seventh Army south and south-east of Falaise.

•FRIDAY’S ALLIED PROGRESS.

ON COAST, CENTRE AND INLAND.

(Rec. 6 p.m.) RUGBY, Aug. 19. A communique from the Allied Supreme Headquarters stated: On Friday a net around German forces in Normandy was dra’wn tighter. American and British troops established contact near Briouze. From the west an advance was made to approximately the line of the River Orne. Advances also were ma'de towards the escape route of the German troops, who are escaping eastwards in their attempt to avoid complete encirclement. Our forces moving to the south made progress east and west of Argentan against enemy opposition. A thrust down the Argentan road from the north took us to Pierre Fitt.

“Further north, an advance was continued. Our troons crossed both the River Dives and the River View near Notre Dame. St. J'ulie.n le F’aufon was taken, and on the coast area we reached Dozole and outskirts of Cabourg. “In the Dreux area, our troops Widened their bridgehead across the river, while farther south Vendome has been freed.

“The last enemy resistance on the north coast of Brittany was overcome with the elimination of a German pocket in the Lannion area. Around the clock attacks by Allied aircraft against enemy troops, transport, airfields, communication systems, and supply centres, was maintained. THE GaKcLOSED. (Rec. 10.40) LONDON, Aug. 20. A correspondent at the Supreme Allied' Headquarters, in a late despatch on Friday night stated: The Falaise gap has been closed. Forward elements, advancing from 'the south, in the Argentan area, have moved up to Chambois and closed the mouth of the gap. Heavy spasmodic fighting is continuing in the pocket, which is steadily contracting on every side. There is still no sign of any, mass surrender of the enemy forces who are fighting inside of the pocket.

POLISH-GERMAN TANK BATTLE.

(Rec. 10.10.) LONDON. August 20. An Exchange Telegraph Agency correspondent with the Canadians says: “The enemy’s armour is still making desperate efforts to keep the pan open. Fighting was particularly fierce on Friday night and Saturday morning. The enemy on Friday afternoon threw in a crack panzer formation against Polish tanks. A hattie royal went on for several hours, until darkness. It was resumed on Saturday morning. The enemy failed to drive the Poles back. CATASTROPHE FOR ENEMY. LONDON, Aug. 20. A Reuter correspondent stated: There is terrific confusion and chaos inside the German pocket. The pocket is less than one hundred souare miles. This makes air targets difficult.

A British United Press correspondent with the Canadians savg: Air attack on Germans formations fleeing from the Normandv hag was resumed at full strength on Saturday morning when Normandy-based fighters ano' fighter-bombers attacked a concentration of about one-thousand vehicles sighted on an escape route past Trim.

General Eisenhower, after a visit to advance Allied lines, predicted a find eatastrophv for the Germans. A. R.A.F. officer sa ! d: “The destruction of German transoort from the air in the retreat from the Falaise Docket has been catastrophic. This was +he "r°at ooportunitv for which +he R.A.F. has been waiting. We couldn’t go wrong. Every .-vaiffible aeronlane was sent im nnffi the Germans ouit° obviously didn’t know what to do. The''' could h Q seen rushing about helplessly in all directions. Some

of their vehicles appeared to turn back thus adding to the confusion. “Their transport was completely at our mercy and the carnage and havoc were awful. We were able to flv as low as we liked. Both pilots and ground crews worked until they were almost asleep. Many Germans frantically waved white handkerchiefs as an ineffectual token of surrender.” Allied aeroplanes destroyed about 2000 German vehicles near and on the British left flank on Friday. MONSTER TANK ABANDONED LONDON, Aug. 20. A Reuter correspondent in Normandy, said: Germans in retreating from Normandy abandoned a Royal Tiger super-tank, the first one to fall into Allied hands. It weighs 65 tons, compared to the Tiger’s 56 tons and the Panther’s 45 tons. It has six-inch armour and is 23 feet long. ALLIED BOMBERS. HIT CANADIAN VEHICLES. (Rec. 10.10) LONDON, Aug. 20. Typhoons attacking Germans in the Falaise pocket on Friday operated so close to the forward Allied troops that some Allied vehicles were hit in error. The Canadian Commander-in-Chief, General Crerar, has issued a [statement stressing the pilots’ difficulties .owing to the convergence of British, Canadian and American armies on a common objective. To avoid wrong conclusions, he pointed out accomplishments of the Tactical Air Force up to eleven p.m. on Friday, stating incomplete figures were: Seventy,-seven tanks set on fire, fortytwo left smoking, fifty-five damaged; nine hundred motor transports set on fire. 478 left smoking; 712 damaged. General Crerar said: “If the Canadians will compare their vehicle casualties with these figures, they will get some idea of the balance in their favour.”

To Split France

AMERICANS TURN SOUTH,

MAQUIS CO-OPERATING.

(Rec. 10.10.) LONDON, August 20. Reports reaching Madrid state that an American column south-west of Paris is pushing out on a main road to Vichy. It already has reached the outskirts of an important road junction, Chateauroux. Maquis forces, 90 miles south-west of Chateauroux, are advancing through Limoges to link up with the Americans in a great bid to cut France in two, thereby trapping the Germans left along the south-west Atlantic coastline, and along the Spanish frontier.

AMERICAN ADVANCE.

CLOSE TO THE SEINE.

(Rec. 6.30.) LONDON, August 20. A report from Allied Supreme Headquarters states: American units have advanced north-east from Dreux. They are now close upon the Seme River in the general neighbourhood of Mantes-Gassicourt and Vernon. South of Putanges, mopping up operations have been proceeding in the vicinity of Batilly. The Allied troops are advancing upon Mount Garoult from the north in the pocket area. Three bridgeheads have been established over the River Vie at Livarot Grandchamp and Coupe Sarte. The weather has! been bad for flying, but the Second Tactical Air Force destroyed BUO road vehicles and 40 tanks. All this activity was iiu the Lisieux-Orbec triangle. Another report stated: Allied spearheads are now at Versailles, on the south-west fringe of Paris.

PARIS POLICE JOIN THE FORCES.

(Rec. 11.10.)' LONDON, August 20. A special communique from Frencn Forces of the Interior, quoted on tne Algiers radio, announced that all the police force of the Department ot Seine et Oise have joined the F.F.I. Seine et Oise is the department enclosing Paris. It takes in what the Germans describe as a battle area around the capital, including Mantes, Rambouillet, Ablis and Etampes.

PARISIAN' CROWDS.

READY TO WELCOME ALLIES.

(Rec. 11.10.) LONDON, August 20. A British United Press correspondent at Madrid says: General Patton s forces are closing in on the suburbs of Paris, according to a report from Vichy. An Allied entry into the capital is expected at any time. Paris boulevards are thronged with crowds of people singing famous songs of the last war as they wait to greet the Allied armies. German uniforms are now scarcely to be seen m the streets. Roads eastward of the capital are crowded with collaborationists in full flight. All Paris puolic buildings and cinemas are closed. Latest Allied Official Review

18-MILE ADVANCE FROM DREUX. POCKET REDUCED AND VIER RIVER CROSSED. (Rec. 1.8.) LONDON, August 20. Allied forces have advanced to the vicinity of the River Seine, and have closed the enemy escape corridor south of Falaise, says the S.H.A.E.F communique on Sunday. “Leading elements, moving northwards and north-eastwards from Dreux, have reached a point eighteen miles beyond that city in the vicinity of Mantes-Gassicourt. “Allied forces from the north and the south have met in Chambois, thus sealing the exit south of Falaise. The area of the enemy pocket has again been reduced substantially by advances from all directions, particularly from the southward towards Montabard, and from the north to Ecouche, where heavy fighting has occurred.

“West of Argentan, in the area south-east of Putanges, we have completed mopping up enemy groups behind the southern edge of the pocket. “Our troops, further north, in the area east of Saint Pierre-sur-Dives, continued to thrust eastward, and established three bridgeheads over trie Vier River at Livarot, Coupe Sarte and Grandchamp. “No changes are reported in the areas of Chartres, Orleans, or tne Brittany Peninsula. “Our Normandy based ’planes continued heavy attacks on tanks and motor vehicles of all types retreating eastward, and against river barged on the Seine. They also provided support for our advancing columns. Roads in the escape corridor in the vicinity of Orbeg are strewn with knockedout vehicles, often making it difficult for our pilots to select active targets. (More than eight hundred motor trucks were destroyed and six hundred damaged on Saturday from the line of Falanse-Argentan, north-eastward to the' Seine River. In addition, forty tanks were destroyed and many others were damaged. “Fighter-bombers during Saturday sank twenty-six large barges on tne seine. Fifty-nine were destroyed on the previous day. NEXT GERMAN FRONT. EXPECTED ON THE SEINE. (Rec. 9.30.) LONDON, August 20. A Reuter correspondent says: A senior staff officer at General Dempsey’s Headquarters said: The Germans are reeling back rapidly. There is no question of our getting to the Seine River without difficulty. General Von Kluge will take one jump bacic to the Seine, and I do not think he

will hold us there, but he may fall back to a narrower front. GERMANS NOT CAPITULATING LONDON, Aug. 19. „ Berlin “Voelkischer Beobachter. stated: The Wehrmacht will pull out wherever necessary in order w maintain operational freedom and to keep the armies in being until the new miracle weapons can change the whole aspect of the war. The final goal is far more important than holding French towns or departments. What matters for us is not speculation about the end of the war but the simple statement that no German will ever capitulate. This war is turning into a gigantic race between the new miracle weapons and the older weapons of our enemies.

ROOSEVELT NOT GOING TO EUROPE YET.

(Rec. 8.30.) WASHINGTON Feb. 19. The White House secretary, Mr. Early, has denied a New York Times’’ report that Roosevelt plans to go to London or to Pax , or to both cities, this • A - u^ im l n ‘rp: Tr ,„ o » In its report the “New York Times said: Mr Roosevelt intends meeting Mr Churchill in London or Paris, perhaps both, some time before the American elections in November, and will be accompanied by his wife, indicating the possibilty of a Jaigescale conference involving social formalities. Exact details of the journey are tentative, but Mr Roosevelt recently told intimate. . friends he was planning to visit the liberated area in Europe.