OUTSIDE TOULON

Grey River Argus, 22 August 1944, Page 5

OUTSIDE TOULON

ALLIED FORCES NEARING MARSEILLES A Rapid Advance fAus & N.Z. Press Assn.] (Rec. 11.55.) LONDON, August 21. An Allied communique on Sunday states: Troops of the Seventh Army, maintaining a rapid pace in their advance in Southern France, are now in the Durance River Valley, ana are fighting in the approaches to Toulon. They are against stiff opposition. French troops have reached a point three miles north of the naval port and the city, and also well to the north-west, approaching Highway Number Eight. American forward elements, after crossing the Durance River, reinforced F.F.I. troops, which had surrounded an enemy force in Perluis. Other elements reached the outskirts of Aix-en-Provence. Pockets of enemy resistance have some places been bypassed. A number of additional towns and villages have been liberated. The prisoners now total approximately fourteen thousand. Algiers radio announced that Allied forces were five miles from 'ioulon and sixteen miles rrsm marseines. A Columbia Broadcasting Bystem correspondent at Rome says it is reported that Germans have begun demolition work in Toulon harbour Lieutenant-General Martin, in the “Daily Telegraph” commenting on the position in Southern France, says: There is every prospect that, save in the fortified areas of Toulon and Marseilles, there will be little opposition, and here the Allied advance will be a military process hailed by a universal rising of the French Forces of the Interior.

Bridgehead Doubled BIG ENCIRCLING MOVES. AGAINST MAIN COAST FORTS.. LONDON, August 20. Seventh Army forces in a swift thrust in the north-west sector of the beach-head advaned as much as 20 miles. American infantry; and French armoured forces are operating together. The towns of; St. Maximin and Barjols have been liberated. French forces have advanced to within two miles of Hyers, on the western coast flank not far from Toulon. Between Draguinan and the sea on the east flank, American elements rached Castellane and Labastide, cutting the main highway from Cannes. Prisoners nuffiber more than 12,000. Allied casualties continue to be light. Castellane is 30 miles inland. Allied forces are 15 miles east of Aix.

Algiers radio stated: After a 20mile advance north of Toulon Allies have thrust to the bank of the Durance River. Three Allied columns are sweeping forward north of Toulon and' towards Marseilles. The liberation of the town of Rians, seven miles from the river and 15 miles north-east of Aix, is reported. A later .report said Allied forces crossed the Durance River in several places, and have reached the outskirts of Aix. Aix is an important road junction with seven roads, some of which lead straight to the Rhone Valley. It is also the main escape route for the Germans in Marseilles and' Toulon.

A Reuter correspondent stated: On Sunday morning, after a devastating joint air and sea bombardment, French armour and infantry closed in on Toulon. A coast drive towards .Toulon gained five miles and the port is within range of French guns. A great encircling arm from the north-west corner ,of the beach-head threatens the encirclement of Marseilles, in addition to Toulon. Several hundred square miles of territory have been added to the one thousand square miles announced on Saturday. The invasion fleet poured shells into Toulon’s defences and medium bombers struck 15 times against the port defences within a few hours to paralyse the batteries. A “Daily Telegraph’s” correspondent says: Envelopment of the Marseilles and Toulon by Frencl), and American forces proceeding rapidly against patchy and crumbling opposition. Cannes is threatened with encirclement by a spearhead from Crasse.

A swift expansion of the bridgehead followed quickly on the entry of Allied tanks and armoured cars into Taians, 34 miles north-west of Toulon and also Barjols, 30 miles north of Toulon, and St. Maximin. French armour passing through St. Maximin reached flatter country, where the rapid rate of the advance was still further accelerated as they turned west to encircle Toulon and Marseilles, which are the first objectives of this lightning campaign.

The area captured since the landing on August 15 is now estimated to be 2000 square miles. The Allied bombing line is nearly 70 miles inland. Pilots say there is no sign that the enemy has recovered balance sufficient for a major attack. Algiers radio stated that the Allies had thrust to within less than nineteen miles from Marseilles. The French advance to Hyieras, according to a headquarters official was made against stiff opposition not found in most sectors. Allied troops captured Peyrolles, on the Durance River, 36 miles north of Marseilles. A French column has reached Hyeres, nine miles east of Toulon. The Allies are pouring in troops and material at a faster rate than for any previous amphibious operation. The German High Command report to-night on the Riviera fighting stated: “The enemy, by driving his forces forwards recklessly, has succeeded in expanding the bridgehead north-west and north of the Mauges Mountains. The Allies are fighting particularly heavily south of the Verdon River, which is the initial phase of the attempted envelopment of Toulon.”

Dropped into Sea ALLIED PARATROOPS. DROWNED IN SOUTH OF FRANCE (Rec. 7.40.)' NEW~YORK, August 20. The Combined United States press correspondent, Mr. Richard Mowrer, says; There were Allied paratroops who were dropped too soon during th & invasion of Southern France. They fell into the sea, and were drowned. These paratroops were dropped off Saint Tropez. “It is impossible to estimate how many of these men were drowned,” says Mr. Mowrtr. Perhaps it was not the fault <of anyone that they were given the ‘(go” signal too soon. The troopcarriers flew at night, and, when they reached the Riviera, there was a wide blanket of fog, which had blackenea out all of the landmarks'. Fewer ot the 1 paratroops, however, would have been drowned had their parachutes been fitted with the 1 British quickrelease box, which lets a man out of his harness in the fraction of a second.' The quick-release box is a circular lock, holding the ends of all the parachute harness straps. It can be released by turning a catch.

FRENCH INTERIOR FORCES.

CONTINUE SUCCESSES. ’ ______ [Aus. & N.Z. Press Assn.] LONDON, Aug. 20. ■ French patriots have surrounded the German garrison at Pertuis, north of Aix and above the Durance River. A correspondent stated: “French resistance forces totalling 150,000 have made contact with the Riviera invasion forces. The occupation of Haute Savoie by the French Forces of the Interior was almost achieved on SundaThe Swiss newspaper “Gazette de Lausanne” reports that the Maquis are making strenuous efforts to seize the Alpine passes in the Grenoble region from which the Allied forces advancing from the south would be able to overrun the Lyons region. The Zurich correspondent of the “Daily 7 Telegraph” says; . “While the noise of battle was distinctly heard in Geneva, a German officer informed Swiss frontier patrols the troops under his command wished to cross into Switzerland. This followed the capitulation to the Maquis of a German garrison en masse, as a result of which German resistance in Haute Savoie was broken. “The Maquis are reported to be now controlling large areas close to Switzerland and in the Rhone area.”

F.F.I. OPERATING.

OVER ONE-THIRD OF FRANCE.

(Rec. 9.55.) LONDON, August 21. A communique from the French Forces of the Interior says:- - The • F.F.I. last week, intensified their operations. The operations now cover nearly one-third of France. Between Saturday 7, August 12 and Saturday, August 19, the F.F.I. liberated .eight departments situated in Brittany, the Alps, the Pyrenees and in Central France. They took prisoners two thousand and sixty-five Germans, killed and wounded two thousand two hundred and thirty-six Germans, anci they destroyed thirty-eight bridges, twelve locomotives, and six ’planes. They also wrecked other important equipment.

MAQUIS TAKE LIMOGES.

AND ATTACK PERPIGNAN. (Rec. 10 p.m.) LONDON, Aug. 21. A correspondent of the British Associated Press at Irun, on the Spanish frontier, says: According to despatches which reached Angouleme, a vital communications centre, Limoges, has been surrounded for some time, and has now surrendered to the Maquis without a struggle. A report from the Spanish frontier say's that French partisans came down from the Pyrennes and occupied . a number of border towns, after which they attacked Perignan, where they engaged in heavy fighting. GERMANS GIVING UP MOST OF FRANCE. (Rec. 6.30) LONDON, Aug. 21. Mr. J. L. Garvin, in the “Sunday Express” says : The position of the Germans is already hopeless in all of France south of the Middle Loire and the Upper Seine. Through all that space they are preparing to quit in haste. It means an abandonment of three-quarters of the country, and it is not believed by expert opinion, that Hitlerism can constitute another army in France capable of resisting the March of the Allies. Though the Nazi death fight is still sinister, its last resources are being'ground to exhaustion. Russia’s accumulating weight is impending. If we could visualise Europe as a whole, with the air over it and the waters around’ it we, should see two things, majestic progress of the Allies towards an annihilating triumph, and a spectacle of convulsive Hitlerism bleeding to death. CAPTURED GESTAPO MEN. CRINGE - TO MAQUIS. (Rec. 10.50.) LONDON, August 21. An American C.B.S. correspondent broadcasting from Switzerland after a four-days’ tour with Maquis behind the German lines described captured Gestapo members as terror stricken and cringing with fear. The correspondent said: "In a court yard at Annecy, Maquis herded eight cap-, tured Gestapo. One Nazi begged my wife to save him. Others distinctly shuddered at our approach. After we talked tq them in German, they flung themselves on our shoulders and wept like children. We were overwhelmed with explanations, which, however, were hard to accept, because we met six French who still bore the marks of tortures by these .men. The Germans insisted that they did not want to be in the Gestapo, but were conscripted.”