PARIS A FRONT-LINE CITY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 14 August 1944, Page 5

PARIS A FRONT-LINE CITY

FEVER HEAT EXCITEMENT (Rrc. 10 a.m.) London, Aug. 13. Paris has become a front-line city in the past few days following the intensification of fighting in France, says the German news agency. It adds that an atmosphere between panic and expectation has developed. This fever heat excitement has been increased by a British and Dc Gaullist agents’ whispering campaign. They said the extreme date for th e American march down the Champs Elysces would be August 15th. FRENCH RESISTANCE FORCES London, Aug. 12. A full-scale war—unknown even to Americans in Normandy—has been raging in the bitter and bloody fields of Brittany since D-Day reports a Reu ter’s dispatch from Vannes. French paratroops and hordes of Patriots whom the paratroops organised and equipped have been wi, ing a silent battle against a far gr», 'ter number of German troops. Five h.mdred paratroops and Patriots fought a pitched battle against 3000 attacking Germans, of whom they killed 510 and wounded 600. The battle lasted from 4 a.m. to midnight. Guerrillas fighting from hedges and woods cut the German columns to ribbons before they dispersed into the darkness. Authoritative French sources in London report that French forces of the interior have set fire to 1,500.000 litres of petrol in northern France. General Koenig, commander of the French Forces of the Interior, broadcasting in the 8.8. C. French service, ordered all units of the F.F.I. in eighteen regions to launch reinforced guerrilla action rnd attack immediately all enemy elements proceeding to the battlefronts. “LOST BATTALION” RELIEVED Loudon, August 13. The “lost battalion” which has been isolated and under constant armoured attack from German forces north-east of Mortain since 7th August was relieved yesterday, reports Reuter's correspondent with the United States First Army. The battalion was relieved by other American troops who cut then way through the encircling Germans. The entrapped troops had maintained resistance with ammunition and supplies dropped from planes despite the heavy l anti-aircraft fire the enemy put up. A German news agency’s commentator says German quarters recognise that General Eisenhower has Achieved a major success but the battlemovement has not yet gone into high gear.