U.S. ARMY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 16 August 1944, Page 5

U.S. ARMY

WELL INTO SOUTHERN FRANCE VIRTUALLY no OPPOSITION (Kec. 12.20 p.m.) New York, Aug. 15. “An American army numbering many thousands is well into southern France ! this afternoon and going fast virtually j without opposition,” said a represenI tative of the combined American press in southern France. “There was an amazingly small number of casualties suffered. The Germans Were caught completely by surprise. What few Germans were waiting for Us have been scattered or captured. Men, tanks, ! artillery and all kinds of material have i been pouring in on three separate beaches since 8 a.m. to-day and by i now have built up such strength that i it seems almost certain we have come f not only to stay but also to push on. | This ought to be a decisive blow for l France. Everybody is astounded it I went off so easily.” . j “Three hours of hell preceded the landing. Bombs, naval gunfire and lockets flamed and roared into the beaches from daylight and before the ; -moke had lifted troops Were swarmi ing up the beaches hardly believing | their luck as engineers blasted their I way through cement walls and tanks j drove in with hardly a shot from the Germans

“Meanwhile there is jubilation at the almost bloodless success. Units on our flank did not have it quite so easy, but they are well ihland and moving east. What I wanted to khow was why the Germans did not put up a fight. They had ample coastal defence, gun emplacements and wonderful hill positions behind the beaches. So I went to a prisohers’ cage to discover what was wrong. One master sergeant said he knew the army in northern France had been broken for three months and he realised the war was lost. He added: “There Is no reason to fight. For whom should we fight? *YoU mean you are hot fighting for Hitler any more?’ I

asked, and the sergeant replied, ‘That’s it. Anyway, we have nothing With which to fight’ **