KING'S VISIT

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24923, 19 June 1944, Page 3

KING'S VISIT

NORMANDY FRONT

DAY WITH TROOPS

BOUSING RECEPTION

FRENCH PEOPLE CHEEK LONDON. Juno 17 The King visited the Normandy battlefront yesterday. He crossed the Channel in the cruiser Arethusa, ■which led the line on D Day. The cruiser travelled under heavy air cover and with a strong naval escort. With His Majesty were a number of military, air and naval chiefs, among whom were Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, Chief of the Allied Naval Forces, Air Chief-Mar shal Sir Charles Portal, Chief of the Air Staff, and Major-General R. E. Laycock, Chief of Combined Operations. Boatswains piped the King aboard the .Arethusa early in the morning and she was under way within ten minutes. The destroyers Scourge and Urania escorted the Arethusa. Flights of Spitfires circled overhead, providing continuous air cover from the moment the King left until he returned homo in the evening. Landing on Beach The King immediately "vent on the bridge. He wore a Mae \Y est lifejacket and took great interest in the endless stream of convoys taking men and supplies to France. When his ship Beared the coast the Royal Standard was flown. This caused great excitement among the surrounding craft. Naval vessels manned ship and cheered. The King landed on the beach just west of Courselles, where the Canadians stormed ashore. V\ hile the Royal party was transferring iron a motorlaunch to a "duck" to go ashore Gin. shells screamed overhead from the cruiser Hawkins engaging inland targets. There was a fresh breeze blowing and the King had to jump for it when he transferred to the launch, about three miles off shore, and again when be transferred to the-''duck" for the landing. ' As he went ashore General Montgomery met him and shook hands, saying, "Good morning. Your Majesty. Welcome to France." The visit had been kept a complete secret. Working partie- on the beaches looked up as General Montgomery's car drove slowly past and then they the King and ran alongside, cheering. Every one realised the fact that the King was visiting Normandy was a commentary on the strength of our foothold only ten days after the landings.

King Studies Maps General Montgomery took the King into one of hi-' three famous caravans and half an hour explaining on maps the course of the battles. Ihe King listened intently and asked many Questions. He then drove inland with General Montgomery toward the battle zone. During the drive the King obviously was keenly interested in the sight of broken villages which were in German hands only a few days previously. Files of infantrymen, laden with equipment, trudged the road to battle, rnanv not knowing that the King was passing. Grimy-faced, weary tank crews grinned and cheered when' they discovered who was passing. His Majesty lunched at General Montgomery's Headquarters, which were established in a quiet chateau, and during the meal shells screamed overhead. Hie walls of the chateau shook with the thuds of heavy explosions. After lunch the King held an openfir investiture in the chateau grounds, less than mx miles from the front line, wlipre tierce fighting was in progress. He decorated «even officers and men, headed by Mnjor-General Keller, commander ot the Canadian .'Srd Division, who received the (Mi K. Three or four hundred troops, including many commandos m green berets, formed up in three sides of a square and watched the ceremony. General Montgomery called for ;tliree

cheers for the King, in which the troops fervently joined. News of the visit spread and there were many more troops on the roadside to cheer His .Majesty as he drove back with General Montgomery to the beach in an open car. Groups of French women and children gathered on corners cheering and waving. Tricolours appeared at doors and windows. Union Jacks were also displayed. An elderly Frenchwoman stood in n doorway with tears running down her cheeks, waving a handkerchief. "Vive le roi. Vive PAngleterre." she cried. The King acknowledged her greeting with a salute, Back on the beach, where another convoy was unloading, the King shook bands with General Montgomery, wished him good luck and climbed hack into the "duck." wlnVh went down the beach into the water. There was n fair sea running, and transferring first into a launch and then to the Arethusa was a tricky business, hut the King climbed the perilously-swaying ladders with the ease of the trained naval officer he is, and lent a hand to others of his party. The Kins had ten on board the cruiser and then went up for a last look through the glasses at Franee Although lie spent several hours in the forward areas, no enemy plane or ship came in sight. There were no untoward incidents, which is an indication of the Allies' complete air and sea dominance in the battle zone. It is four centuries since the reigninn Sovereign of Fnrrlaud has set foot on Norman soil to visit hi= armies fighting in Calvados.

GERMAN ACCOUNTS

4MEUICAN SUCCESS

DEFENCE LINE BROKEN

(Heed. 5.30 p.m.) LONDON, June 17 The German news agency reports that reinforced American forces, including tanks and motorized units, opened an offensive toward St. Lo and broke the German line in various places after hard fighting. "German pioneers blew up the dyke at Caen which led the canal from Caen to Quistreham, as a result of which Ouistrcham harbour is without water and is usable only at high tide." says the agency. "This is a heavy blow to the British lighting for the Orne estuary." Yesterday's German High Command communique states: "Our troops in Normandy on Thursday successfully counter-attacked. German armoured units east of the River Orne drove a wedge into the enemy bridgehead. Our divisions west of Caitmont and southeast and south-west of Carentan drove tlie enemy back and consolidated their positions. The enemy west and north of St. Mere Eglise made small gains." German newspapers admit the overwhelming power of the Allied air forces in Normandy, and that the British and American troops are not inexperienced, but are largely already hardened by battles elsewhere, says the Stockholm correspondent of the Times. A German military officer writes: "Never has the voting, inexperienced German soldier had such a nerve-trying baptism as he is undergoing on the invasion front." The Berlin radio says Major-General Fritz Witt, Commander of the Hitler .Ttigend S.S. Panzer Division, has been killed in Normandy.

AMERICAN CASUALTIES

TOTAL OF 3283 KILLED

WOUNDED NUMBER 12,600 (Reed. 5.36 p.m.) LONDON, June 17 Lieutenant-General 0. N. Bradley, Commander-in-Chief of the American forces in France, said that the United States Army casualties in France to midnight on Friday totalled 3283 killed and 12.600 wounded. He added that the casualties on the beaches were higher than had been expected, but those on the peninsula were lower than expected. General Bradley also announced that 8500 prisoners had been evacuated from the American beachhead, which was now absolutely secure. The Germans at present had 60 to 62 divisions which they could switch against the Allied bridgehead. The American casualties are regarded in Washington as light, considering the number of men engaged and the extent oJ, their accomplishments,