ORNE BRIDGEHEAD EXTENDED

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24970, 12 August 1944, Page 7

ORNE BRIDGEHEAD EXTENDED

GERMAN DEFENCE OF FALAISE

AMERICAN TANKS ON ROADS TO PARIS By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Received Augu.t 11, 11.30 p.m.) LONDON, August 11 The Germans in Normandy are making desperate efforts to check the Canadian drive on Falaise. Very heavy fighting was going on last night within five miles of the town and the Germans have rushed up every available gun to man their third and last defence line in front of Falaise. British troops have extended their bridgehead over the Orne River and are within a mile of Thury Harcourt. One report says armoured patrols have reached Thury Harcourt. American armoured columns are thrusting beyond Le Mans along the main road which runs through Chartres and on to Paris. One American column, according to the National Broadcasting Corporation, is attacking Chateaudun, 30 miles south of Chartres. An American tank column is unofficially reported to be closing in on Chartres, says a correspondent of the Daily Telegraph. The New York radio says that one column is nearing Tours and another is heading for Orleans. The Supreme Headquarters communique makes no mention of the American thrust beyond Le Mans and does not confirm reports that spearheads are approaching Chartres and Chateaudun. These American troops are still fighting and travelling under radio silence. The German news agency says that the Americans have concentrated three or four divisions in the Le Mans area and are trying with these to continue eastward, but German protecting formations have stopped them at Montfort, ten miles east of Le Mans, and at Beaufy, 12 miles to the east-north-east. In the Brest Peninsula, the north coast port of St. Malo is practically free. Pockets of resistance are being mopped up but the German commander and a small garrison are still holding out. The Germans also hold Lorient and Brest, although both places are now surrounded. A German war correspondent Guenther Weber, reporting from von Kluge's headquarters last night, said: "A million and a-half men are involved in a fierce battle on a,224-mile front. It would be futile to deny that the American break-through has placed von Kluge in a difficult position."