SERIOUS THREAT TO ENEMY’S PORT COMMUNICATIONS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 88, Issue 145, 19 June 1944, Page 5

SERIOUS THREAT TO ENEMY’S PORT COMMUNICATIONS

(1 1 p.m., June 1 8) London, June 1 8. Allied forces have pushed further west on the Cherbourg Peninsula and latest reports say that advance patrols have reached the western coast and are fighting on the grassy areas near the sea. On the eastern flank of the Normandy beachhead there have been more local clashes in the region between Tilly and Caen. It is pointed out that although the Allied spearheads have reached the west coast of the Cherbourg Peninsula, these will be merely advanced armoured units, and it may take some time yet before the positions are. consolidated in strength. Westward from Saint Sauveur le A icomte, which has been freed by Allied troops, the Germans are holding grimly to Montebourg. The last German stronghold inside the Allied beachhead was captured yesterday afternoon by British commandos, tanks and engineers, says Reuter’s correspondent in Normandy. More than 2<K» prisoners were taken, but the British casualties were negligible.

The Germans, after holding out for 12 days, streamed out from underground positions with their hands up when the first real assault was launched against them. A communique from Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force, says: “Allied forces have pushed deeper into Normandy. Villages east and west of Tilly-sur-Seulles have been freed of the enemy. Our troops, advancing two miles soutl of Isigny, have reached the ' iretaute Canal. St. Suveur 1c Vicomte has been liberated.” American spearheads sped across the Cherbourg Peninsula and seized Saint Jacques de Nehou, six miles north-west of Saint Sauveur, and also high ground overlooking the sea on the peninsula’s west side, says Reuter’s j correspondent with the American I forces. The Germans, according to reconnaissance reports, began to evacuate the area south of Saint Sauveur, because of the closing of the peninsula’s bottleneck. Americans have continued to slash their way down the road from Saint Sauveur, towards Surville, which is situated at the head of a coastal inlet nine miles southeast of Saint Sauveur on the main road to Carteret. The Americans at one point drove into positions less than six miles from the west coast beaches. Artillery heavily shelled the road, particularly the sector where it crosses the coastal route to Cherbourg,' which is the last escape route for th* Germans. Military circles, according to the New York Times Washington correspondent, consider the investment of Cherbourg imminent, adding that the Nazis are apparently reconciled to it, and will attempt to resist only long enough to force real delay on the Allied invasion programme. It is suggested that Cherbourg, where considerable German forces are hemmed in. might become a minor Stalingrad, but not a Dunkirk, because the Nazis do not control the sea for withdrawal via water. BAD WEATHER. It is learned at Supreme Allien Headquarters that no substantial Allied advance can be expected until the weather improves. Great as has been the Air Forces’ assistance, their full potential value has not yet been secured. There have been 10 days of the worst weather which .June could hate yielded, and the circumstances of *the Allied position to-<iay is regarded as highly satisfactory. All the Germans can claim is an uncertain equilibrium, both lor themaelves and their reservoir of reserves. Allied reserves are pactically inexhaustible, while the Germans are draining theirs rapidly. The German news agency reports that reinforced American forces, including tanks and motorised units from the Mon-sur-Alle region, opened an offensive towards Saint Lo and have broken the German line at various places, after hard righting.

The only Germans who do not duck when Allied planes strafe the roads in France are enemy Red Cross drivers, says the British United Press correspondent at a fighter-bomber base. The pilot said: “The German Red Cross personnel I saw just stood on the roads alongside their lorries and watched us blast a nearby unit. They have full confidence in us.’’ The weather in the Straits of Dover this morning is brighter, with sunny intervals, but there is a good deal of broken cloud. The sea is rough, a strong northerly wind has only slightly moderated. Visibility is good.