Allied foothold is called firm
Stimson: Fighting to continue until Nazis defeated
Washington (AP) –
War Secretary Stimson said today the Allies have established a firm foothold on the European coast.
“I believe we are there to stay until all of France is liberated and Germany defeated,” he asserted, although cautioning that “we must expect counterattacks greater than any yet met” in the fighting in Normandy.
Stimson told a news conference that destruction or heavy damage to nine bridges over the Seine River by Allied Air Forces was one major factor in slowing down development of a major counterattack – “a delay longer than we could reasonably have counted upon.”
The Secretary said:
The fuller information which has come on the initial landings of our men on the French coast is a case in point to illustrate the desirability of not reaching hasty conclusions. The West Wall was no myth or pushover. At various places, the landings were relatively easy, thanks to an element of tactical surprise, a careful choice of the general region for the assault and the destruction of German communications by our preceding air attack.
But everywhere German offshore mines, beach obstacles, guns and pillboxes were a dangerous hazard.
Stimson noted that Allied forces suffered casualties in the operation “but not as many as our commanders were obliged to calculate upon beforehand.”