McMillan: Hours of shelling hack British path
Creeping, barrage booms in wake of static blasting as Tommies carve gains
By Richard D. McMillan, United Press correspondent
With the British forces in France – (June 27)
Hundreds of guns, spaced a few yards apart, opened a barrage today over a front of several miles. After they had pounded the German positions for two and a half hours, the infantry went over to take village after village in hand-to-hand fighting.
After days of pouring rain, the weather improved and the troops looked to their planes to sweep down to aid them in softening up the innumerable German strongpoints in their path.
At the attack hour, the big “Monty” barrage was changed to a creeping one. Every three minutes, the barrage was advanced 100 yards ahead of the troops.
Fighting is developing, the British attack is gaining momentum and it looks as if the offensive front is going to expand.
The British advance has been made against stubborn opposition and tough positions. In the countryside, the Germans are in trenches and bunker defenses. In the villages, they are fortified in strong stone houses, which must be attacked by the infantry one by one. Resistance seems to be intensifying.
Fierce fighting raged around the village of Rauray, three miles southeast of Tilly-sur-Seulles. It was from this area that the Germans launched their counterattack.
The troops have had to fight through mud almost as bad as that I saw in Flanders in World War I.
A comparative lull on the British part of the front had permitted the building up of reserves in armor and in bringing up infantry reinforcements, and the British now pack a powerful punch. Further, they were cheered by the American capture of Cherbourg.
Greene: Charred tanks litter roads
By Roger D. Greene, Associated Press correspondent
At the British front in France – (June 27, 7:15 p.m.)
A heavy tank and infantry battle between the British and Germans raged tonight a few miles west of Caen and southwest of that stronghold, and moving up to the front I saw evidence that German armored formations had taken a terrific beating near Saint-Manvieu.
In a single field, there were many charred hulks of German tanks, their gun muzzles twisted, steel sides burst by direct British hits and frameworks reddened by fires which had consumed their crews.
German guns had checked the British advance at Saint-Manvieu during the night, but now the British were moving again. They had taken Cheux, Saint-Manvieu, Colleville and other hamlets.
Vilander: Naval guns hit west of Caen
By Everett Vilander, United Press correspondent
With a British naval task force – (June 26, delayed)
At 8:15 this morning, I watched the 15-inch guns of the monitor Lord Roberts open up in support of British and Canadian ground troops driving on Caen.
Within the next 100 minutes, they had poured 60 tons of high explosives into the concentrated area near Carpiquet Airfield, about three miles west of Caen, at a range of less than ten miles.
This was the first important naval bombardment on the eastern flank of the coastline in support of advance forces since D-Day.
West of us, the battleship Rodney pumped 16-inch shells throughout the morning at the prearranged target, just ahead of our advancing infantry and tank troops.
Since early morning, at least one warship has been firing constantly, and as I write, everything movable on this ship is bouncing like a Mexican jumping bean. The Roberts is firing over our heads and the other warships around us keep up a thunderous rocking of noise.
The cruisers Argonaut and Diadem, working with aerial spotters, fired sporadically all morning at German batteries northwest and north of Caen.
The Germans brought up numerous mobile guns and shelled the anchorage with increasing intensity from positions in the woods near the coast east of the Orne River, causing a number of casualties but little damage to our ships. The counterfire did not hinder our unloading operations, however.
Nearby the cruiser Belfast, in collaboration with an aircraft observer, engaged a shore battery, but there have been no reports on the effectiveness of the shelling.