America at war! (1941–) – Part 3

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Innsbrucker Nachrichten (July 12, 1944)

Die erbitterte Schlacht in der Normandie

Gegenangriff südwestlich Caen gewinnt weiter Boden – Starke feindliche Angriffe bei Tilly und Saint-Lô zusammengebrochen – Der Feind in Italien abgewiesen – Schweres ‚V1‘-Vergeltungsfeuer – Terrorangriff auf München

dnb. Aus dem Führerhauptquartier, 12. Juli –
Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:

Die Schlacht in der Normandie hat sich noch auf weitere Abschnitte ausgedehnt, das Artilleriefeuer noch gesteigert, östlich der Orne warfen unsere Truppen den bei Colombelles eingebrochenen Feind auf seine Ausgangsstellungen zurück. Südwestlich Caen gewann unser Gegenangriff weiter an Boden. Um Éterville wird erbittert gekämpft. Südlich und südwestlich Tilly brachen starke feindliche Angriffe unter hohen Verlusten zusammen.

Auch im Abschnitt nordöstlich und nördlich Saint-Lô scheiterten die auf breiter Front vorgetragenen feindlichen Durchbruchsversuche. In einigen Einbruchsstellen wird noch gekämpft. Westlich Airel warfen deutsche Panzertruppen den Feind nach Norden zurück. Zwischen Vire und Sainteny, nordwestlich Le Plessis und im Abschnitt La Haye-du-Pults dauern die erbitterten Abwehrkämpfe an, ohne daß es dem Gegner bisher gelang, wesentliche Erfolge zu erzielen.

Im französischen Raum wurden wiederum 66 Terroristen Im Kampf niedergemacht.

Schweres „V1“- Vergeltungsfeuer liegt weiterhin auf dem Großraum von London.

In Italien setzte der Gegner seine starken Angriffe von der Westküste bis in den Raum von Pogglbonsi fort. Er wurde unter hohen blutigen Verlusten abgewiesen. Der Schwerpunkt der Kämpfe lag gestern beiderseits des Tiber, im Abschnitt südlich Cita di Castelle. Nach trommelfeuerartigem Artilleriefeuer gelang es dem Gegner, in verlustreichen Kämpfen unsere Front um einige Kilometer nach Norden zurückzudrücken. Östlich des Tiber brachten Gegenangriffe unserer Truppen das feindliche Vorgehen zum Stehen. An der Adriaküste setzte der Feind seine Angriffe gestern Nachmittag nicht fort.

Im Süden der Ostfront herrschte gestern nur örtliche Kampftätigkeit. Ungarische Truppen führten im Karpatenvorland ein Angriffsunternehmen erfolgreich durch.

Im gesamten Mittelabschnitt von der Szczara bis Polozk hielt der starke feindliche Druck an. Unsere Divisionen setzten sich im südlichen Teil dieser Front unter andauernden schweren Kämpfen weiter nach Westen ab. Im Raum von Baranowicze hat sich die schlesische 28. Jägerdivision unter Führung des Generalmajors von Ziehlberg in Angriff und Abwehr hervorragend bewährt, östlich Olita wurden die vorstoßenden Sowjets von unseren Panzerdivisionen im Gegenangriff aufgefangen.

Die Verteidiger von Wilna zerschlugen im Westteil der Stadt wiederholte Angriffe der Bolschewisten und schossen zahlreiche feindliche Panzer ab.

Im Raum zwischen Utena und Polozk brachen starke Angriffe der Bolschewisten in noch anhaltenden schweren Kämpfen verlustreich zusammen. Auch südlich Noworschew sind noch erbitterte Kämpfe im Gange.

Schlachtfliegergeschwader griffen besonders südwestlich Wilna und südwestlich Dünaburg wirksam in die Erdkämpfe ein und fügten dem Feind in Tiefangriffen hohe Verluste an Menschen und Material zu.

Ein starker nordamerikanischer Bomberverband führte gestern im Schutz dichter Bewölkung einen Terrorangriff gegen München. Durch Flakartillerie wurden 27 feindliche Flugzeuge, darunter 24 viermotorige Bomber, vernichtet.

In der Nacht warfen einzelne britische Flugzeuge Bomben auf rheinisch-westfälisches Gebiet.

8571

Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (July 12, 1944)

Communiqué No. 73

German counterattacks were many and severe all along the Allied front on Tuesday, but they were held and we have made some gains.

There was an Allied advance on the road south from LA HAYE-DU-PUITS towards LESSAY and the bulge past SAINTENY was slightly enlarged.

Fighting in the vicinity of SAINT-LÔ has been heavy and we now have PONT-HÉBERT.

The strongest German counterblow was in the area COLOMBELLES–SAINTE-HONORINE.

During the day, our aircraft in support of ground forces destroyed 28 enemy tanks and damaged 16 others. Fighter-bombers destroyed or damaged 31 tanks in the LESSAY–SAINT-LÔ area while rocket-firing aircraft accounted for 13 near HOTTO and VIMONT.

Enemy artillery positions along the entire front were under air attack yesterday afternoon. Batteries in the PERRIERS–LESSAY sector were attacked and direct hits registered on camouflaged gun positions.

Our medium bombers attacked fuel dumps at FLERS, FORÊT D’ÉCOUVES, CHÂTEAU DE TERTU and FORÊT D’ANDAINE, and a railway bridge at BOURTH yesterday afternoon.

East of PARIS, aircraft on armed reconnaissance attacked transportation targets.

Communiqué No. 74

Steady Allied pressure in all the main areas of activity continues to force the enemy slowly back. Allied gains have been small but widespread, and the enemy has suffered considerable losses in abortive counterattacks.

The FORÊT DE MONT CASTRE is in our hands, and southwest of CARENTAN a further advance has been made down the road from SAINTENY. Allied troops also gained some ground south of the village of SAINT-ANDRÉ-DE-L’ÉPINE. Further east, fighting continued around the village of HOTTOT southwest of TILLY, and in the LOUVIGNY area near CAEN. More than 40 enemy tanks were claimed knocked out Tuesday by ground action.

From midnight until noon today, Allied aircraft ranged from BRUSSELS to BORDEAUX, attacking enemy transport and supply facilities and harassing troops.

During the night, light bombers patrolled the SEINE crossings and the ORLÉANS area, bombing power installation at BLOIS and the railyards at TOURS.

From first light, fighters and fighter-bombers gave close support to ground forces, attacking many targets indicated by Army Commanders. They also dive-bombed enemy troops and choke points at MANTES-GASSICOURT, ÉPERNON, CHARTRES and southwest of RAMBOUILLET. A railway bridge near CHERISY was attacked. Rail lines at TOURS, SAUMUR, LA FLECHE and CHERISY were cut.

In the SAINT-LÔ area, medium and light bombers destroyed a number of vehicles in a late morning attack on troop concentrations, fuel dumps and motor parks.

Coastal aircraft attacked enemy shipping off the coast, and bombs were seen to burst among enemy E- and R-boats.

8572

U.S. Navy Department (July 12, 1944)

CINCPAC Communiqué No. 79

Mopping-up operations and elimination of snipers continued on Saipan Island during July 10 and 11 (West Longitude Dates). One Marine regiment killed 711 enemy troops on July 10. Our forces have now captured more than 1,000 enemy troops who have been made prisoners of war, and have interned more than 8,000 civilians.

Guam and Rota Islands were attacked by carrier aircraft of a fast carrier task group on July 10. Military installations at Agana, Umatac, and Agat Towns on the western shore of Guam Island were bombed and subjected to rocket fire. Buildings near Orote Point were also hit. At Rota Island, runways and defense installations were bombed. One twin‑engine enemy bomber was shot down. There was no attempt at fighter interception. Anti­aircraft fire was moderate.

Fifty tons of bombs were dropped by 7th Army Air Force Liberators on July 10 at the Dublon Island Naval Base in Truk Atoll. No interception was attempted and anti-aircraft fire was meager. Neutralization raids against enemy positions in the Marshalls were carried out by the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing and Fleet Air Wing Two on July 10.

8573

The Pittsburgh Press (July 12, 1944)

YANKS PIERCE SAINT-LÔ DEFENSES
Allies attack across front, Nazis report

Americans advance mile on citadel
By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer

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Yanks resumed their advance on Nazi strongholds on the western and central sectors of the front in Normandy today as British in the Caen area repulsed fierce Nazi counterattacks. The Americans were 2¼ miles from Lessay and 4½ miles from Périers (1). In the drive on Saint-Lô, the Yanks captured two dominating heights and drove to within 1½ miles of that hilltop citadel and were wiping out an encircled garrison in La Meauffe (2). The British withdrew from Louvigny (3), but gained ground and beat off counterattacks near Colombelles (4).

SHAEF, London, England –
The U.S. 1st Army advanced a mile through the outer defenses of Saint-Lô today to within one and a half miles of the German citadel anchoring the central Normandy front, and, six miles to the east, drove across the main highway to Bayeux.

The Berlin radio said Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery had unleashed a general Allied offensive from end to end of the French front, and Allied headquarters reported that the Americans, British and Canadians were battering ahead in most sectors of the line in heavy battles.

Two heights overrun

Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley’s U.S. assault forces hammered out slow but steady gains all along the battle arc north and northeast of Saint-Lô. They overran two commanding heights excellent for observation and artillery fire.

The Battle of Normandy gained in violence, and reports from the front and headquarters indicated that Gen. Montgomery and Marshal Erwin Rommel were throwing in their forces for a showdown battle expected to determine the immediate course of the war in the west.

United Press writer James McGlincy reported from outside Saint-Lô in a dispatch filed at 5:10 p.m. that an American spearhead had been driven into the German lines to the crest of a hill sloping down into the town from the northeast, and a shattering artillery barrage had “half flattened” the ancient citadel controlling communications to the heart of Normandy.

Road littered with dead

Mr. McGlincy reported:

The battles have been most fierce all day. Every field on the way to Saint-Lô is hotly contested. The road to Saint-Lô, along which I have just driven as far as possible, then walked, is littered with German dead and burned-out vehicles. German corpses line the ditches on each side of the road.

U.S. Thunderbolts swooped down on German military transport near Saint-Lô and destroyed six vehicles today. Medium and light bombers smashed targets behind the German front.

To the northwest, other U.S. forces captured two villages 2¾ miles south of La Haye-du-Puits, in advances of 1,000 yards on both sides of the highway running down to Lessay.

Henry T. Gorrell, United Press writer at 1st Army headquarters, reported that the Germans were showing signs of an orderly withdrawal southward in the west coast sector as U.S. troops advanced within 2¼ miles of Lessay.

British securing bases

British and Canadian troops around Caen were consolidating their positions and securing bases for further attacks, the headquarters spokesman reported.

The German were revealed to have mounted a strong tank and infantry attack in the area of Le Hommet-d’Arthenay, seven miles northwest of Saint-Lô, yesterday. The Americans contained the onslaught, destroying “something over” 20 tanks and inflicting other losses on the enemy.

The German attack was aimed at the center of the U.S. bridgehead across the Vire River, but it gained “virtually no” ground. However, the Americans pulled back their positions slightly, abandoning at least temporarily the village of Le Désert.

Allied attacks synchronized

The German DNB News Agency, in a broadcast dispatch reporting a general Allied offensive, said the U.S. 1st and British 2nd Armies heretofore had been operating more or less independently but now had synchronized their attacks.

It said Gen. Montgomery had 32 well-equipped divisions. The Germans “took up shortened lines” in the western coastal sector, DNB reported.

British lose town

At the eastern end of the front, the Germans broke off their counterattacks around Caen after driving the British and Canadians out of Louvigny, two miles southwest of the inland port.

Lt. Gen. Miles C. Dempsey’s British 2nd Army, however, retained its hold on high ground overlooking the Orne River near its confluence with the Odon below Caen and gained further ground both in the Colombelles suburb east of Caen and the Hottot area south of Tilly-sur-Seulles.

The American and British thrusts toward Saint-Lô and the Orne River line yesterday touched off the fiercest armored battles since D-Day and Allied planes alone knocked out 44 enemy tanks in 24 hours.

166 tanks in 4 days

Gen. Bradley’s ground forces northwest of Saint-Lô knocked out an additional 12 tanks, to boost the toll of German armor for the four days Saturday through Tuesday to at least 166.

“German counterattacks were many and severe all along the Allied front Tuesday, but they were held and we made some gains,” Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower reported in his 73rd communiqué of the invasion.

The Americans straightened their line south of La Meauffe, five miles north of Saint-Lô, with an advance of 1,000 yards, while their comrades to the northwest pushed down the Carentan–Périers road to within four and a quarter miles northeast of Périers.

The Yanks were attacking to annihilate an encircled German garrison of 250-300 in La Meauffe, a mile and a half behind the American line.

Planes blast tanks

U.S. and British fighter-bombers destroyed or damaged 31 enemy tanks in supporting the ground forces between Lessay and Saint-Lô yesterday, while rocket-firing British craft accounted for another 13 near Hottot on the British sector.

Gen. Eisenhower’s communiqué said the enemy’s strongest counterblow was launched in the Colombelles–Sainte-Honorine area east of Caen and the Allies’ closest approach to Paris, but a front dispatch asserted the British front was generally quiet today.

A dispatch last night said the Germans had used in their counterattacks on the British sector more tanks than ever before in action in Normandy.

A staff officer suggested the Germans were making their maximum effort at this time out of fear they would be unable to attack in such force later when the cumulative effects of the ceaseless Allied air bombardment of their rear areas take effect.

8574

U.S. tanks drive two miles in Italy

Stalemate broken below Livorno
By Reynolds Packard, United Press staff writer

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8575

Munich area hit in greatest U.S. raid

1,200 bombers strike; South France also hit
By Walter Cronkite, United Press staff writer

London, England –
More than 1,200 heavy bombers, in the war’s greatest U.S. raid on a single target, bombed the Munich area for the second time in 24 hours today, while 250-500 Liberators based in the Mediterranean area attacked railway yards in Nîmes and Miramas in southern France.

The fleet from the Mediterranean encountered few enemy fighters in its attack on the railyards at Nîmes, 35 miles southwest of Avignon, and at Miramas, 35 miles south of Avignon. It also attacked two rail bridges, one on the Riviera line over the Var River, the other on the same line at Théoule-sur-Mer, near Cannes.

Luftwaffe belittled

The two-way attack was carried out with such little fighter opposition that a high officer of the U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe, observing that German air losses have exceeded production since January, said the Luftwaffe was no longer a major factor on any front.

It came, too, as SHAEF announced that Allied Air Forces during June had dropped 27,000 tons of bombs on Germany and German-occupied territories.

In support of British troops on the Normandy Peninsula, meanwhile, U.S. twin-engined bombers struck at supply depots of German mechanized forces backed up on the Orne River line south of Caen.

Attack fuel dump

Two forces of 9th Air Force Marauders, operating a quarter of an hour apart, attacked a big fuel dump in the forest of Cinglais, 10 miles south of Caen – and incidentally punished concentrations of troops in the area.

Other Marauders went after other fuel dumps along a secondary supply line farther behind the front, striking one in Forêt d’Écouves, 30 miles east of the front, and another at Forêt d’Andaine, eight miles east.

Due to continued adverse weather, the Munich raiders again were forced to drop their bombs through clouds by means of instruments and were unable to observe the results.

Opposed by flak

The fact that the Americans attacked again over a cloud floor and the German radio failed to mention heavy air battles indicated the Fortresses and Liberators probably made the 1,000-mile roundtrip to Munich opposed only by flak.

Munich’s last 24 hours have been one of the worst any city has experienced during the war. The total time of the great bomber formations spent over the city in the two raids was scarcely more than one hour, but in those 60 minutes, it was estimated they unload 6,300 tons down on the city of 680,000 persons – the fourth largest city in Germany.

A dispatch from Zürich, meanwhile, reported that three U.S. bombers had landed in Switzerland.

Take half hour to pass

Early indications were that the raid was one of the largest Allied aerial offensives in several days.

One formation along required a half hour to pass over the southeast coast of England and when it returned several hours later passed another large force heading toward Calais.

During the night, RAF Mosquito bombers again struck into Germany, attacking industrial objectives in the Ruhr, while other British bombers, escorted by Spitfires, raided the German flying bomb installations in northern France. Both operations were carried out without loss.

8576

Gorrell: A tale of two French cities

By Henry Gorrell, United Press staff writer

CARENTAN: My jeep rolled past a field of wooden crosses, the civilian dead of Carentan.

carentan.gorrell.up

The Germans plug shells into Carentan regularly. The story from Berlin probably would be that they were after the bridges across the Douve. But the shells I saw fall today exploded nowhere near the bridges. They blasted a bakery shop and killed or severely wounded more than 20 women and children.

I swerved and heard the boom of the German guns. Then the shells exploded in nearby houses and shops. A medical officer borrowed my jeep to round up U.S. Army ambulances to care for the wounded.

I tried to help by getting civilians off the street. I saw a Frenchman dash up with a wheelbarrow, gather up a child who lay with her head half torn off and run for the first-aid post.

Nuns, oblivious of the shelling, led small children to cover. Two little girls, covered with blood, walked hand in hand toward the aid post. One had a fragment in her hip and walked with a limp. The other’s head bled. Their faces were pale, but they did not cry.

The shelling ended abruptly as fighter-bombers roared over to paste the German artillery. Shopkeepers began to clean up the wreckage so they could resume business.

There will be more crosses in the field outside of Carentan in the morning.

CARTERET: The 23 dancing girls of “La Revue de Paris” went on strike against the U.S. Army today. They were black and blue from riding trucks without cushions – and the Germans had paid more to see their show.

carteret.gorrell.up

There were no bombs falling on Carteret.

“We cannot live on the dollar a day the Americans allowed us,” Jinnette Rolland, fiery star of the show, shouted, gesturing toward the shack where the dancing girls have been forced to live since the German soldiers moved out of the town’s hotel.

“Beezness is bad – the Germans paid 30 francs to see the show,” Jean Bellanger, manager of the troupe, said.

The dancing girls did not think they should be forced to eat the C and K rations allotted them by U.S. troops, and they resented the fact that they were forced to use Army trucks as transportation.

Jinnette complained:

We are all black and blue here [she showed where] because the trucks have not the cushions.

They have refused to give any performances for the troops unless their salaries are increased another dollar a show. Their show was broken up on D-Day, the girls shrieked, “The Germans left then.”

Two cities in a day’s work.

8577

Roosevelt support for Wallace due

Endorsement expected within 48 hours
By Daniel M. Kidney, Scripps-Howard staff writer

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8578

Veterans’ right to old job questioned by CIO group

Union claims ruling ‘sets up an artificial conflict between veteran and worker’
By Fred W. Perkins, Pittsburgh Press staff writer

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8579

Republican chief assails ‘good soldier’ Roosevelt

Brownell says President is using vital as Commander-in-Chief to retain office

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8580

Abuse of veterans charged by VFW

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8581

Big milk strike faced by Detroit

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Morris, United Press writer, dies in fall

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8582

Nelson wins dispute over reconversion

Deal with military means only a delay

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8583

15 die, many hurt as plane hits camp

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8584

Voting in six states –
CIO-backed Tobin leads in Massachusetts primary

Senator Tobey leads in New Hampshire race; Thomas unopposed in Utah election
By the United Press

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8585

Guffey: 4th term certain

Senator noncommittal on Vice Presidency
By Robert Taylor, Press Washington correspondent

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8586

Italian patriots’ work behind enemy lines little known to world

Allies face problem of what to do with partisans when Nazis have been repelled
By Edward P. Morgan

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8587

MacArthur’s forces soon to hit Jap ‘first team’ in South Pacific

Foe will be stronger and better equipped
By Ralph Teatsorth, United Press staff writer

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Guam attacked eighth time in six days

Warships again shell base south of Saipan
By William F. Tyree, United Press staff writer

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8588

Leaf Security hits popular cigarette brands

Voluntary rationing system in effect

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8589

Editorial: Candidate Roosevelt

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