Maj. de Seversky: Saint-Lô mission
By Maj. Alexander P. de Seversky
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Stokes: Defeat of Clark offers GOP a political lesson
Missouri primary ‘punishes’ isolationist, defends Roosevelt’s policies
By Thomas L. Stokes, Scripps-Howard staff writer
St. Louis, Missouri –
Governor Thomas E. Dewey, Republican presidential candidate, and his running mate, Governor John W. Bricker, came here for a conference with the other 24 Republican governors at the end of a hot state primary election which seemed to offer the Republican Party a lesson.
Isolationism long had a toehold in Missouri. That philosophy received an unmistakable rebuke in the defeat in Tuesday’s Democratic senatorial primary of Senator Bennett Champ Clark. He was one of its apostles in the days leading up to the outbreak of war in Europe and in the tense debate before Pearl Harbor.
In the ousting of Bennett Clark, son of Champ Clark, Speaker of the House during the Wilson administration, there was also an element of punishment by Democratic voters for the Senator’s opposition to much of President Roosevelt’s domestic, as well as foreign, program.
‘Blind and stubborn’
This was not entirely an assertion of New Dealism among Missouri Democrats. It was a manifestation of that basic Democratic Party loyalty which holds that a Democrat should support a Democratic President, even if the voters themselves do not always approve his policies.
It is blind, stubborn, not easily understood, but all the same, there it is.
The Missouri primary was complicated by other factors, including political feuding. But there is no doubt that the Senator’s isolationism and his anti-Rooseveltism were the chief factors. They were the principal targets of attack by his opponent, Attorney General Roy McKittrick, and by the two St. Louis newspapers which hammered day by day on this theme. The effect was reflected in the poor showing by Senator Clark here in St. Louis which accounted for his defeat.
A vote-vane state
Missouri is one of that string of border states which serve as a weather vane. It is reported to be nip and tuck today.
Trimming on the international collaboration issue might be costly to the Republicans in November, for Tuesday’s primary showed it can be whipped up into quite an issue.
The CIO Political Action Committee had an influence in the primary result, particularly here in St. Louis, where they put on an effective registration campaign. They, too, are preaching international cooperation.
The defeat of Senator Clark has its sad aspects. It ends at least temporarily the 50-year Clark dynasty in Missouri politics, began by Bennett’s father, who almost attained the Presidency.
Clark honest, sincere
Bennett Clark’s isolationism was honest and sincere. Bennett Clark fought in France in World War I and had a distinguished record.
I recall a story he told me one day about when he went to Paris on leave. He said:
I went out to Versailles. I walked through the palace. There on the walls I saw pictures – the Duke of Guise entering Château-Thierry in 1300 and something, some other military leader taking over another place in 1400 something – a place in which we had fought just recently.
I said to myself, “Boy, they’ve been fighting over these same places for centuries!” Then I thought “What business has a boy from Missouri being over here?”
The boys from Missouri are back over there again, and in Italy, and in the South Pacific. It looks this time, however, as if Woodrow Wilson finally might be vindicated. Bennett Clark has lost out.
‘Divorce PAC, government,’ Martin Dies demands
Congressman threatens legislation, charges CIO group violating Hatch Act
Washington (UP) –
Rep. Martin Dies (D-TX) said today that he plans to sponsor legislation “divorcing the CIO Political Action Committee from the government” unless Attorney General Francis Biddle begins prosecution within 30 days against PAC and federal officials whom Dies has accused of Hatch Act violations.
The chairman of the House Committee on Un-American Activities said his proposed bill would make it a penitentiary offense for any person on the federal payroll to engage in political activity on behalf of the CIO or similar organizations.
He reiterated his demand that Mr. Biddle investigate and prosecute officials of the PAC and 72 government employees, including 15 who resigned to accept PAC jobs, for alleged political activity outlawed by the Hatch “Clean Politics” Act.
Denouncing the CIO committee as a “racket,” he charged that former government workers “obtain all the information they need” while on the federal payroll, then quit “and go to work for the PAC.”
‘Lame ducks’ named for Dies probe
Washington (UP) –
Two “lame duck” Congressmen, defeated in primaries where they were opposed by the Congress of Industrial Organizations, were named today to a special three-man Dies Subcommittee to investigate CIO political activities.
The subcommittee will include Reps. Joe Starnes (D-AL) and John M. Costello (D-CA), both of whom were opposed by the CIO in their recent unsuccessful races for renomination.
Loss of Riddle blasted Reds’ pennant hope
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U.S. railroads to make firm bid for traffic
Faster and cheaper service planned
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Dewey is endorsed by Baltimore Sun
Baltimore, Maryland (UP) –
The Baltimore Morning Sun today editorially endorsed the Republican presidential candidacy of Governor Thomas E. Dewey and said it would “do what it can” to prevent a fourth term for President Roosevelt.
The paper said:
Mr. Roosevelt’s decision to run for a fourth term makes it necessary for The Sun to oppose him and to do what it can to forestall the evils which such a decision brings with it.
It described Governor Dewey as “a practical, level-headed man with a mind more like that of a scientists than that of a warrior on horseback.”
Boss Crump supports President Roosevelt
Memphis, Tennessee (UP) –
The remote possibility that Tennessee might join the group opposing the reelection of President Roosevelt and the election of Senator Harry S. Truman (D-MO) for the Vice President’s post, was dispelled here today by E. H. Crump, Shelby County (Tennessee) political leader.
In his first public utterance since Tennessee’s delegates to the Chicago convention strove vainly to place Governor Prentice Cooper’s name in the race for the Vice Presidency, Mr. Crump said the Tennessee Democratic organization would back the Roosevelt-Truman ticket.
The CIO in politics –
PAC campaign plan is to paint gloomy picture under GOP
Murray warns public not to ‘relax’ fearing ‘reactionaries’ will seek control
By Blair Moody, North American Newspaper Alliance
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Eric Johnston: Russia unlikely to change her political spots
Desire for some economic revision found, but there’s little chance for private enterprise
By Eric A. Johnston, U.S. Chamber of Commerce president
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Clark blames CIO for his defeat
‘Communist-led’ group assailed
St. Louis, Missouri (UP) –
Democratic Senator Bennett Champ Clark, pre-war isolationist and New Deal critic, today blamed the “Communist-controlled CIO” for his defeat for renomination for a third term in the U.S. Senate in Tuesday’s primary election in Missouri.
In a statement, Mr. Clark obviously conceded the nomination to State Attorney General Roy McKittrick and branded his defeat “a notable triumph for the Communist-controlled CIO in its efforts to take control of the Democratic Party.”
‘Fight just starting’
Mr. Clark said:
That fight is not conclusive. It is just starting. I am happy that I carried the bona fide Democratic counties of rural Missouri with whom I have been associated so long.
The people of rural Missouri were alert – like the Minute Men of Revolutionary fame – to the menace of CIO control.
Unofficial returns from 4,197 of Missouri’s 4,516 precincts gave McKittrick 161,056 votes; Clark, 140,175.
Isolationist record hit
McKittrick based his campaign attacks on Clark’s pre-war isolationist record and his stand against administration-sponsored legislation. Clark defended himself on the ground he was trying to keep the country out of the war.
McKittrick received his heaviest vote from the urban areas of the state, with the exception of Kansas City, which voted preponderantly for Clark.
In other state primary contests, Jean Paul Bradshaw, Republican lawyer of Lebanon, won the GOP gubernatorial nomination and will face Democratic State Senator Phil M. Donnelly in the November election.
While McKittrick was defeating Clark in the Democratic primary, Republican Governor Forrest C. Donnell carried off the GOP senatorial nomination against six opponents. With less than 300 precincts unreported, Donnell had amassed 135,219 votes to 61,576 for his nearest competitor.
Völkischer Beobachter (August 4, 1944)
Kampf um die Zeit
vb. Berlin, 3. August –
Die Lage in der Normandie ist nach wie vor durch einige sich durchkreuzende Entwicklungsreihen gekennzeichnet. Die nordamerikanischen Panzer des Generals Bradley haben, unterstützt durch starke Luftgeschwader, den Ort Pontorson in der Bretagne erreicht. Teile sind dann nach Westen und nach Süden in der Richtung auf Dinan und auf Rennes vorgestoßen. Man hat den Eindruck, daß der gegnerischen Führung das Beispiel der deutschen Panzerdivisionen vom Jahre 1940 vorschwebt. Sie hat aber bereits erkennen müssen, daß dieses Beispiel nicht so leicht nachzuahmen ist. Die vorgetriebenen Panzerspitzen sind wieder zurückgeworfen worden und haben dabei herbe Verluste erlitten. Man darf annehmen, daß die Nordamerikaner nunmehr versuchen werden, ihre Angriffe in derselben Richtung wie bisher, aber mit einem größeren Zusammenhang der Kräfte untereinander wieder aufzunehmen.
Inzwischen darf der General Montgomery keineswegs aufhören, seinen Blick auf die Mittelfront seiner Heeresgruppe zu richten, da von den Vorgängen hier viel auch für das Schicksal der vorgetriebenen Angriffskolonnen auf dem westlichen Flügel abhängt. Noch immer hängt die Mitte zurück. Allerdings haben Nordamerikaner und die Engländer des Generals Dempsey in den letzten vierundzwanzig Stunden alles getan, den nach Norden sich ausbauchenden Bogen abzuflachen und die Kräfte in der Mitte nach Süden hin Vordringen zu lassen. Percy und Tessy sind dabei in ihren Besitz gekommen. Sie nähern sich Vire. Trotzdem aber kann jener von Pontorson ins Innere vordringende amerikanische Keil leicht in die Gefahr eines ziemlich isolierten Frontvorsprungs geraten. Die Deutschen haben denn auch eigene Panzerverbände südlich von Villedieu zum Angriff nach Westen angesetzt. Das macht die besondere Empfindlichkeit der linken Flanke des nordamerikanischen Angriffskeiles von neuem sinnfällig deutlich. Dagegen ruht im östlichsten Abschnitt der Gesamtfront, bei Caen, die Kampftätigkeit immer noch. Das Scheitern des großen Angriffs in der vergangenen Woche muß die Engländer schwer getroffen haben. Sie brauchen noch Zeit, um sich für eine neue Offensive vorzubereiten.
Im Osten haben die Sowjets weiter erkennen müssen, daß sie ihre Hoffnungen auf eine ununterbrochene Fortführung des schnellen Vormarschtempos der Julimitte nicht haben verwirklichen können. An einigen Stellen der Ostfront verstärkt sich der sowjetische Druck. Das Bestreben, nicht nur mit kleineren Vorausabteilungen, sondern mit größeren Verbänden über die Weichsel zu kommen, wird weiter sichtbar. An anderen Stellen aber hat sich auch der deutsche Gegendruck verstärkt, mehrere deutsche Angriffe von nicht unbeträchtlicher Stärke haben die Sowjets an verschiedenen Stellen zurückgeworfen.
Mit solchen Gegenstößen örtlicher Natur wird sich naturgemäß der deutsche Gesamtplan nicht erschöpfen. Es ist kein Geheimnis, daß die deutsche Führung gegenwärtig Großzügigeres und Bedeutenderes tut als das Einschieben von Eingreifdivisionen in die kämpfende Front zum Aufhalten des angreifenden Gegners. Aber darum behalten die zähen Kämpfe der tapferen Männer vorne in ihren Schützenlöchern und an ihren Geschützen doch ihren hohen Wert auch für die im Gang befindlichen Maßnahmen der höheren Führung.
Daß in Deutschland und hinter der fechtenden Front gegenwärtig manches im Gange ist, was als Ziel am Ende ein beträchtliches und entscheidendes Gegengewicht gegen die Masse der anstürmenden und heranrollenden Feinde hat, weiß auch der Feind.
Gerade aus diesem Wissen rührt die besondere Heftigkeit seiner Angriffe in den letzten Wochen an allen Fronten. Er will den Deutschen die Zeit nicht lassen, die notwendig ist, bis das ausgearbeitete und bereits in der Ausführung stehende Programm beendet ist. Er will die Entscheidung vorher erzwingen. Die vorläufige operative Linie der deutschen Führung muß demgegenüber sein, die Entscheidung gerade erst dann herbeizuführen, wenn unsere Maßnahmen sich haben auswirken können.
Was sich also gegenwärtig auf allen Fronten abspielt, ist ein dramatischer Kampf um die Zeit. Ihn für Deutschland zu gewinnen, dazu dienen in den gegenwärtigen Wochen vor allem der Widerstand und die Gegenstöße der fechtenden Front, im Endziel aber auch die Planung der obersten Führung und die ganze hingebende Arbeit der Heimat.
Innsbrucker Nachrichten (August 4, 1944)
Schwere Feindverluste an allen Fronten
Erfolge deutscher Gegenangriffe in der Normandie und im Osten – Sowjetdurchbruch zur Beskiden-Passstraße gescheitert – Kriegsmarine und U-Boote am Feind – Landungsversuch auf Adria-Insel abgeschlagen
dnb, Führerhauptquartier, 4. August –
Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:
In der Normandie scheiterten örtliche Vorstöße des Feindes südwestlich Caen. Im Raum von Coulvain fanden während des ganzen Tages heftige Kämpfe statt, ohne zu einer nennenswerten Änderung der Lage zu führen. Südwestlich davon und im Raum von Vire gelang es, den eingebrochenen Feind durch den Gegenangriff eigener Panzerverbände zu werfen und den Zusammenhang der Front wiederherzustellen. 50 feindliche Panzer wurden abgeschossen. Eine starke Gruppe des Feindes ist eingeschlossen und wird konzentrisch angegriffen. Nordöstlich und östlich Avranches brachen zahlreiche von Panzern unterstützte Angriffe des Gegners verlustreich zusammen.
Im Ostteil der Bretagne dringen die über Avranches nach Süden durchgebrochenen motorisierten Truppen des Feindes nach Süden und Westen vor und stehen an mehreren Stellen mit den Besatzungen der deutschen Stützpunkte in diesem Raum im Kampf. In den beiden letzten Tagen verlor der Feind 216 Panzer.
Durch Kampfmittel der Kriegsmarine und durch Unterseeboote wurden im Seegebiet vor der Invasionsfront ein Kreuzer, drei Zerstörer, zwei Korvetten sowie fünf Transporter und ein Spezialschiff mit zusammen 36.000 BRT versenkt. Zahlreiche weitere Schiffe mit mehr als 56.000 BRT wurden torpediert. Mit dem Untergang des größten Teiles dieser Schiffe kann gerechnet werden.
Schnellboote versenkten in der Nacht zum 3. August im Ostteil der Seinebucht ein britisches Artillerieschnellboot.
Das schwere Feuer der „V1“ liegt weiterhin auf London und seinen Außenbezirken.
In Italien setzten sich unsere Truppen auf einen engen Brückenkopf dicht südlich Florenz ab. Erneute feindliche Angriffe gegen diese Stellung scheiterten. Schweres feindliches Artilleriefeuer liegt auf der historischen Stadt mit ihren unersetzlichen Kulturwerten.
Am Nordostrand der Karpaten ist der feindliche Durchbruchsversuch auf die Beskiden-Passstraße gescheitert. Hierbei wurde die 271. sowjetische Schützendivision eingeschlossen und vernichtet. Mehrere andere sowjetische Divisionen erlitten schwere Verluste an Menschen und Material. In der Zeit vom 31. Juli bis 3. August wurden 181 Geschütze, 13 Panzer sowie zahlreiche Infanteriewaffen und Kraftfahrzeuge in diesem Raum vernichtet oder erbeutet.
Wiederholte Angriffe der Bolschewisten westlich Reichshof wurden abgewiesen. Westlich Baranow vernichteten Sturmgeschütze 23 feindliche Panzer. An der übrigen Weichselfront sind heftige Kämpfe im Raum östlich Sandomierz, bei Pulawy und südöstlich Warke im Gange.
Nordöstlich Warschau wurden sowjetische Kräfte durch Gegenangriff unserer Panzer von ihren rückwärtigen Verbindungen abgeschnitten und auf engen Raum zusammengedrängt. 76 feindliche Panzer wurden vernichtet. An der Front von Warschau bis westlich Kauen scheiterten alle bolschewistischen Angriffe.
An der Front in Lettland brachen in mehreren Abschnitten feindliche Angriffe blutig zusammen, örtliche Einbrüche wurden abgeriegelt oder im Gegenstoß eingeengt.
In der Landenge von Narwa rannten die Sowjets erneut mit neun Schützendivisionen und vier Panzerverbänden gegen unsere Stellungen an. Sie erlitten wiederum schwere Verluste, ohne zu Erfolgen zu kommen.
Ein in den Morgenstunden des 2. August im Schutze englischer Zerstörer und zahlreicher Jagdbomber durchgeführtes feindliches Landungsunternehmen gegen die dalmatinische Insel Korcula wurde durch die Inselbesatzung nach kurzem, hartem Kampf abgeschlagen.
Feindliche Bomberverbände richteten unter Verletzung schweizerischen Hoheitsgebietes Terrorangriffe gegen Orte in Süd- und Südwestdeutschland, vor allein gegen Friedrichshafen, Saarbrücken und Kempten. Durch Luftverteidigungskräfte wurden 43 feindliche Flugzeuge, darunter 40 viermotorige Bomber, abgeschossen.
Bei dem im heutigen OKW-Bericht gemeldeten Versenkungserfolg der Kriegsmarine vor der Invasionsfront haben sich Einzelkämpfer aller Dienstgrade durch freiwilligen Einsatz hervorragend bewährt Ergänzend wird dazu noch mitgeteilt:
In den Kämpfen der letzten Tage an der Narwafront haben sich ein Armeekorps unter Führung des Generals der Pioniere Tiemann und die ostpreußische 21. Infanteriedivision unter Generalleutnant Foertsch besonders ausgezeichnet.
Bei den schweren Abwehrkämpfen in der Normandie schoss die Fallschirmjägerflakabteilung 5 in zwei Tagen mit zwei 8,8-Zentimeter-Flakgeschützen und mit Nahkampfmitteln 28 „Sherman“ ab und 4 bewegungsunfähig, hiervon Oberleutnant Morscholek allein 21.
Die 272. Infanteriedivision hat unter Führung des Generalleutnants Schack durch zähes Aushalten hei schwersten feindlichen Angriffen und immer wieder zu schneidigen Gegenangriffen antretend entscheidenden Anteil an dem Misslingen der feindlichen Durchbruchsversuche südlich Caen. Allein dem zähen Aushalten der tapferen Grenadiere dieser Division oft in fast aussichtsloser Lage, vom Feind eingeschlossen und tagelang ohne jeden Nachschub, ist es zu verdanken, daß bei den Durchbruchsversuchen des Feindes südlich Caen am 19. und 21. Juli die zum Gegenangriff angesetzten Kräfte rechtzeitig herangeführt werden konnten.
Bei den Abwehrkämpfen südlich Caumont hat sich die 326. Infanteriedivision besonders ausgezeichnet. Durch zähes Aushalten dieser Division gegen den an Menschen und Material überlegenen mit starken Panzerkräften angreifenden Feind wurde die Zeit gewonnen, neue Reserven heranzuführen und den feindlichen Durchbruchsversuch in der Tiefe aufzufangen. Bei den Abwehrkämpfen fand der tapfere Kommandeur der Division, Generalleutnant von Drabich-Waechter am 2. August in vorderster Linie den Heldentod.
Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (August 4, 1944)
Communiqué No. 118
Allied forces have reached RENNES and have elements to the south of the town. Another column advanced through DOL and moving westward along the north side of the BRITTANY PENINSULA has reached the area of DINAN.
Other Allied formations east of the PERCY-VILLEDIEU road have captured BEAUMESNIL and are in the area of SAINT-SEVER-CALVADOS. Further south our forces have captured MORTAIN.
In the area southeast of CAUMONT, Allied troops have made progress towards VILLERS-BOCAGE and AUNAY where there has been some hard fighting. We hold the BOIS DE BURON.
There has been a series of enemy counter-attacks along the entire front from the north and east of LE BENY-BOCAGE.
Good weather yesterday afternoon and evening allowed Allied fighters and fighter-bombers, some carrying rockets, to give close support to the ground forces. Barges on the SEINE, an ammunition dump southeast of CAEN, gun positions, and a considerable number of enemy vehicles, were destroyed.
Bridges near PARIS, ORLÉANS, CHARTRES, and ROUEN were bombed with satisfactory results by medium and light bombers yesterday. Other formations attacked an ammunition dump at MAINTENON.
Three marshalling yards and an oil dump in ALSACE-LORRAINE, objectives near PARIS and BRUSSELS and a synthetic oil plant and a storage depot near DOUAI were hit by strong forces of heavy bombers. Accompanying fighters attacked rolling stock, power stations and other targets.
Rail communications were attacked during the night by our light bombers.
One of a formation of five E-boats was sunk by a direct bomb hit by coastal aircraft in an attack off the Channel Islands.
A force of enemy E-boats was intercepted on Thursday morning west of CAP DE LA HEVE by light naval coastal forces. In the short action which followed one of the enemy was sunk and another damaged before he made good his escape towards LE HAVRE.
U.S. Navy Department (August 4, 1944)
CINCPAC Communiqué No. 104
Our forces on Guam made slight gains on the right flank and in the center during August 3 (West Longitude Date). On the east coast, our line is anchored about one mile south of Sassayan Point. There was no appreciable advance along the west coast and our anchor there remains on the shore of Tumon Bay. All road junctions in the vicinity of Finegayan were brought under our control.
Enemy resistance on Mount Barrigada has been eliminated and we now control the 674‑foot height.
In close support of ground troops, aircraft from a fast carrier task group on August 3 dropped bombs, fire rockets and strafed Japanese‑held positions, roads, storehouses and troop areas on Guam.
Mopping-up operations on Tinian Island continued during August 3, and additional numbers of civilians were interned. Scattered Japanese troops are still being hunted down on Saipan Island, and an average of 50 a day are being eliminated or taken prisoner.
Ventura search planes of Group One, Fleet Air Wing Two, attacked Nauru Island on August 2. Anti-aircraft fire was moderate. Catalina patrol bombers of the same air wing bombed Japanese positions in the Marshall Islands on the night of August 1‑2.
The Pittsburgh Press (August 4, 1944)
Yanks closing on two ports; Brittany almost cut off
U.S. may occupy all of Brittany within few days
By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer
Smashing ahead in Brittany, U.S. forces have advanced more than 20 miles southwest of Rennes (1) in a move which may cut off the peninsula. In other areas, U.S. troops moved southwest of Dinan and Saint-Méen (2) on the way toward Brest, while in the Vire area (3) they continued their drive south. Northeast of Vire, the British yielded some ground under a German counterattack. The pictures of ships indicated deep seaports which will be of invaluable aid to the Allies.
SHAEF, London, England –
U.S. mobile forces sped at least 20 miles southward beyond Rennes in Brittany today, and informed quarters here expected them to capture the great French ports of Saint-Nazaire and Nantes within 24 hours, blocking off the entire Brittany Peninsula for a quick mop-up.
At Allied headquarters, the occupation of the whole peninsula by Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley’s flying columns careening through it at lightning speed seemed to be a matter of a few days.
Responsible sources said this evening it would not be surprising if Gen. Bradley’s advanced elements had already reached the German positions covering Saint-Nazaire and Nantes on the Loire estuary.
Front dispatches revealed that U.S. armored columns had raced virtually at will to points 20 miles below Rennes, 31 miles from the south coast, and 17 miles southwest of Dinan in a many-pronged push threatening to collapse the last organized German resistance on the peninsula.
Only in the area of Rennes, which Washington said yesterday had been captured, was any formidable German resistance reported, and bypassing elements were already speeding far on beyond that knot of opposition both to the south and the west.
Gen. Bradley’s westbound right wing swept along the coast toward Brest and opened a frontal push against Saint-Malo, which was bypassed by a column striking through Dinan to Broons, 17 miles to the southwest and 31 miles northwest of Rennes.
At Allied headquarters, it was believed the elements of four German divisions believed to be in Brittany might undertake one stubborn stand somewhere in the Brittany hills. But if so, it was regarded as foredoomed.
The distance of the American vanguard from their goals on the south coast was measured best not in miles but in terms of resistance ahead of it and the speed with which it could be supplied with food, fuel and ammunition.
The only definite news here this evening was that the hard-riding tankmen were well beyond Rennes and using strongly along the north coast beyond Dinan.
Airmen who flew over the battle area below Avranches said the roads were packed with supply vehicles and reinforcements, sharply contrasting with the deserted highways on the German side.
Supply a factor
Injecting a note of caution, however, observers pointed out that the spectacular speed of the U.S. armored advance in the last 10 days would strain any supply service, and difficulties were increasing with every mile of advance.
As in the German sweep through France in 1940, the enemy had been broken on the Brittany front, his communications ripped asunder, his available reinforcements exhausted and his entire campaign plan thrown into disruption.
Lack of armor, transport or fuel or a combination of all three forced the defenders of Brittany into a so-called garrison defense of the bigger towns. In spots, resistance had been stubborn, but in others the Germans gave up when confronted by the armored spearheads.
Little hope of escape
This was a significant commentary on the morale of the 25,000 or so men left to defend Brittany with no hope of reinforcement from the strained German armies in France and very little hope of escape.
All around a rough arc of 75 to 100 miles bulging south and west through Brittany, U.S. spearheads probed through strongpoints vital to any defense of the peninsula and its strategic harbors of Brest and Lorient.
United Press staff writer Robert C. Miller said the onrushing Americans had pushed to the area of Pipriac, 22½ miles south of Rennes, had reached Bain-de-Bretagne nearby, and were at Mauron and Saint-Méen-le-Grand, to the northeast.
Mr. Miller said the fighting was especially heavy at La Charbonnière, north of Rennes, and an airport south of the great transport center commanding most of the communications throughout Brittany.
The Americans appeared headed toward Saint-Nazaire, port and submarine base 37 miles south of Pipriac, but could cut off the peninsula with a drive southwest to the Muzillac–La Roche-Bernard area of the coast only 31 miles from Pipriac. Another spearhead may be sent against Nantes, 42 miles southeast of Pipriac.
Saint-Nazaire and Nantes, along with Lorient and Brest, have been the main bases from which German submarines have been preying on Allied sea lanes in the Atlantic.
Another U.S. armored column drove 26 miles southwest from Combourg, halfway between Rennes and the sea, to Saint-Méen-le-Grand, 23 miles west of Rennes, Mr. Miller said, while infantry approached Évran, six miles south-southeast of Dinan.
U.S. tanks at Saint-Méen were 105 miles from Brest, at the western tip of Brittany, astride the main highway from Rennes.
190,000 Nazi casualties
Allied headquarters estimated that the Allies since D-Day (June 6) have killed, wounded or captured 190,000 Germans – roughly half the total of German troops so far committed in the Battle of France. Some enemy divisions have been mauled so badly companies of 150 have been reduced to 25 men.
U.S. troops alone captured 70,000 prisoners, including 8,000 in the 24 hours ended Thursday afternoon. Another 20,000 have been killed by the Americans and 40,000 wounded, while the British 2nd Army had captured 30,000 prisoners and killed or wounded another 30,000.
While his southern forces pressed the liberation of Brittany, other elements of Gen. Bradley’s 1st Army rolled up the German flank in Normandy.
Nazi pocket narrowed
U.S. infantry further narrowed the German pocket west and northwest of newly-captured Vire with an advance to Saint-Sever–Calvados seven miles west of Vire, and also scored new gains to the northwest.
Other U.S. troops pushed south from Vire without meeting any serious organized resistance, a headquarters spokesman said.
British advanced elements fell back 2,000 yards from high ground overlooking Aunay-sur-Odon, 16 miles northeast of Vire, under the pressure of strong German counterattacks last night, United Press staff writer Samuel D. Hales reported from British headquarters.
British yield towns
In their retreat, the British abandoned the villages of Saint-Georges-d’Aunay and Lalande. They also withdrew from Loisonnière, but later recaptured the town.
Farther north, the British drove to within a mile of heavily-defended Villers-Bocage.
Halfway between Villers-Bocage and Caen, Canadian forces in the vicinity of Bougy and Gavrus on the southeast bank of the Odon began a “forward movement” through pastures, but Mr. Hales said this was a “small-scale advance.”
Allied headquarters announced that the French 2nd Armored Division was now in Britain “trained for operations,” presumably in its homeland.