Beattie: Showdown battle in France may knock Nazis out of war
Reporter reviews the invasion
By Edward W. Beattie
EDITOR’S NOTE: Edward W. Beattie, in charge of the United Press staff at Allied Supreme Headquarters and a veteran military reporter, has filed the following “balance sheet” on the first five days of fighting in the invasion. He obtained his information from land, sea and air officers who are in close touch with the situation at SHAEF.
London, England (UP) – (June 10)
The Allies are working under a specific plan in their invasion of the Norman coast and that plan has two limits – maximum success and minimum success.
In five days of fighting, they have neither achieved maximum success nor have the Germans been able to confine them to the minimum requirements of the time table. In other words, there have been both triumphs unci disappointments.
Surprise achieved
Military observers here believe that, as of tonight, the following are the outstanding accomplished and potential developments of the battle of Normandy:
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The Allies achieved a measure of tactical surprise, threw the Germans off balance temporarily on Tuesday morning and secured beachheads before a strong counterattack could be started.
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The Germans are attempting desperately to cling to their stronghold of Caen and to protect the big port of Cherbourg through which the Allies could funnel reinforcements and heavy equipment.
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The enemy now has ten divisions deployed tor frontline action with few more held in close reserve.
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The showdown battle is still to come. When it comes, in the opinion of some military experts, the Allies may be able, by winning decisively, to knock Germany out of the war before any Allied soldier sets foot on the soil of the Reich.
Disappointment to Nazis
It’s safe to say that the five days have been a big disappointment to the German High Command, which counted on the beach defenses to cut the invading force to shreds or – at the very worst – upon quick, heavy counterattacks to obliterate it on chosen battlegrounds behind the beaches.
The Germans failed at both stages and with Allied sea and airpower behind it, the invading army should be able to hold what it has won.
That much I am permitted to tell you after soliciting the assistance of the most authentic sources of information on the progress of the Normandy campaign at Gen. Eisenhower’s headquarters.
The tactics of Marshal Erwin Rommel show that he thinks our initial effort threatens: his dispositions indicate he believes that we threaten firstly the port of Cherbourg, secondly Rouen, on the road to Paris.
Allies prove power
We have already proved our ability to crack the outer defense line. We’re now in process of proving that our forces have the ability to hold their gains in the face of heavy counterattacks. Our advance has been made despite the handicap of bad weather, which delayed supporting operations by sea and in the air. With clearing weather, our advantages in these respects should begin to bear weight.
This will help when we meet the counterattack of Rommel’s ten identified divisions along the road to Paris, probably within the next week.
Rommel and his supreme commander, Marshal von Rundstedt, will be afraid to commit themselves too heavily to this battle because they do not know yet where, when and at what strength the Allies plan other assaults on the continent.
Decisive battle forecast
The final showdown will probably come when both sides are fully deployed – and this deployment will not come until the grand strategy worked by the Allied Combined Chief of Staffs has been unfolded. The initiative is now ours.
When Rundstedt is forced to throw in his strategic reserve, the Allies will have their chance to win the showdown battle. This certainly will be before the end of summer, probably in late July. By that time, the Red Army should be hitting Fortress Europe from the east with the greatest concentration of fighting men ever thrown into action.
The opinion of many observers here that a clear-cut victory on some French battlefield would end the war against Germany before the Rhine had been crossed depends on many factors, such as the progress of the Russians, progress of the drive up Italy, the growing power of air attack and the political state of Hitler’s satellite coalition.