Germans predict further landings
Sudden stab at Paris feared by military spokesmen; surprise admitted
London, England (AP) – (June 6)
Berlin military spokesmen predicted in broadcasts tonight that further Allied landings would be made in Western Europe and suggested apprehensively that there might be a sudden stab for Paris.
Describing the situation as “still obscure,” Capt. Ludwig Sertorius said that:
Maybe the bulk of the enemy invasion troops are still at sea or at this moment are engaged in landing.
A commentator for Transocean declared:
Further Anglo-American transports are en route, partly in the Channel and partly north of Cherbourg. The Bay of Saint-Malo is thought to be a particularly likely target for major sea and airborne landings. The coastal areas between the estuaries of the Somme and the Seine are another candidate for invasion.
He added that an attack on the Boulogne-Calais region was not anticipated “for the time being.” This portion of France is the closest to England.
Caught napping, German says
A German war correspondent, Heinz Priet, in a broadcast from “the Normandy front,” painted a gloomy picture of the German situation. He said that the Germans had been caught napping.
Earlier, German propaganda had harped on the theme that the Germans were glad that the final test had come in the west and were confident that the outcome would mean German victory.
German radio commentators and Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels acknowledged that this attack was no mere sham and that the real test in France had come at last. According to the German radio:
The enemy believes the situation in Germany to be the same as in 1918, but he is mistaken. The ears of the Germans are shut against enemy propaganda and slogans. The nerve campaign recently launched by the enemy in connection with the question if invasion likewise failed to impress the German people. We are ready to receive the enemy.
Aware of Allied strength
Underlying the torrent of words was a note of relief that the war of nerves was finally at an end, but, despite the vaunted confidence in ultimate victory, the commentators were aware of the might of the Allies’ assaults. One said:
It need not be specially emphasized that superiority at sea as regards size and number and kind of naval forces is clearly on the side of the two strongest naval nations – the United States and Great Britain.
Another remarked:
The invasion propaganda that the Anglo-American news services began today and Monday morning leaves no doubt that the Anglo-American military leaders are pursuing very big aims… Anglo-American war correspondents have already given detailed descriptions of last preparations for the invasion of Western Europe. They reported in the past 24 hours that gigantic concentrations of troops and material were taking place in the south of England.
A speaker for Transocean reported that life remained “normal” in Berlin and there were “no excitement, no extra editions, no special radio announcements.” DNB quoted a Foreign Office spokesman
Various German broadcasts reported by the Office of War Information said that the occupied countries had taken the news of the invasion quietly.
Dr. Goebbels unleashed a long-prepared assortment of anti-invasion propaganda on the French. Its theme was “Don’t help the Allies, for you will be sorry when all your country is handed over to the Bolsheviks by the Allies.”
For German consumption, Dr. Goebbels said:
The German nation is listening to one single command and this is the Führer’s command. Under his command, we have overcome even the most serious crisis.