Operation OVERLORD (1944)

496

The Pittsburgh Press (July 18, 1944)

Saint-Lô seized by Yanks

Showdown struggle on in Normandy as Germans reel back
By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer

map.071844.up
The Yanks capture Saint-Lô in their bitterest battle of the Normandy campaign. The Americans seized Saint-Lô (3) today after U.S. vanguards had driven into the town yesterday and then been driven out. There was no official word of the fighting in the Lessay–Périers area, although the Nazi radio said the Yanks had started an expected attack against Lessay(1). The Americans seized a ridge overlooking the Saint-Lô–Périers highway halfway between the two towns (2). Fierce fighting continued around Noyers and Évrecy (4), towns which the British entered yesterday.

SHAEF, London, England –
The U.S. 1st Army captured bitterly defended Saint-Lô today and the British 2nd Army broke through below Caen behind a screen of almost 8,000 tons of bombs as the German line long containing the Normandy beachhead buckled in two vital sectors.

The showdown Battle of Normandy was in full swing, and Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery’s Allied armies had scored two significant victories in the massive onslaught aimed at breaking out of the German ring for a concerted sweep inland.

Soon after field dispatches announced the fall of Saint-Lô at the climax to the toughest U.S. battle in France, Gen. Montgomery announced that his armor had achieved a major breakthrough across the Orne below Caen.

A statement from Gen. Montgomery’s headquarters said:

The town of Vaucelles, lying on the south side of the Orne opposite Caen, is being cleared of the enemy, and strong armored and mobile forces are operating in the open country further to the southeast and south.

The most concentrated air bombardment in history paved the way for the British-Canadian breach in the German lines which broke the stalemate following the capture of Caen and sent the Allied armor careening forward toward the interior of France across the flat farmlands to the south and southeast.

8,000 tons of bombs

Fifteen hundred heavy bombers, 500 medium and light bombers, and hundreds of lighter plans pounded the German positions within a semicircle lying roughly seven miles around Caen between 6:00 and 9:00 a.m., cascading nearly 8,000 tons of explosives into a 75-square-mile area.

Four thousand Halifax and Lancaster heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force alone delivered 5,000 tons of bombs in 45 minutes. Six hundred U.S. Liberators swarmed in later to unload another great weight on the crumbling German positions.

Supreme Headquarters refused for the time being to delineate the breakthrough. The concentration of airpower indicated, however, that the attack was probably aimed across the Orne northeast of Caen, and broke out of the bridgehead maintained across the lower Orne since D-Day.

Nazi collapse threatened

The simultaneous reports from the front that Saint-Lô had fallen and the Germans were falling back in apparent preparation to abandon Périers and Lessay meant that the Normandy front was aflame everywhere, rolling forward, and threatening to collapse the overall German defenses if the original impetus can be maintained.

The following statement was issued from Gen. Montgomery’s headquarters:

Early this morning, British and Canadian troops of the 2nd Army attacked and broke through into the area east of the Orne and southeast of Caen.

The attack was preceded and supported by a very great weight of airpower organized by the Allied Expeditionary Force.

The town of Vaucelles, lying on the south side of the Orne opposite Caen, is being cleared of the enemy, and strong armored and mobile forces are operating in open country further to the southeast and south.

Heavy fighting continues. Gen. Montgomery is well satisfied with the progress made in the first day’s fighting of this battle.

Gen. Montgomery’s flat statement that a breakthrough had been achieved and his forces were advancing across the ideal tank country below Caen showed that the 2nd Army had achieved a success of gigantic proportions, which was expected to have tremendous effects on the entire battlefront.

Complete surprise

Complete surprise was achieved in the early morning offensive, despite the fact that the Germans had observation facilities over the entire length of the Orne.

This was due largely to the fact, which can now be revealed, that the series of British-Canadian assaults southwest of Caen represented an elaborate scheme to outwit Marshal Erwin Rommel on the location of the main attack. Actually, these attacks were limited in scope, involving a relatively small part of the great mass of tanks and infantry pouring into the bridgehead for 44 days.

The Germans had been packed into the Vaucelles suburb of Caen in strength, facing the British and Canadians across the Orne in the city, for nine days. But tonight, they were being cleared out of this last large inhabited area in the southwest environs of Caen.

United Press writer Henry T. Gorrell reported the conquest of the ancient citadel anchoring the center of the German defense line in a dispatch filed from the battlefront at 6:30 p.m.

“Saint-Lô fell this afternoon,” Mr. Gorrell said in his flash disclosing the significant U.S. victory after a bloody, swaying battle which for ferocity outdid the earlier fight for Cherbourg.

Strongest Nazi position

With Saint-Lô fallen after an all-out defense, the Germans were deprived of their strongest position for a stand on the perimeter of the Allied beachhead.

Coincident with their grudging surrender of Saint-Lô under the heaviest American pressure, the Germans carried out a general withdrawal along most of the line for between a little more than a mile and nearly two miles, Gorrell reported.

The Germans appeared to be straightening out their lines preparatory to taking up defense positions along the east-west ridges in Normandy, Mr. Gorrell said.

Fall foreshadowed

The fall of Saint-Lô was foreshadowed by the disclosure that U.S. assault forces had stormed back into the town hub of seven main roads radiating to all parts of Normandy, and the admission by the German radio that the furious battle was nearing a climax as U.S. troops closed in from three sides.

Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley’s army drove within a mile and a half of Saint-Lô July 12. Since then, the Americans and Germans had been slugging it out around the town.

Yesterday, the U.S. vanguard crashed into Saint-Lô, which is 175 miles west of Paris, only to be driven out and to forge back through its outskirts for violent fighting with bayonet and grenade in its battle-scarred streets.

Suburb captured

Shortly before Mr. Gorrell reported the capture of Saint-Lô, it was disclosed that the Americans had seized suburban Sainte-Croix-de-Saint-Lô, a mile from the heart of the wrecked town.

Allied headquarters announced that U.S. shock troops had brought the arterial highway northwestward to Périers under small-arms fire from a ridge 200 yards above it and about midway between the towns.

497

‘Darn sight longer’ war predicted by air official

Stimson’s assistant says fighting in Europe is ‘awfully tough for Allies

Washington (UP) –
An “awfully tough” war in Europe that will last “a darn sight longer than anyone back home thinks except the military” is predicted by Robert A. Lovett, Assistant Secretary of War for Air.

Mr. Lovett, just back from a three-week visit to Britain and a tour of the Normandy beachhead, hit sharply at what he called “the unreasoning optimism that is prevailing back here.”

Although the German Air Force had been temporarily knocked out as a serious threat to Allied air supremacy, he said, a comeback “may eventually be expected.” And, he added:

I see the German Air Force revamping itself to play a new role, with such things as pilotless aircraft.

Mr. Lovett said difficult weather over France was hampering Allied aerial activities almost constantly, while the terrain on Normandy, cut up by hedges and walls into innumerable small fields about the size of six tennis courts each, was difficult for the ground forces.

He told how a six-day period of good weather last February, unprecedented for 30 years, had given the Allied Air Force an opportunity to smash German plane production in preparations for the June 6 invasion.

“That was the end of the Luftwaffe as a first-class striking force,” he said.

Warning of the danger of a comeback, however, he said the Germans could replace major factories in five or six months. He said since D-Day, German aircraft production had enjoyed a comparative respite from attack and it would be necessary to return and destroy the rebuilt plants again in the next four months.

498

Victory in 1944 ‘quite likely,’ Monty asserts

Things are going well, general declares

London, England (UP) –
Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery said in a broadcast from France last night that it is “quite likely” the Allies will knock Germany out of the war this year.

Recalling that when he spoke to his officers on the eve of D-Day, he told them “if we do our stuff properly this year in this business, we shall have Germany out of the war this year.” Gen. Montgomery added: “I still hold to that.”

The commander of the Allied invasion armies in France said:

Things are going very well, generally speaking. The great victories on the Russian front, with immense numbers of Germans being written off, are very excellent.

Everything is going well, yet you know as well as I do that the German who is fighting us is a very great fighter defensively.

Gen. Montgomery said that he visited a hospital recently where a badly wounded German prisoner was told that only a blood transfusion could save him.

“He saw the bottle of blood and asked: ‘Is that British blood?’” Gen. Montgomery said.

Told that it was and that he would die if he did not submit to the transfusion, the Nazi said, “All right I will die.” Gen. Montgomery said:

And he did. That will show you the sort of man we are fighting – fanatical Nazis who feel like that.

499

Yanks in black gang cheer as Nazis shell destroyer

U.S. Navy survivor camp, England (UP) –
Three members of a “black gang” below decks in the destroyer USS Glennon cheered while German shells pounded their sinking ship off the Normandy beaches.

They had not heard an order to “abandon ship” and thought the explosions were from their own guns returning the German fire.

They were rescued at the last moment by LtCdr. John D. Bulkeley, Pacific hero, who raced his PT boat through choppy waters under heavy German fire and took them off the sinking ship.

Petty Officers William Venable, 42, of Mayodan, North Carolina; Francis Dauber, 33, of Elizabeth, New Jersey; and John Valkenberg, 22, of Paterson, New Jersey, were below when an explosion damaged the Glennon in the early morning darkness.

The Glennon broke at the stern and propellers and settled into sand so firmly she could not be pulled off by tugs.

German shore batteries spotted the crippled destroyer at dawn and began sending 155mm shells across her decks.

Orders ship abandoned

Cdr. Cal Johnson of Baltimore, Maryland, ordered the ship abandoned except for a skeleton crew which was instructed to repel German raiders if they tried to board the ship. When the German barrage increased and all hope of saving the ship was abandoned, Cdr. Johnson ordered all hands off the vessel.

Down in the engine room, Petty Officers Venable, Dauber and Valkenberg, sweating to keep up steam and put out a fire in the aft section, did not hear the order.

“Give ‘em hell, boys,” shouted PO Venable above the roar of what he thought was his own ship returning the fire.

Finds ship deserted

Aboard a rescue ship, Cdr. Johnson discovered three of his men missing. Meanwhile, the “black gang” had discovered its plight when PO Valkenberg went to the galley for coffee and found the ship deserted and “all hell popping.”

The ship was barely afloat when Cdr. Bulkeley reached it. The missing “black gang” was standing calmly on deck.

Cdr. Johnson again gave the order to “abandon ship” and the three clambered down a ladder to the PT.

500

Background of news –
Second invasion front Nazi’s chief worry

By Col. Frederick Palmer

A threat to the German defense of a more serious breakthrough than that of the Russian armies on the Eastern Front is that of a second invasion front in the west. It is this which may be the decisive front of the war in Europe and speed the end.

The haunting question for Hitler and his generals is not limited to an “if and when” a second front comes. They must prepare on the basis that it is bound to come while they wonder where.

In the very threat Gen. Eisenhower holds a master Allied trump card to play at the right moment on the offensive, while all Hitler’s trump cards on the defensive are already on the table. For Hitler in not having enough divisions in reserve to hold this second front in addition to enough to hold the Normandy front would invite disaster. The one which he could not pin down could make the breakthrough.

Of the 60 divisions the Germans are reported to have in France, 25 or 30 are already massed on the Normandy front. These are gradually losing ground, although yet far from any decisive extent.

Can’t draw on Russian front

Hitler can hardly afford to draw on his Russian front to reinforce the other divisions he has in France. These divisions are all he has to meet a second front and to suppress the growing patriot forces within France.

The present front in France is 100 miles long. The Gothic Line to which the Germans are withdrawing in Italy, back of Livorno and Florence, is the same length. The ground favors infantry tactics in defense. There are hedges, hills and walls for cover.

Compared to the 200-mile front the Germans are defending in France and Italy, they are already under Russian attack over a 1,000-mile front and may have to face it on an additional 500 miles. This is a patent reason why they should shorten their Eastern Front when they are in danger of having to meet another and possibly two more fronts in the west.

Counting that they have 20 divisions in Italy, 60 in France, and those in Yugoslavia and in home garrison and training, the Germans cannot possibly have more than 150 divisions on the 1,500-mile Eastern Front. Where they may have one division to every 10 miles in the east, they have one division to a mile and a half on the Normandy front.

Once the breakthrough comes

This can largely account, after they were outmaneuvered by the first impact of the Russian offensive, for their depending upon desperate resistance by strongpoints to protect their withdrawal. There were openings along that long, thinly-held German front in the east for free tactical movements in which Russian cavalry could follow through and even break through. The ground, the terrain, favors fluid warfare.

On the Normandy Front, the terrain helps to lock the door on fluid warfare and would exclude the use of cavalry as sheer suicidal insanity. The fight there remains as infantry grapple.

It is not unlikely that before our soldiers on the Normandy Front see Paris the Russian armies will have Warsaw and have swept across old Poland to the old German border in Silesia. But once the breakthrough comes in the west, we can move across France as swiftly as the German armies did in 1940.

Another D-Day in preparation may be worse news for Hitler than the first one.

501

Shapiro: Strong men after battle weep like little children

Their hands shake, and they have to be aided to walk, but they will get all right
By L. S. B. Shapiro, North American Newspaper Alliance

With the British forces in Normandy, France – (July 26, delayed)
This is an ugly story. It may not make pleasant reading and yet it should be written because it is as much a part of the war as a great battle filled with brave incidents.

Indeed, you cannot know what until you have moved, as I did this morning, to a field clearing station behind out advancing battle line between the Odon and Orne Rivers.

The reception tent was empty when two British soldiers were brought in, bolstered by the arms of two ambulance drivers. They were ragged and all one could see on their mud-stained faces were saucer-like eyes staring straight ahead.

One was a slight man who wore spectacles and had blond hair. The other was a dark, rugged man with a fine head and a great pair of shoulders. They seemed not to be wounded, but somehow their legs weren’t working and they were almost carried to canvas chairs in opposite corners of the tent.

Weep like children

There they wept hysterically, and their choking sibs made them sound curiously like nursery children.

An orderly pulled up a chair beside the blond-haired soldier and talked rapidly into his ear, at the same time stroking his back. His sobbing ceased somewhat and the soldier rubbed his hands feverishly over his face, then turned to look at the orderly.

He opened his mouth, but nothing audible came to his lips. Then he put his face into his cupped hands and wept again.

The orderly lifted the soldier’s head and pushed a cigarette between his lips. But before a match could be applied, the cigarette fell to the ground.

Hands shake

Again, the orderly patted his back, lit the cigarette himself and placed it in the soldier’s mouth. The younger puffed feverishly, and smoke drifted out of his nostrils and made him cough. He mumbled some inaudible words and his hands shook so desperately that the orderly grasped them and held them tightly.

On the other side of the tent, the dark, rugged soldier was being helped to his feet by a doctor. Together they began walking toward the exit, the hefty soldier stumbling along like a baby learning how to walk.

The blond, slight man watched them pass and his eyes followed them across the tent and out into the open, and a flicker of a smile played on his quivering lips as though he were amused by such helplessness on the part of the other soldier.

He seemed normal for a moment, then suddenly the cigarette dropped from his lips and his hands pawed at his cheeks and eyes and he wept hysterically.

The doctor returned to the tent and looked at him.

He whispered to me:

Battle exhaustion. The boy has been under shell and mortar fire for six days in exposed positions. We will put them to sleep for a couple of days and they’ll be all right.

502

Wolfert: Yanks’ plea for surrender creates havoc in Nazi line

Men who made it in the dark describe how they connived to escape and give up
By Ira Wolfert, North American Newspaper Alliance

With the U.S. infantry outside Saint-Lô, France – (July 14, delayed)
The story of what happened in the German lines here as the result of what seemed to us an abortive propaganda broadcast was told by three German prisoners who gave themselves up on account of it.

One was a sergeant-major, a professional soldier with 15 years’ experience, whose tank calls for a regimental or at least a battalion command post but who has been serving as a platoon leader in place of second and first lieutenants lost by the Nazis in Russia. Another was a corporal of Carlsbad, a Nazi who was but eight years old when Hitler first came into power, and the third was a private who had also been educated only by Hitler.

The corporal and private were serving together at the time of the broadcast and the sergeant-major was commanding his platoon in another part of the lune. The corporal said his commanding officer, a Prussian about 25-year-old, kept shouting throughout the broadcast that anyone who listens to this broadcast will be shot. At the same time, the adjutant was on a telephone calling for artillery fire against the broadcasting van and loudspeakers.

Nazis fire on own men

As soon as the broadcast ended, eight men made a break for the American lines from foxholes and the commanding officer ordered machine guns to open up on them. The machine guns were fired and the eight men fell flat, whether to protect themselves or because they were killed is not yet known.

During the day, the corporal said the whole company took advantage of the times when their commanding officer was busy elsewhere to talk of the broadcast and of means of surrendering. It was suggested that somebody kill the commanding officer and then the whole outfit would walk over in body. But there was no one with the courage to start that kind of mutiny and, anyway, American fire on the position there was so heavy and fairly constant, that everybody was afraid to get out of his hole during the course of the day.

Men killed in holes

American sharpshooters killed three men in their holes and American mortars wounded three others.

The German corporal told only his buddy of his plans, he said. He was going to wait for darkness and then try to make it to the American lines.

The American broadcast had promised them good treatment if they came over, and they certainly were not getting good treatment from the Americans where they were. His buddy said he wouldn’t take the chance. If their own soldiers didn’t kill them in the darkness, then the Americans would.

Buddy follows along

About 1 o’clock in the morning the corporal lifted himself out of his foxhole and started running. His buddy, seeing him go three or four paces without being struck dead by the omnipotent Hitler, scuttled after him.

The corporal told me:

There was a burst from our machine guns, first once, then twice more, but I kept on running. I broke through a hedge then, and there was a little field ahead with dead animals in it and some dead soldiers. I fell over one but I don’t know whether it was German or American. It was too dark then to tell. There was another hedge and road, and still another hedge, then Americans.

They said, “Hends hop,” to me.

Story confirmed

His buddy confirmed the story in every detail. Every company has its diehard Nazis who can’t hope to live if they lose the war and these men will continue firing their weapons until they are killed.

The platoon leader hadn’t heard the broadcast. He has been busy in a hole with the wounded but he knew his men had had something to think about all day besides their duties, he said.

Finally, at 5 o’clock in the afternoon a friend, a sergeant, whispered to him cautiously about the broadcast. The sergeant-major agreed it might be a good idea to surrender but he did not confide his idea to the platoon. He seems to have been afraid the diehard Nazis in it might kill him, or even that some of the men who were afraid to surrender, would stay where they were and spoil his plans in order to ingratiate themselves with higher officers who would give them jobs in the rear.

The sergeant-major told only the sergeant what he wanted to do. The sergeant told another man he trusted, who told a third and so on down the line.

In all of the 35 men in the platoon, there were only seven who could be trusted. These seven said they would wait for the sergeant-major to make it and if he made it safely, then he should signal them and they would follow.

He made it safely but what happened to the seven others is not known here. If they responded to the signal, then perhaps they were killed doing so.

1 Like
503

Völkischer Beobachter (July 19, 1944)

Deutsche Ein-Mann-Torpedos greifen an

Von unserem Marinemitarbeiter Erich Glodschey

Berlin, 18. Juli –
Der Kampf zur See kannte bisher noch nicht den Einzelkämpfer, der, auf sich selbst gestellt, dem Feinde gegenübertritt, wie es im Land- und Luftkrieg häufig der Fall sein kann. Die Besatzung eines Kriegsschiffes kämpft stets in einer festen Gemeinschaft, bei der es auf jeden einzelnen ankommt, ohne daß er aber allein für sich gegen den Feind Vorgehen kann. Nun zeigt die Bewährung der Ein-Mann-Torpedos, daß die Männer der Kriegsmarine den gleichen Geist des Nahkämpfers in sich tragen, der etwa in einem ihrer Kameraden des Heeres verkörpert ist, der aus nächster Nähe einen schweren Feindpanzer erledigt.

Sie hatten sich die Tarnbezeichnung „Neger“ gegeben, die Männer der Ein-Mann-Torpedos, als sie am Kanal auf ihren Einsatz gegen die Invasionsflotte brannten. Wer weit draußen in der Seinebucht die Nachschubflotte der Invasoren mit ihrer sehr starken See- und Luftsicherung gesehen hat, dem drängte sich von selbst die Überlegung auf, was gegen diese englischen und amerikanischen Schiffe noch zusätzlich über die glänzenden Leistungen der Schnellboote, Küstenbatterien, Kampf- und Torpedoflugzeuge hinausgetan werden könnte. Schon hatte der Feind durch Granaten, Torpedos, Minen und Bomben zahlreiche Kriegs- und Handelsschiffe eingebüßt, da erschien im Wehrmachtbericht die lakonische Mitteilung von weiteren erheblichen Erfolgen durch „Kampfmittel der Kriegsmarine.“

In wenigen Tagen wurden 14 Feindschiffe, vom Kreuzer bis zum Transporter und Zerstörer, versenkt und weitere schwer beschädigt. Das waren sie, die „Neger,“ die Männer von den Ein-Mann-Torpedos! Solange der Feind nicht erkennen konnte, worum es sich dabei handelte, mußte über ihrem Tun ein Tarnschleier liegen. Nun kann einiges gesagt werden, was die todesmutigen Taten dieser Männer der Kriegsmarine dem deutschen Volke näher bekannt macht:

Die deutsche Kriegsmarine hat in kurzer Zeit in den Ein-Mann-Torpedos ein Kampfmittel improvisiert, das den besonderen Bedingungen gegen feindliche Landungsflotten angepasst ist, wie sie etwa vor Anzio-Nettuno und in größtem Maßstab vor der Küste der Normandie erschienen sind. Hatten die Zwerg-Unterseeboote unserer japanischen Verbündeten und die erfolgreichen italienischen Sturmkampfmittel Zweimannbedienung, so hat sich hier alles auf einen einzigen Mann konzentriert, der den Torpedo gegen ein feindliches Schiff lenkt. Ein Torpedo ist ein Unterseeboot im Kleinen, aber doch mit einer eigenen Antriebsmaschine, Seiten- und Tiefenruderanlage. Bei den italienischen und englischen Zwei-Mann-Torpedos wurde der „Gefechtskopf“ des Torpedos unter Wasser vom Torpedo gelöst und als Haftladung an dem Rumpf des feindlichen Schiffes befestigt. Mit dem deutschen Ein-Mann-Torpedo sind zusammengekoppelt der Trägertorpedo und der Kampftorpedo.

Im Kopf des Trägertorpedos sitzt ein Mann, der ihn steuert und der durch eine Glaskuppel aus dem Wasser blicken kann. Darunter ist der Gefechtstorpedo angebracht, der im geeigneten Augenblick abgeschossen werden kann. Der Trägertorpedo kann dann den Rückweg suchen, hat aber selbstverständlich mit schärfster Gegenwirkung zu rechnen, wenn der Gegner sich erst einmal von seiner Überraschung erholt hat. Es ist wirklich ein ganzer und restloser Einsatz, der die Männer der Ein-Mann-Torpedos auf sich nehmen. Wer die Taten deutscher Seeleute über und unter Wasser in diesem Krieg kennt, und das ist heute jeder Deutsche, der braucht nicht erst die Feststellung zu hören, daß sieh Freiwillige für die Ein-Mann-Torpedos gemeldet haben, und zwar aus allen Laufbahnen der Kriegsmarine.

Ein Beispiel ist der Schreiberobergefreite Gerhold, der als erster mit einem Ein-Mann-Torpedo einen feindlichen Kreuzer der Aurora-Klasse vernichten konnte. Der Kommandant des feindlichen Kreuzers hätte sich sicher niemals träumen lassen, daß sein 5.270 Tonnen großes und stark bewaffnetes Schiff von einem Gefreiten aus der Verwaltungslaufbahn der deutschen Kriegsmarine versenkt werden könnte. Gerhold mußte sein winziges Fahrzeug durch eine ganze Kette von Zerstörern und Bewachern hindurchführen, bis er an den englischen Kreuzer herankam. Die Beobachter an der Küste jubelten, als dieser Kreuzer, der oft in die Landkämpfe eingegriffen hatte, mit einer riesigen Explosionswolke versank. Zwischen Wasserbomben und Granaten der feindlichen Schiffs- und Flakartillerie fand Gerhold den Rückweg. Mit Freuden vernahm er dabei die Detonationen, die von seinen Kameraden mit anderen Ein-Mann-Torpedo in dem feindlichen Schiffsverband verursacht worden waren.

Heute trägt der Schreiber, der einen Kreuzer versenkte, das Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, das ihm der Führer verliehen hat. Er ist nun Maat geworden. Oberleutnant zur See Krieg ist der zweite Ritterkreuzträger der Ein-Mann-Torpedos. Andere erfolgreiche Nahkämpfer des Seekrieges haben das Deutsche Kreuz in Gold erhalten. Diese hohen Tapferkeitsauszeichnungen heben ihre Leistungen gebührend vor aller Welt hervor. Die größte innere Genugtuung dieser Männer freilich ist es, zu ihrem Teil wesentlich zur Bekämpfung der Invasoren im Westen beigetragen zu haben. Zugleich lieferten sie einen weiteren Beweis, daß die deutsche Seekriegsleitung für den Feind sehr überraschend zu improvisieren weiß, wenn es der Kampf gegen die hochgerüsteten Seemächte England und USA erfordert und wenn sich Möglichkeiten des Erfolges bieten.

504

Politiker Montgomery

Drahtmeldung unseres Berner Berichterstatters

b—r. Bern, 18. Juli –
Ein in der inneren englischen Politik stark beachtetes Ereignis ist der Eintritt des Generals Montgomery in die Liberale Partei. Dieser für deutsche Begriffe von einem aktiven Offizier unvorstellbare Vorgang ist auch für England ungewöhnlich. Noch ungewöhnlicher wird er durch die Umstände, unter denen er sich vollzogen hat. Montgomery hat diesen Schritt in die Politik noch vor Beginn der Invasion getan und hat über die Bedingungen seines Beitritts zur Liberalen Partei wochenlange Verhandlungen durch verschiedene Mittelsleute führen lassen. Einem derselben wird die Äußerung in den Mund gelegt, Montgomery sei „mindestens fünf Millionen Stimmen wert,“ die die absterbende Liberale Partei freilich gut gebrauchen könnte. So ergibt sich das merkwürdige Schauspiel, daß ein General während der Vorbereitungen für das größte Unternehmen seiner Laufbahn einen politischen Handel mit seinem Kriegsruhm führt, noch ehe dieser Ruhm seine entscheidende Probe bestanden hat. Die Liberale Partei hat die Katze im Sack gekauft, denn die Zugkraft ihres neuen Mitglieds hängt vom Erfolg oder Misserfolg der Kämpfe im Westen ab. Welche Zusicherungen Montgomery im Einzelnen gemacht worden sind, ist noch nicht bekannt geworden.

Die Begleitumstände lassen keinen Zweifel daran, daß Montgomery ernstlich beabsichtigt, nach Beendigung des Krieges eine aktive politische Rolle zu spielen und gewissermaßen mit dem Anspruch auf die Vertretung der Frontsoldaten dem heutigen Premierminister gegenüberzutreten. Dieser hält, wie man weiß, seine politische Laufbahn auch mit Abschluß des Krieges noch keineswegs für beendet, sondern möchte seine Diktatur in der Zeit des Wiederaufbaues fortsetzen. Für ihn, der schon der Gefolgschaft der Konservativen Partei keineswegs sicher ist, wäre es peinlich, wenn der weitaus volkstümliche General, den dieser Krieg in England hervorgebracht hat, als sein politischer Gegner auftreten sollte. Das sind freilich Sorgen für eine ungewisse Zukunft, aber die Beteiligten machen sie sich offenbar.

Montgomery handelt mit seinem Vorstoß einer alten Überlieferung der englischen Politik entgegen. Seit den Tagen der Militärdiktatur Cromwells und des Generals Monk, der die Monarchie wieder einsetzte, besteht geradezu eine Furcht vor dem Eingreifen erfolgreicher Militärs in die Politik. Die politische Laufbahn des Herzogs von Wellington spricht nichts dagegen, denn sie beruhte ebenso sehr auf dem adeligen Herkommen wie auf den militärischen Erfolgen Wellingtons und sie verlief in den Bahnen der Parlamentsherrschaft. Das Hervortreten Montgomerys mit dem unmissverständlichen Appell an seine alten Soldaten dagegen würde einen ausgesprochen demokratischen, wenn nicht fast revolutionären Zug in die englische Politik bringen und daher die alte Oberschicht aufs tiefste beunruhigen. Gerade sie ist ja auch Hauptträger jenes alten Vorurteils, während die breiten Schichten der Arbeiterschaft soziologisch jünger sind als die historischen Erlebnisse mit Cromwell und Monk und daher auch das Vorurteil gegen die Militärs in der Politik nicht oder doch im geringsten Grade teilen.

Die Stellung Montgomerys als eines aktiven Generals mit politischem Ehrgeiz und mit der klaren Absicht, dem ihm übergeordneten Premierminister und Verteidigungsminister nach dem Kriege als politischer Opponent gegenüberzutreten, wird jedenfalls in der nächsten Zukunft recht eigenartig sein. Sie ist vielleicht eines der stärksten Anzeichen für den labilen Zustand Englands und dafür, daß die Verhältnisse diesmal nicht wie nach dem vorigen Krieg einfach in die alte Gleichgewichtslage zurückpendeln können.

Der ‚übermäßig Vorsichtige‘

Lissabon, 18. Juli –
Montgomery beherrscht heute weniger Terrain als am sechsten Tage der Invasion, schreibt Sunday Star am Montag, nachdem Daily News vor einigen Tagen erklärte, die Besetzung Caens habe 30 Tage später stattgefunden, als im Invasionsplan vorgesehen gewesen sei. Ganz allgemein zeigen die nordamerikanischen Militärkritiker und Kriegskorrespondenten deutlich ihre Unzufriedenheit über die Verschiebung einer anglo-amerikanischen Großoffensive. Die Verzögerung wird den britischen Truppen in die Schuhe geschoben, da während der Kämpfe um die Halbinsel Cotentin die englischen Truppen nur Verteidigungsstellen bezogen hätten.

Die nordamerikanischen Kriegskorrespondenten sprechen nunmehr offen von der „übermäßigen Vorsicht Montgomerys, der auch in Tunesien und in Salerno die Ereignisse verzögert habe. „Wenn nunmehr die Offensive nicht bald begonnen werde, so bestehe die Gefahr, daß die anglo-amerikanischen Truppen die Initiative verlören.“

505

Wer hilft Montgomery?

Enttäuschung über seine Strategie
Von unserem Stockholmer Berichterstatter

ka. Stockholm, 18. Juli –
Der bekannte militärische Mitarbeiter der Daily Mail, Liddell Hart, gibt jetzt ebenfalls dem Missmut und der Enttäuschung der Engländer darüber Ausdruck, daß die Invasion in der Normandie so wenig Erfolg zeitige. Liddell Hart schreibt, daß die vergangene Woche in Frankreich geradezu lächerlich kleine Fortschritte gebracht habe. Die Hoffnungen seien gestiegen, als man von dem Fall Caens gehört habe. Aber die Vorstellungen seien den Tatsachen wieder einmal voraus gewesen. Es sei schnell ruchbar geworden, daß die Engländer Caen gar nicht vollständig erobert hätten und daß die Deutschen sich nur hinter den Ornefluss zurückgezogen hätten, der die Stadt in zwei Teile teilt. Dieser wohlberechnete Rückzug sei. nichts als ein fein berechnetes Ausweichen vor dem furchtbaren Bombardement gewesen. Dadurch hätten die Deutschen ernstere Verluste vermieden, während sie gleichzeitig doch die Kontrolle über den Kanal, die Eisenbahnen und Wege behalten hätten, die Caen seine strategische Bedeutung geben.

Wenn ein Mann wie Liddell Hart in aller Öffentlichkeit, die deutsche Strategie als so erfolgreich hinstellt, so ist dies wohl die bitterste Kritik, die an der englischen Führung geübt werden kann. Solche Worte geben einen Begriff davon, wie enttäuscht und missmutig die Engländer heute sind. Es wimmelt heute förmlich von guten Ratschlägen, wie man es besser machen solle. Einige verlangen energisch größere Kühnheit bei den Operationen, andere wollen auf dem Wege über eine Organisierung innerfranzösischer Widerstandskräfte den Anglo-Amerikanern Hilfe verschaffen, und wieder andere zerbrechen sich den Kopf darüber, ob man nicht nach dem Muster des Dschungelkrieges in Burma in großem Stile Luftlandetruppen einsetzen könne. Auf jeden Fall fühlt sich heute jeder bessere Engländer verpflichtet, Montgomery auf die Beine zu helfen – ein böses Zeugnis für einen General.

506

Die Schlappe der Aggressoren vor Höhe 112

Berlin, 18. Juli –
In der Normandie wurde am Montag in den gleichen Abschnitten wie am Vortage mit wachsender Erbitterung weitergekämpft.

Im Raum südwestlich Caen hatten unsere Truppen mehrere starke Gegenangriffe geführt und dabei den vorübergehend in die Trümmer der Ortschaft Noyers eingedrungenen Feind wieder zurückgeworfen. Nur auf dem Bahnhof vermochten sich die Briten noch einige Stunden zu halten, bis sie auch hier im Nahkampf zurückgetrieben wurden. Auch an den anderen Abschnitten kämpften sich unsere Panzergrenadiere vor. In Vendes vernichteten sie vorgeprellte feindliche Kräfte, und östlich Bougy zwangen sie den Gegner zu Boden. Damit waren dem Gegner seine am Sonntag mit hohen Verlusten erkauften geringfügigen Vorteile am Westrand seines Frontvorsprungs am Odonbach wieder entrissen.

In der Nacht zum Montag und den ganzen Tag über wiederholten die Briten ihre Angriffe nach Westen und Südwesten. Aber auch unsere Truppen setzten ihre Gegenstöße von Süden her fort. Sie warfen den Feind aus Esquay hinaus und vertieften nordwestlich davon wieder das Niemandsland an der seit Tagen heißumkämpften Höhe 112. Hierbei wurde erst in vollem Umfang die Schwere der Schlappe erkannt, die der Gegner in der vorausgegangenen Nacht erlitt, als er hier im reflektierten Licht der von zahlreichen Scheinwerfern angestrahlten tiefhängenden Wolken mit Flammenwerfern, Panzern und Infanterie vergeblich angriff. Der Nordhang der Höhe war mit zerschossenen Panzern und Hunderten von Gefallenen bedeckt, die von dem mörderischen Abwehrfeuer erfaßt worden waren. Auf Grund ihrer schweren Verluste setzten die Briten an dieser Stelle ihren Angriff nicht fort. Sie versuchten stattdessen, etwas weiter westlich aus den Wäldern am Odon, zwischen Gavrus und Bougy, nach Süden vorzudringen. Schweres Artilleriefeuer und Panzer unterstützten den Vorstoß. Aber auch dieser Anlauf kam rasch zum Erliegen. Den weiteren Angriffen des Gegners zwischen Bougy und Vendes blieb ebenfalls der Erfolg versagt.

Im Süden der Cotentin-Halbinsel setzten die Nordamerikaner nach Zuführung frischer Kräfte ihre Angriffe ebenfalls an den gleichen Stellen wie am Vortage fort. Die Hauptstöße waren von Osten, Nordosten und Norden gegen Saint-Lô angesetzt, in deren Verlauf sich der Feind der Stadt etwas weiter näherte. Der Gewinn dieses schmalen Geländestreifens kostete die Nordamerikaner jedoch erhebliche Verluste. Am Dörfchen Martinville mußten sie nicht weniger als fünfzehnmal angreifen. Aber dennoch konnten sie die Hügel hart westlich des Ortes nicht mehr überschreiten. Im Abschnitt zwischen Vire und Taute drückte der Feind mit starken Kräften bei Pont-Hébert und südwestlich Les Camps de Losque gegen die Straße Saint-Lô–Perriers. Energische eigene Gegenangriffe sind hier im Gange.

507

Die Befreier Europas…

die.befreier.europas.dnb
…von der Illusion, es mit einem anständigen Gegner zu tun zu haben (Zeichnung: Mjölnir)

508

Innsbrucker Nachrichten (July 19, 1944)

Große Abwehrschlacht zwischen Galizien und Peipussee

Feindlicher Großangriff östlich der Orne zum Stehen gebracht – Absetzbewegungen in Italien – 89 Terrorflugzeuge abgeschossen

map.071944.dnb

dnb. Aus dem Führerhauptquartier, 19. Juli –
Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:

In der Normandie trat der Feind nach mehrstündigem Trommelfeuer und heftigen Luftangriffen nun auch östlich der Orne zum Großangriff an. Erst nach schwersten Kämpfen und unter hohen Verlusten konnte der Gegner in unsere Stellungen eindringen, wo er nach Abschuß von vierzig Panzern durch unsere Gegenangriffe zum Stehen gebracht wurde. Südwestlich Caen scheiterten alle feindlichen Angriffe. Auch im Raum Saint-Lô wurde gestern erbittert gekämpft. Nachdem während des Tages alle Angriffe gegen Saint-Lô abgewiesen waren, drang der Feind in den Abendstunden mit Panzern in die Stadt ein, wo sich heftige Straßenkämpfe entwickelten.

In Luftkämpfen verlor der Feind 22 Flugzeuge, zwei weitere wurden am Boden zerstört.

Bei einem Säuberungsunternehmen im französischen Raum wurden 70 Terroristen im Kampf niedergemacht.

Schweres Feuer der „V1“ liegt weiterhin auf London und seinen Außenbezirken.

In Italien setzte der Feind seinen Großangriff von der Küste des Ligurischen Meeres bis in den Raum von Arezzo sowie im adriatischen Küstenabschnitt fort. Während er südlich und südöstlich Livorno abgewiesen wurde, setzten sich unsere Truppen östlich davon kämpfend auf das Nordufer des Arno ab. Im Raum beiderseits Poggibonsi blieben stärkere Angriffe des Gegners ebenso erfolglos wie westlich Arezzo.

Südwestlich Ancona griff der Feind auf schmaler Front mit starken Panzerkräften an und erzielte unter hohen blutigen Verlusten einen tieferen Einbruch. Die schweren Kämpfe, in deren Verlauf 18 feindliche Panzer abgeschossen wurden, nahmen in den Abendstunden noch an Heftigkeit zu. Der völlig zerstörte Hafen von Ancona wurde daraufhin aufgegeben und die Front hinter den Eseno-Abschnitt dicht nördlich Ancona zurückgenommen.

Im Osten dauert die große Abwehrschlacht auf der gesamten Front zwischen Galizien und dem Peipussee an.

Im Südabschnitt steigerte sich die Wucht der feindlichen Angriffe besonders östlich des oberen Bug. Hier toben schwere Kämpfe mit dem in Richtung auf Lemberg angreifenden Feind. Seit dem 14. Juli wurden in diesem Abschnitt 431 sowjetische Panzer vernichtet.

Westlich Kowel traten die Sowjets erneut zum Angriff an. Auch hier sind heftige Kämpfe im Gange. Auf dem Westufer des Njemen zerschlugen unsere Truppen im Raum von Grodno und Olita übergesetzte feindliche Kräfte. Nordwestlich Wilna wurden alle feindlichen Angriffe abgewiesen.

Im Seengebiet südlich der Düna hielten unsere Truppen den fortgesetzt angreifenden Bolschewisten unerschüttert stand.

Nördlich der Düna bis zum Peipussee wurden Angriffe stärkerer sowjetischer Kräfte unter Abschuß zahlreicher feindlicher Panzer zerschlagen. Nur in einigen Einbruchstellen dauern die Kämpfe noch an.

Schlachtfliegerverbände vernichteten wiederum eine Anzahl sowjetischer Panzer, Geschütze sowie Hunderte von Fahrzeugen. In Luftkämpfen und durch Flakartillerie wurden 57 feindliche Flugzeuge zum Absturz gebracht.

Ein starker nordamerikanischer Bomberverband griff im Ostseeraum an. Besonders in Kiel entstanden Schäden in Wohnvierteln und Personenverluste. Ein weiterer Bomberverband griff Orte in Süddeutschland an.

In der Nacht fanden schwächere Angriffe gegen den Raum von Köln, gegen das Ruhrgebiet und auf Berlin statt.

Bei allen diesen Angriffen wurden in Luftkämpfen und durch Flakartillerie der Luftwaffe 89 feindliche Flugzeuge, darunter 69 viermotorige Bomber, abgeschossen.

Die IV. Sturmgruppe des Jagdgeschwaders 3 unter Hauptmann Moritz brachte allein 49 viermotorige Bomber zum Absturz.

509

Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (July 19, 1944)

Communiqué No. 87

Fierce fighting is going on in FAUBOURG-DE-VAUCELLES and in the plain south and east of CAEN. Enemy armored formations have been thrown in in an attempt to block the breach made in the German positions in this area.

In the JUVIGNY area, south of TILLY, our troops have advanced about half a mile and the enemy is fighting desperately to retain his hold on NOYERS.

SAINT-LÔ was finally cleared of the enemy during yesterday evening.

The road from SAINT-LÔ to PÉRIERS has been cut between the TAUTE and VIRE Rivers south of the village of AMIGNY, which is in our hands.

Allied aircraft, in great strength, continued their support of our ground forces throughout yesterday afternoon.

Bridges across the rivers SEINE and EURE and railway lines in the ROUEN area were attacked during the afternoon by medium and light bombers. Fighters and fighter-bombers, in great force, attacked enemy batteries mortar positions, strongpoints and troop concentrations near the battle zone. Farther afield they struck at communications, airfields, supply dumps and transport from AMIENS in northeastern FRANCE to the west coast of the COTENTIN PENINSULA.

During the day, first reports show 15 enemy aircraft were shot down and a number destroyed on the ground. Twenty-four of our aircraft are missing.

In the evening the railyards at VAIRES, on the eastern outskirts of PARIS, were successfully attacked by escorted heavy bombers. Two bombers are missing.

During the night, heavy bombers, 29 of which are missing, attacked the railway junction at REVIGNY, about 100 miles due east of PARIS, and AULNOYE, about 20 miles west of the FRANCO-BELGIAN frontier. Preliminary reports indicated that both attacks were well concentrated.

Two enemy aircraft were destroyed over the battle area and one by our intruders over Germany during the night.

Early Tuesday morning, light coastal forces fought three brief gun actions close to the enemy coast between CAP GRIS-NEZ and the mouth of the river AUTHIE. The enemy received considerable punishment. Two of his craft were last seen on fire.

Communiqué No. 88

Fierce armored and infantry fighting continued this morning in the area south and east of CAEN.

FAUBOURG-DE-VAUCELLES is now entirely in our hands, and the enemy has been cleared from the villages of LOUVIGNY on the west bank and FLEURY on the east bank of the river ORNE.

The breach in the enemy defenses has been widened and Allied troops have occupied the villages of TOUFFRÉVILLE, DÉMOUVILLE and GIBERVILLE. Pockets of enemy resistance which had been bypassed have been eliminated. Progress continues in spite of stubborn enemy opposition.

Throughout yesterday and today, Allied warships and landing craft have been engaging enemy batteries on the eastern flank in support of the Army. Allied aircraft based in NORMANDY maintained their patrols and close support of our troops this morning.

One thousand two hundred and fifty prisoners were taken yesterday in the CAEN area, and the total taken since the beginning of the campaign is now over 60,000.

Allied troops have made local advances in the HOTTOT area and north of REMILLY-SUR-LOZON.

510

The Pittsburgh Press (July 19, 1944)

Allied tanks punch inland

Great armored battle rages; British repulse Nazi counterattack
By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer

map.071944.up
Showdown tank battle for the roads to Paris raged today as British forces smashed forward below Caen and the Yanks pushed the Germans back along the western sector of the front. U.S. forces (1) after taking Saint-Lô pushed across the Saint-Lô–Périers highway. Nazi withdrawals from Saint-Lô and Lessay were believed imminent. The British forces (2) made their greatest gain southeast of Caen where they cut the highway to Caumont. They also advanced across the Orne south of Caen.

SHAEF, London, England –
Hundreds of British and German tanks were slugging it out today on the flatlands southeast of Caen in perhaps the greatest armored battle of the war as the Allies punched deeper inland along the road to Paris after withstanding the first great Nazi counterattack.

British and Canadian armor poured southward through the breakthrough corridor below Caen, pumping new strength into Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery’s all-out push which smashed the German ring around the Normandy beachhead.

Marshal Erwin Rommel threw all the tanks he could into a “very fierce” counterattack on Gen. Montgomery’s advancing forces late yesterday. The British and Canadians met it head-on and knocked out a large amount of the German armor.

Nazis lose equipment

Gen. Montgomery announced that large quantities of German equipment were being destroyed in the showdown battle of Normandy, indicating that he was well satisfied with the results of the first major German counterattack.

Supreme Headquarters still withheld information concerning the exact extent of the British 2nd Army progress, since the high command believed its publication now would be of assistance to the enemy.

West of Caen, the British expanded their positions around Noyers, which was still not firmly in Allied hands.

Mop-up in Saint-Lô

On the American front, the Saint-Lô area was being mopped-up despite heavy German artillery and mortar fire from heights south of the captured city. Early today, the Americans pushing down into the Viere River bend northwest of Saint-Lô reached the right bank of the river.

Northwest of Saint-Lô, the Americans captured several villages and destroyed 16 German tanks in beating off strong counterattacks. Most of the land in the Vire bend is now in U.S. hands. Front dispatches reported signs the Nazis were beginning to withdraw from Périers to the west. There were no late reports from Lessay, western anchor of the Nazis, but its fall was expected soon.

There was every sign that the biggest armored battle of Western Europe was raging past the 24-hour as Montgomery and Rommel matched wits and tanks on the Caen plains beyond which stretched a trunk highway a little more than 100 miles to Paris.

Attack in three phases

Headquarters revealed that the Caen breakthrough was executed in three phases. One British column attacked southward from a point northeast of Caen, hugging close to the east bank of the Orne and fighting through Colombelles down into Faubourg-de-Vaucelles, the Caen suburb across the river.

While the action secured the west flank, another force attacked at the southeast corner of the bridgehead east of the Orne, covering the east flank.

Then massed armor flooded through the center crashing through the German positions knocked groggy by the most concentrated aerial bombardment of all time.

The main central column ran into German resistance “every yard of the way, but scored very satisfactory advances,” a headquarters spokesman reported.

Encirclement threatened

Some German troops were still resisting in Vaucelles. Those immediately to the south faced the threat of encirclement if the Allied armor swinging around the suburb from the east should link up with that west of the Orne around Maltot.

Aware of the danger, the Nazis hurled strong counterattacks against the Maltot area late yesterday, but suffered “very heavy” casualties with a minimum of results.

Front dispatches said British spearheads drove “several miles” beyond Caen in a major breakthrough during the first few hours of the offensive yesterday, were already across a highway running to Vimont, seven miles southeast of Caen, and had captured a number of villages and hamlets.

Nice gain, Monty says

Receiving newsmen at British Army headquarters in France, Gen. Montgomery declined to reveal the extent of the advance, but said:

We have a nice little area on the other side of the Orne River with Caen as the center… We had a very good day yesterday – an excellent day. We gained tactical surprise. The present situation down there is that we have a strong force south, southeast and east of Caen.

“Many casualties” were inflicted on the enemy on the south and east banks of the Orne, but British and Canadian casualties were “almost negligible” and losses of equipment very light, Gen. Montgomery said.

He estimated German casualties since D-Day, June 6, at 156,000 men – 16,000 killed, 80,000 wounded and 60,000 prisoners. He Germans were losing vehicles at the rate of 50 a day, he said.

Yanks cut highway

On the American half of the Normandy front, Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley’s 1st Army cut the Saint-Lô–Périers highway, breaking the back of the enemy line in this sector.

Henry T. Gorrell, United Press writer with the Americans, said the Germans had made a withdrawal of one to two miles along a wide front stretching from Saint-Lô beyond Périers.

Weather reports from Normandy told of heavy clouds today which reduced air support for the Allied offensives.

Ronald Clark, United Press writer at the British front, estimated that U.S. and British planes had dropped a record 14,000 tons of blockbusters, smaller explosives and anti-personnel bombs on German strongpoints and other targets around Caen during daylight yesterday.

More than 2,200 bombers dropped over half the total tonnage in three hours – 6:00 to 9:00 a.m. – yesterday, pulverizing enemy strongpoints in a 75-mile-square area on a semi-circle around Caen in preparation for the tank and infantry breakthrough.

Artillery, warships aid

Hundreds of ground guns laid down a barrage reminiscent of that which cracked the German line at El Alamein in Egypt in October 1942, while the British monitor HMS Roberts and cruisers HMS Mauritius and HMS Enterprise joined in the bombardment with broadsides from the Orne estuary.

While the Germans were still paralyzed from the hall of steel and explosives, British and Canadian tanks and infantry went “over the top.”

The British apparently made their greatest advances east and southeast of Caen. East of the Caen–Vimont road, Mr. Clark reported from the front. British infantry quickly mopped up villages through which armored spearheads had already driven.

First resistance light

The first British tanks across the Orne below Caen also met only light resistance, he said, but Gen. Eisenhower’s communiqué said there was “fierce fighting” in Faubourg-de-Vaucelles today.

The railway station at Vaucelles was revealed to be in British hands.

Rommel was understood to have brought to bear a majority of the nine to 13 divisions totaling up to 150,000 men around Caen against the British gap. Many of the divisions were SS suicide units. Elite grenadiers or crack panzer outfits which fought in Russia, North Africa, Sicily or Italy, which accounts for the fierce resistance reported in latest advices.

511

His pledge fulfilled –
McGlincy: Major who fell in battle first Yank to enter Saint-Lô

An ambulance carries body of hero at head of column occupying town
By James McGlincy, United Press staff writer

Saint-Lô, France – (July 18, delayed)
The body of a U.S. Army major, who had said he would be the first man into Saint-Lô, rode in an ambulance at the head of the first troops entering the town tonight.

The officer, whose name will be revered as one of the most gallant officers of the Army as long as his division lives, was killed by shellfire yesterday.

When word came this morning that the Germans were withdrawing, the alert was given to a special volunteer to attack the town. At the head of the battalion moving in for the last phases of the attack rolled the ambulance carrying the body of the major.

On D-Day, the major had stormed onto the beachhead ahead of his troops and had single-handedly wiped out a machine-gun nest. Behind him now were some of the same men who followed him then, volunteers for what they knew would be a hot job.

Hitchhiking into the town with the task force, I saw evidence of what a bloody battle this has been. Bloodstained equipment lay along the roadside. Jeeps with wounded Americans and Germans came steadily from Saint-Lô.

In the final battering ram tactics of the Americans, spearheaded by tanks and tank destroyers, Saint-Lô was left a shambles of broken buildings. In some sections, there wasn’t a decent building left.

512

A scene beyond imagination –
McMillan: Bombs ‘shake the world’ to break Nazis at Caen

Volcanic spouts of flame, giant funnels of smoke rise in wake of huge raids
By Richard D. McMillan, United Press staff writer

An observation post near Caen, France – (July 18, delayed)
The whole world seemed to shake. Volcanic spouts of evil-looking yellow flame spit from the ground. Gigantic funnels of smoke swirled into the sky.

It was a scene of unholy terror that spread over Caen in the wake of the greatest aerial assault in history. No man, even in the wildest flights of imagination, could envisage that scene.

More than 2,000 bombers had rent the earth in an attack which brought 8,000 tons of high explosives showering down on German troops just south of Caen.

It was like one mighty fist sweeping from the sky that cleaved a flaming path for British troops in the breakthrough at Caen.

The assault left a huge smoke pall 50 miles wide, 20 miles deep and five miles high whirling slowly in the pink dawn around the battlefront.

This display of airpower – the greatest obliteration feat ever undertaken – must have been a terrifying onslaught for the Germans in their trenches. And it should have been convincing proof that a continuation of the war could bring only death.

British bombers opened the attack as a yellow sun began climbing through rose-colored clouds. The first bombers were divided in two forces – 450 Lancasters taking the steel factory southeast of Caen, another 450 Lancasters and Halifaxes picking a string of villages.

They dropped 2,000 tons of bombs on each target, where the Germans’ big guns had prevented the British troops from reaching open country. But that was only the first stage. The next part came after the volcanic mass of smoke and dust was allowed to drift eastward.

Then Marauders swept over to rekindle the smoldering debris. The smoke by now was soaring into the air, spreading in an ever-growing pall. It had a deathly sickening smell.

513

British breach Nazi lines at ‘extremely light’ cost

The following dispatch was transmitted by United Press staff writer Richard D. McMillan by radio telephone from the Caen area to his London bureau and is the first telephonic news transmission from France to England since the three days before the fall of Paris in 1940. Mr. McMillan spoke on a one-war circuit.

British 2nd Army HQ, France –
Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery, wiry, black-bereted Allied assault commander, announced today that “strong armored and mobile forces” have been thrust into the breach in the German defense lines south and southeast of Caen and the first gains were made at “extremely light” cost in personnel and equipment.

Monty of El Alamein was in high spirits as he rattled off a staccato appraisal of the past 24 hours’ fighting.

‘Very good day’

He snapped:

We had a very good day yesterday. An excellent day! We gained tactical surprise. The present situation down there is that we are in strong force south and southeast of Caen. We also have a strong force due east of Caen.

We made a bound forward a few days ago which we wanted badly to make. The Germans didn’t want us to make it.

Gen. Montgomery evidently referred to the capture of Caen, where the Germans had held out from D-Day, June 6, until July 9.

It is quite obvious that our position was improved. Well, yesterday we did it. We went forward again. It was a very good day.

We now have a nice little area on the other side of the Orne with Caen as a center.

Praises Yanks

He praised the “magnificent American soldiers” under Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley, who took Saint-Lô yesterday in peace with the advancing British on the left. He also spoke warmly of the valor of U.S. forces who had made great territorial gains in their dash up the Cotentin Peninsula to seize the port of Cherbourg.

The British airborne division which captured and held for six rugged weeks valuable positions on the east bank of the Orne through which the latest armored blow was launched received a “Monty accolade.”

He said:

Without doing this, it would have been impossible to do with such little casualties what we did yesterday. The men of the airborne division who thus far have died did not die in vain.

Three great teams

The general asserted that “Europe is now one great and vast battlefield with Germany in the middle, ringed by the Allies.” The Allies, he said, are three great teams.

Monty said:

The Allied team in Normandy was welded together under Gen. Eisenhower. Our motto here is “One for all and all for one.”

He spoke with admiration of the gigantic air force which Air Chf. Mshl. Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory threw at the Germans as a prelude to yesterday’s thrust.

Called flexibility

Gen. Montgomery said:

That is flexibility – when you’re able to bomb Berlin one day and hit the Germans on the ground in the battle zone the next. The air bombardment was a most inspiring sight.

Monty said magnificent Allied equipment, including tanks mounting 17-pound guns “in every way superior to the anti-tank guns the Germans have,” had helped inflict many casualties on the enemy while Allied casualties on the first day of the push into central France were “almost negligible.”

“We will have no trouble beating the Germans in battle,” he concluded confidently.

514

Kirkpatrick: Cherbourg begins return to semblance of Normandy

Shops reopen, increasing number of civilians return to liberated port
By Helen Kirkpatrick

Cherbourg, France –
Cherbourg has been liberated for three weeks and two days now and the city is beginning to return to a semblance of normalcy, with more and more shops opening and an increasing number of evacuees returning.

In most respects, the people say, they are far better off than they were under the Germans. In one or two ways, there are little differences but they are ones the French don’t mind since the Germans are gone.

The curfew remains but it is now enforced by the French police and detained citizens do not risk being shot out of hand because they have been found on the streets after 10:00 p.m. CET.

The food situation is not too bad and will improve as the battlefront moves forward and transportation to the rich Norman countryside is gradually restored. Food prices are lower than they were under the Germans and vast quantities of food are available which, for four years, found their way into Germany instead of here.

Rations vary

Some items of food have disappeared that were to be found formerly; others have turned up. Here and there, rations have been decreased, but now the people can obtain their full rations whereas during the German regime, they were seldom able to secure them. The greatest shortages are sugar, tea, flour, shoes and clothes.

Shops are selling some inferior coffee as during the past four years – 10 percent coffee and 90 percent ersatz – acorns and oats – a brew that is unrecognizable. Rations for three persons amount to 140 grams (50 ounces) a month – a package which would last three Americans two days if they were careful. Under the Germans, there was a pound of sugar a month per person. Today, only children receive sugar. The Germans rationed meat at 90 grams (over 3 ounces) daily per person but there was seldom any to be found in their rich cattle country as it was all shipped to Germany. Now there is an unlimited amount available and its price is controlled. Formerly, meat could be obtained at 300 francs a pound - $6.

Milk supply rises

Although this is France’s greatest dairy province, the French had no milk under the German regime, even for children. Now it is plentiful. The Germans forced the farmers to sell to creameries, which made butter and cheese for shipment to Germany.

Butter was rationed at 200 grams (about 7 ounces) a month but never could be found except in the black market. Now there is ample. The Germans ration of bread was 150 grams (5½ ounces) daily, which has now decreased to 100 grams (3½ ounces) but will improve as the city becomes better organized and flour can be brought in from the outside. Flour is not obtainable.

Traffic light

The only traffic on the streets is military, with an occasional car belonging to a French official. All city utilities are operating except streetcars and buses, and outside of the port and arsenal areas, there is little damage.

All organization and feeding of civilian life is being run by the French administration, and local officials are under Provincial Commissioner François Coulet. American and British civil affairs officials are here to help and they say that the French organization is good.

The time will come when imports of clothing, soap and some food – flour and sugar notably – will be required. How this will be accomplished depends on what agreements are reached in Washington and London.

515

Editorial: Montgomery’s offensive

Allied forces in Normandy have scored successes on both ends of the line in the fiercest fighting since D-Day. In the west, the Americans have taken Saint-Lô, and in the east, the British have broken through the Caen line.

Whether the victory around Caen is assuming the “gigantic proportion” claimed by initial dispatches probably cannot be determined for several days. The British were in Caen on June 9 only to be pushed back, and several offensives there in recent weeks have been abortive. It is not enough to break through, the gap must be widened and exploited and the new positions rendered safe from counterattack. That cannot be done in the first day of the battle.

The chief factor during the coming week, as during the first day, probably will be the weather. The breakthrough followed an 8,000-ton air bombardment. If Gen. Montgomery can continue to use his great air superiority, which bad weather denied him so often during the past six weeks, obviously the chance of pushing along the Paris road will be much better.

If the enemy’s communications for an estimated 250,000 troops can be cut, as hoped, then he can no longer keep us bottled up in the Normandy tip with his tactical forces alone. He will be forced into a general retreat, or to commit his strategic reserves which have hitherto been held against a possible Allied landing elsewhere. In either event, Gen. Eisenhower would have ended the dangerous temporary stalemate that has consumed more than a month of the precious summer season.

An enemy retreat would allow Gen. Montgomery’s larger armored forces to spill over into open country beyond Caen, and to do the job they have been prevented from doing in their tight pocket. That should soon thereafter draw in more of the Nazi strategic reserves, which seems to be Gen. Eisenhower’s purpose.

But all that depends, of course, on keeping the Montgomery offensive rolling.