The Pittsburgh Press (September 7, 1944)
U.S. casualties total 365,759 –
Stimson: Prolonged defense of Reich improbable
U.S. losses for first 25 days in France reach 42,000, half of anticipated cost
Washington (UP) –
The bulk of the German armies in Western Europe have been destroyed or crippled to an extent that they “seem insufficient to maintain prolonged defenses of Germany,” Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson declared today.
In contrast, Mr. Stimson disclosed that U.S. Army casualties during the first 25 days of the invasion of northern France were about one-half of the losses which had been expected.
Mr. Stimson said that from D-Day on June 6 through June 30, the Army suffered approximately 42,000 casualties of all types in France. Pre-invasion estimates had set the figure at about 81,000, he revealed. Of the 42,000, the Secretary said, 33,933 were battle casualties.
Mr. Stimson also announced that U.S. Army casualties in all theaters of war through Aug. 21 totaled 305,795. This brought total U.S. casualties announced here through Aug. 21 to 365,759, including:
| Army | Navy | |
|---|---|---|
| Killed | 57,677 | 23,926 |
| Wounded | 156,933 | 21,894 |
| Missing | 45,967 | 9,678 |
| Prisoners | 45,218 | 4,466 |
| — | — | — |
| TOTAL | 305,795 | 59,964 |
Of the Army wounded, Mr. Stimson said, 63,986 have been returned to duty.
Mr. Stimson also disclosed that in the later fighting in northern France – through July, when the breakthrough at Avranches was achieved, and August, when the breakthrough was being exploited – U.S. casualties “were slightly less than the estimates.”
While German forces are shrinking, Allied forces are growing and their advance is speeding up, Mr. Stimson said.
He told his press conference, however, that supplies must catch up with the advancing armies before they can administer a death blow to the Nazis.
“The war won’t be won until Allied troops are in Berlin,” he said.
German forces are now evacuating all of southern France from the Rhône to the Atlantic, according to Mr. Stimson, who said the gap between the U.S. 3rd Army of Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr. (now on the Moselle River) and Lt. Gen. Alexander M. Patch’s 7th Army (along the Rhône) is gradually being eliminated. It is only through this gap that the German forces in southern France can escape.
Speaking of the action in the north, Mr. Stimson said that:
As far as we can judge, a great part of the German soldiers on this front are bewildered and without hope.
He said:
The speed of our action and the overwhelming strength of our air forces are large factors contributing to this state of mind. Over 300,000 prisoners have been taken in northern and southern France. Yet the German Army discipline is holding up and we must still test the product of the last desperate mobilization efforts of the Nazi government. We have yet to strike the final blow.
Mr. Stimson stressed importance of aerial support for the advance of the ground forces. The 19th Tactical Air Force was in practical effect a right flank for the U.S. 3rd Army’s tank columns, he said.