ALLIES’ OUTLOOK IN FRANCE

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 223, 17 June 1944, Page 7

ALLIES’ OUTLOOK IN FRANCE

Forces Now Ready For

Major Battle PRELIMINARY STAGE IS OVER (By Telegraph.—Press Assn. —Copyright.) LONDON, June 15. It was learnt from the supreme invasion headquarters last night that the Allied build-up of forces in Normandy is now equal to a major engagement. The preliminary stage is over. “The Allies have established a firm

foothold on the European coast, and we are there to stay till all France is liberated and Germany is defeated, ’ said the United States Secretary of War, Mr. Stimson, at a Press conference in Washington. “We must, of course, expect counter-attacks greater than any that have yet been met.” Mr. Stimson explained that the destruction of nine Seine bridges was a major factor in delaying the German counter-attack. “The latest information about the West Wall,” he said, “shows that it is not a myth and not a push-over, thus illustrating the desirability of not reaching too hasty conclusions.” The German divisions in the invasion area are below strength, says Hanson Baldwin, military writer of the “‘New York Times,” who is aboard the United States cruiser Augusta off Normandy. “The German coast defence divisions, he said, “were composed 50 per cent, of impressed foreigners. The Nazi S.S., the inheritors of the elite guards’ tradition, are no longer all Nazi Party members. Of the first 5000 German prisoners only 5 per cent, were Nazi Party members. The German equipment is good and fairly plentiful, except for planes, but the German Army is not what it was a year tt "i’he military' writer of the “Manchester Guardian,” discussing-the possibility of a co-ordinated German counter-attack in force, says the potential*power of this must, not be minimized. It could be great, but the Germans have many difficulties to face, and how nearly the actual power of the general German offensive will approach its Rower in German intention is a matter of some conjecture. “Taking—as one must in this yet very early stage of a gigantic military operation—the most formidable view of the enemy's military potential,” the writer says, “it is still obvious that the constant harrying of his movements and communications by the Allied air forces must have its effect, but powerful armies cannot, till they have been defeated, be brought completely to a standstill. “There is excellent reason for confidence that the Allies will maintain and increase steadily the hold they have already gained, but we are fighting no charade of* battle across the Channel. In these Norman fields and woods we have to meet and break a determined foe, and it simply must not. be imagined that this can be done without hard fighting, and at times yielding ground before we can move forward once more.” Hitler’s Quandary.

Things are going better, on the invasion front than can be gathered from the official news issued at Allied headquarters. This is the impression gained by 11. R. Knickerbocker, correspondent in France for the New York newspaper “P.M.” Mr. Knickerbocker adds: “The German High Command is obviously torn with anxiety to know whether this is our only or our main landing. Till Hitler’s generals make up their minds on this cardinal point they will continue to hold back their main strategic reserve. We know Hitler has already begun to draw on this strategics reserve, but only to a cautious degree. What he wants to avoid more than anything next to an immediate defeat, is to commit his reserve against Normandy and then experience another Anzio beach-head. At' this stage the second front is the kind of warfare that delights students of military strategy.”