The Wilmington morning star., 1944-07-11
GERMAN TANKS
KNOCKED OUT
Unite d States Troops
Slog Through Mud
On All Sides

r E RS ALLIED EAPEDl-
TIONARY FORCE, Tuesday,
July 11.-(P)-The British
and American armies scored
hard-won gains of two and
one-half to six miles on both
ends and in the center of the
Normandy battlefront yester-
day, slogging through mud
and knocking out numerous
counter attacking German
tanks.
The British Second army ham,
mered out and retained advances
of better than 1000 yards on a
three-and- half mile front
southwest of captured Caen. Pa
trolls reached the Orle rive",
mile farther on, but had to with
draw as the Germans massed pow
erful opposition in a determined
attempt to prevent break in that
natural defensive line, Supreme
Headquarters announced this
morning.
Slashing past the villages of
Eterville and Maltot, the British
main body took a hill designated
as 112 and held it against two vio-
lent counterattacks led by 20 to
30 German tanks.
Other armored counterattacks
were broken up dozen miles to
the west, below Tilly, while the
Americans on the western anchor
of the line knocked out a number
of counterattac king tanks and
pressed down two miles south Of
La Haye du Puts towards Lessay.
The Germans were pulling back
towards LeSsay to escape entrap.
ment in sWampy ground dominant
ed by American-captured heights.
Front-line dispatches said the
Americans gained up to six miles
south of St. Jean de Daye and Ca
rentan in "a hours of combat and
that they were pressing along a
25-mile front behind one of the
wars greatest sustained artillery
barrages.
A headquarters communique
said that unspecified by passed
enemy strong points were clean
ed up during the day. One small,
stubborn enemy pocket remained
at Louvigny, one and one-half
miles south of Caen on the west
side of the Orne river.
In disclosing that the Americans
alone since June 6 had burned
more than 5000 dead Germans
and had taken 46,809 prisoners,
spokesman said these figures could
not be used to calculate enemy
losses because the Germans I'M
doubtedly had buried more than
5000 of their own dead.
On the British side, Supreme
Headquarters stated, there is no
sign that the enemy has any def
mite prepared defensive positions
short of the Seine river" which
roughly parellels the Orne about
IS miles to the east.
Headquarters suggested that the
Germans probably would resort
to town-by town method of
strong-point defenses, and en-
phasized that despite their revers-
es the Nazis 'have not shown the
slightest sign of Reorganization
nor of any large-scale disengage-
ment."
On the contrary, they were hur1-
ing all Immediately available re-
serves into a stubborn attempt to
make the Orne river a defensive
moat.
The Supreme Allied commander,
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, is.
sued warning against growing
optimism in the Allied world, and
predicted long, bitter struggle be.
fore final victory in Europe.
He did not completely discount
the possibility of crack in Ger
man morale, and expressed great
qualification at Sundays British
Canadian capture of Caen, but
voiced the definite conclusion that
the Allies would have to fight for
every foot of ground and said
there was nothing spectacular in
prospect.