Evening star., 1944-08-05
Half Of Brittany
Overrun, Nozis
Flee BeIowCuen
BULLETIN,

columns of American armor
and infantry sped closer to st.
Nazaire, Nantes and Brest to-
day. supreme headquarters
was chary Of details. possibly
In an effort to keep precise in
formation of the swift move
ments from the disorganized
Germans. (The Nazi-con-
trolled Vichy radio said the
Americans were within Is
miles of Nantes.)
BY the Associated Press.
SUPREME ALLIED HEAD
QUARTERS, Aug. 5.-American
troops swarmed over half of the
Breton Peninsula today, thrust
ing nearly to the port of Nantes
at its base and advancing to
within IS miles of Brest at its
tip.
To the north in Normandy Ger
man troops were in a general with
drawal from the whole Odon- Orne
Valley southwest of Caen. The
thrust by British and Canadian
troops there was bringing closer a
possible major German retreat to
the Seine River 10 miles to the east
and the opening of the way to
Paris.
Giving up SO square miles of ter
ritory in smile retreat, the
Germans below the Canadian sector
were declared in front dispatch to
be moving their forces back and
forth in great confusion. A Cana
dian officer at the front said: 1.-THE
enemy is now extremely windy. He
is trying desperately to provide
some kind of a bolt hole for him
self. These are moves OF despera-
tion."
British Take Is Towns.
After six days of battling British
troops knocked loose Villers- Bocage
the keystone of the German de-
lenses west of the Orne River, and
took at least Is towns and villages.
Advancing on an 8-mile front
the Tommies swarmed into evacu-
ated Villers-B -Bocage and captured
Meyers, Esquay, Evercy and Hills
112 and 113-all points the Germans
had fought bitterly for weeks to
hold.
The fall of Villers-Bocage left the
Nazis with the choice of either pull
ing out or running the risk of hav-
ing their forces trapped in a "
shaped wedge between the Odon
and Orne Rivers extending from
Evrecy northeastward toward Caen
The supreme headquarters COM
munique confirmed that 1t. Gen
Omar N. Bradley's unslackenine
American tank-infantry force driv-
ing west on the Breton Peninsula
had reached Loudeac, IS miles from
the great port of Brest at the pen
insula's end.
(The Germans told of pene-
tration to Pontivy, 10 miles far
ther)
St. Nazaire Also Threatened.
The American columns driving
south of Rennes on two roughly
parallel roads to Nantes reached
Derval and Chateaubriant, 30 anc
80 miles above Nantes, respectively
These American troops also threat
ened the U-boat base of St. Nazaire
80 miles west of Nantes, from near
Derval and Chateaubriant, 80 and
40 miles away.
. The American thrust through
Brittany-opposed so far only by
Intellectual isolated German garrison
forces-brought invasion troops for
the first time into territory of strong
Maquis resistance, where front line
cooperation with French forces of
the interior is possible.
In the Department Province) of
Morbihan bordering the Bay of
Biscay in Southern Brittany, French
patriots for months have been blast
ing German communications and
skirmishing with the Nazis. In these
battles some 1,400 Germans have
been reported killed against a loss
of 200 members of the Maquis.
South of the area of the British
triumph in the Bocage country the
Germans still had a salient several
miles wide and several miles long
jutting up into Allied territory be-
tween the contested city of Wire and
the Orne River, but this is being
rapidly battered in by several paral-
ae1 Allied snearheads chovino eoct
from the Avranches area.
The Americans were driving east
from Brittany as well as up the
1,ninsula. They captured anc
Iassed Fougeres, 80 miles northeast
IF Rennes, and farther northeast
truck to within little more than 9
flile Of Barentan, "a miles east OF
Avranches.
South Of Mortain there was nc
indication of any co-ordinated
(See FRANCE, Page AID