Evening star., 1944-07-24
Major Battle
Shaping Up on
|FrenchFront
British Troops Make
Small Gains; Yonks
Get Minor Setback
MAP on Page A-5.)
By the Associated Press

SUPREME ALLIED HEAD
QUARTERS, July 24.-Huge con-
centrations of Allied and Ger
man manpower and firepower,
maneuvering for position in i'm
proving weather, prepared to-
day for a major battle on the
Normandy front after the Brit
ish had registered small gains
and the Americans received a
minor setback.
The salient which 1t, Gen. Omar
N Bradley's forces drove across the
little Seves River toward the Ger
man stronghold of Periers Saturday
was showed back to the north bank
by a German counterattack yes
terday, and the village of Seves was
lost. Supreme headquarters an
nounced, however, that American
defensive positions were intact.
Before the German counterattack
the Americans had pushed 10 within
2 miles of Periers.
British Take Important Ground.
South and slightly west of Caen.
British troops in sharp local en-
gagements took important ground
west of the newly retrieved town of
Maltot and captured a woods 500
yards south of Etavaux.
The Germans resisted stif1y and
launched counterattack with
tanks. At last report fighting was
continuing in the area.
With the mop-up of Maltot and
Etavaux, British and Canadian
troops frightened their hold on both
sides Of the Orne River south of
Caen.
Emieville, miles east of Caen.
was taken from the Germans yes-
terday. The Nszis had been direct
ing heavy fire from this town
against Allied tanks thrusting down
the road toward Paris.
Allied staff officers estimated that
the Normandy fighting had cost
the Germans $4,000 soldiers. in
cluding more than $4,000 prisoners.
This indicated Marshal Erwin Rom
mel had lost the equivalent of 10
to Is full divisions.
Yanks Capture 50,549.
OF the 60,958 prisoners taken so
far, the Americans captured 50,54s
In addition. the Americans said they
had buried 1904 Germans. Calculat-
ing on the basis of five wounded to
every man killed, $4,000 Germans
were believed wounded on the
American front.
tThe Germans reported the
British had renewed attacks
north and west of Troarn. 6 miles
east of Caen, where the Tommies
were stalled 48 hours after the
start of Gen. Sir Bernard L.
Montgomery's big drive just
week ago.
A front dispatch said British
troops seized the western seosion of
Troarn and were driven back. but
still retained the towns railway
station.
In its morning summation of the
situation. supreme headquarters
said it was "a relatively quiet day
on the whole front" and added that
there was no improvement over
last night
Political General Heads Corps.
From the front came a further
indication of the authorization" of
the field forces tying in with the
reported home purge of Germany's
professional military clique.
Gen. Josef Dietrich, a Nazi politi-
cal general, was identified as the
commander of an SIS Panzer corps.
Without notable military ability.
Gen. Dietrich-like worked
his way up from the enlisted ranks
in the World War by political ma
neuvering, He participated in un-
der2round resistance to Versailles
treaty arrangements and was in Hit
lers Munich beer hall putsch. He
is a veteran of the Balkan cam
paign. The Russians have charged
him with committing outrages at
Kharkov and have listed him as a
war criminal"
The Normandy weather became
worse today. Allied planes few only
(See INVASION, Page A-4)