Evening star., 1944-08-02
u. S. and British
Forces Step Up
Gains in France
MAP on Page A-5.)
By the Associated Press.

1s liic AeSuSidttu IicsS
SUPREME ALLIED HEAD.
QUARTERS, Aug. british ane
American armored forces stabbed
deeply into twisted German
lines today, advancing towarc
Brest and Rennes in Brittany
breaking out in the center anc
threatening to encircle three
huge pockets of the enemy.
The Germans appeared faced with
fresh disaster as 1t. Gen. Sir Miles
C. Dempseys British I'd Army
cracked through the center of the
line and reached a position 13 miles
south of Caumont.
1t. Gen. Omar N. Bradley's Amer
lean spearheads raced toward
Rennes, in the center of the Brit
tany Peninsula, and we're declared
to be well on their way in some
force toward Brest, Frances grea,
port at the western tip of the
peninsula. This steel tip already
was some miles past Pontorson, IL
miles southwest of Avranches. The
Rennes-bound column, Prime Min
lister Churchill told the House oi
Commons in London, already might
be approaching that objective.
Nou Thraofc ~ Maize
The many armored fingers prob
Ing the confused and distraught
German defenses threatened not
only the Germans in Brittany with
encirclement.
A powerful American thrust up
the See River to Cuves, 13 miles
east of Avranches, also threatened
to pocket Germans between there
and the British forces miles north
of Wire. Sixteen miles separated
the American and British spear
heads. which, if joined, would trap
all the enemy in the Tessy. Torigni,
Percy and Villedieu areas.
Although the Brittany Peninsula
Is 100 miles wide, $50 miles long
and roughly a dozen times as big
as the Cherbourg Peninsula, its re-
duction was proceeding at faster
clip.
The break in the center of the
Germans line by Gen. Dempsey S
British threatened to engulf the re-
mainder of enemy defenses which
had suffered the loss of 10000 pris-
oners in week and the destruction
or near destruction of a dozen di-
visions.
AS Gen. Dempsey's forces advanced
below Caumont, Associated Press
Correspondent Roger Greene quoted
a British staff officer as declaring:
Marshal Erwin Rommel must
stand and fight on the high ground
between Villers-Bocag and Caen
and I think we shall destroy him
there"
Encircling Maneuvers.
This break Through threatened to
pocket the bitterly resisting Ger
mans in the hills southwest of Caen
and already Gen. Dempsey's col
umns, spearing through LIE Beny-
Socage to within miles of Wire
old Norman capital. we're curling
eastward in an encircling maneuver
Mr.. Greene said armored units
had penetrated far ahead of the
main forces, toward Estry, miles
northeast of Wire and 26 miles
southwest of Caen.
The German desperation at this
British threat to break out of the
"bocage country" as the Americans
had done, was reflected in the
enemy's fanatical resistance at
Tiliy-la Champagne. miles south
east of Caen, where they retrieved
that village from the Cana dians
and held on to dense belts of ma
chine guns, tanks, mortars and
artillery.
Ceaseless Air Pounding.
II they stood to fight they were
faced by destruction, if they triee
to retreat toward Paris they were
almost certain to incur terrible
losses at the hands of Allied all
power hammering at them as they
crossed bridgeless rivers and trav.
eled broken communications.
For three months Allied planes
have pounded ceaselessly at the
crossings of the Seine north OF
Normandy and the Loire River south
of Brittany which form a triangular
area coming almost to an apex
sout of Paris.
Already the Germans were stun
bling back in retreat north of vii
lers-Bocage, an area almost pock
eted.
The British advance also had al
most drawn sack around the
Homme Woods, southwest of Villers-
Bocage, which the Germans had
used as a base for armored sallies
into the Allied flank.
High Ground Taken.
Driving east from LIE Beny -Bocage
British tanks seized sausage fea-
ture" spur shown on the map at Hill
266. simultaneously other British
columns farther north stormed and
captured Hill 361 and gained all
the high ground east of the Homme
woods, thereby completing a virtual
strangle hold on a bitterly defended
stretch of forest. Germans still
fighting in the woods now have only
a narrow escape corridor to the
south.
Along the eastern hinge of the
Allied line south of Caen powerful
elite German forces were offerine
the most resclute resistance of tht
whole campaign against Canadians
trying to retake Tilly-la- Champagne
In this area the Germans have
not one heavy crust of defense, bu,
/. two broad, massed belts OF machine
guns and tanks and lines of mortar
and artillery batteries. Between
these two lines a third and inter-
u1ediate line of similar strength Il
being fixed.