Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1944-08-11
MAP on Page A-3.)

MAP on Page A-3.)
BY the Associated Press.
SUPREME ALLIED HEAD.
QUARTERS, Aug. 1l.-Americar
forces, driving east of LIE Mans
were reported turning north
ward today in a scythelike sweep
threatening ALE the German
forces south of the Seine River.
(Today's German communique
said the American thrust had
turned northward from LIE Mans
with strong air support, and the
Paris radio reported the Amer
leans had burst past Alencon, 80
miles north of lie Mans The
Germans said the Americans had
run into heavy fighting in that
direction.
(Alencon, 81 miles west of YER
sailles. is just AZ miles southwest
of the tipped wedge
driven to within 5 miles of Fa-
laise)
Nantes and Angeres Taken.
To the west of this fighting Sec
tor, combat teams on the Brittany
Peninsula completed the capture OF
the Loire River cities of Nantes ano
Anglers, and wiped out all resistance
at st. Malo, on the north coast, ex-
cept at one stronghold Nantes
which has population of 195,185 is
the largest city yet to fall in France
Anglers has a population of 1888.
Headquarters announced that
American forces captured 1922 Ger
mans in "a hours ended at midnight
Wednesday.
There was no official confrma tior
at supreme headquarters of various
reports of progress past captured LIE
Mans, ITO miles southwest of Paris
but it was obvious that the Paris
pointed spearhead there had the al
ternatives of swinging northward to-
ward the English Channel short of
Paris, swinging south of the capital
in an encircling move, OF splitting
and passing on both sides of it.
A swing northward of the scythe
would threaten the rear of the Ger
mans stubbornly held swivel posi-
ton below Caen and approximately
20 German divisions or remnants OF
divisions If the sweep crossed the
Seine it would threaten the isola-
ton Of LIE Havre and other Channel
ports as we'll as the rocket bomb
coast.
Others Veer to Southeast.
Unofficial reports said other ar
mored columns meanwhile hac
veered off to the southeast from LIE
Mans toward Orleans on the Loire
below Paris.
CAn NBC broadcast from
France said Americans in this
drive were attacking Chateau
dun, g. miles from Versailles and
80 miles from Orleans. Chateau
dun is So miles east of lie Mans
The Brazzaville radio said there
were reports Charities, 81 miles
from Versailles, was in Allied
hands, but German broadcasts
specifically denied it, and there
was no Allied confirmation
On the Orne River 'front.' British
troops today stormed into the Ger.
man bastion of Thury- Harcourt. al
the top Of steep wooded valley
along the Orne known as the Swift.
zerland of Normandy" 1t had beer
abandoned by the Germans during
the night.
Only 50-odd snipers were. left in
the ruins to cover the German re-
treat.
Thury- Harcourt is "a key rail ano
road center. The British I'd Army
earlier made new crossing of the
Orne Immediately north of the
town.
ajor Road Center.
Although small in population
Thury- Harcourt is strategically i'm
portant because seven major roads
meet there.
The fleeing Germans blew ur
bridges, but British engineers al.
ready were throwing across a new
span this afternoon.
The fall of Thury- Harcourt is q
real blow to the Germans, who useo
1t as main switching center ir
shuttle movements across the front,
Staff Capt. Hatton Croome said a,
advanced headquarters. Even be.
fore the invasion, it always was con.
sidered by us major objective"
BY smashing into the Thury -Har-
court hinge" 1t. Gen. Sir Miles C
Dempsey broke the backbone of one
of Marshal Guenther Won Kluge's
major defense sectors in Southeast
Normandy.
All along the British and Canadian
fronts there were reports of fresh
successes today. The clear, sun.
sparkling skies were alive with Al
lied rocket planes> and bombers
smashing at enemy communications
troop concentrations and gun posi-
tions.
In a V-shaped wedge between
the Orne and Laize Rivers south OF
Caen, the British pushed an ar
mored spearhead southwest from
Bretteville-sur-Laize to Barberry
leaving only a 4,000-yard escape
gap" for enemy troops still skulkine
in either the Inglais Forest or the
Crimbosq Forest to the north.
Other British troops earlier cap
tsee FRANCE, Page A-3J