Evening star., 1944-08-17
4 Cities Guarding Capital Taken;
Riviera Front Now 30 Miles Deep
Dreux, Chortres,
Chuteuudun and
Orleans Fall
BY the Associated Press.

ny ine hssOCldteo rTcsss
SUPREME ALLIED HEAD
QUARTERS, Aug. II. Swift
American tanks and motorized
infantry advanced to within IS
miles of Paris today in 13-mile
plunge across the Aunay River
from Chartres, which has been
captured along with the three
key cities of Orleans, Dreux and
Chateaudun.
1t. Gen. George 8. Patton, jr's
steel spearheads cut within n miles
of the Paris suburb of Versailles,
which is just west of the French
capital.
The Americans were less than 20
miles from the Seine River against
which the fleeing remnants of the
German 7th Army may be pinned
In vet another trap.
The Canadian 1st Army also was
moving fast. 1t captured Falaise,
important highway center, and ad-
vanced l to 6 miles east of the
Falaise -Troarn road beyond the
Dives River. ST. Pierre, inland
from the coastal flood zone, fell.
lO0-Mile American Arc.
The captured cities of Chartres,
Dreux, Orleans and Chateaudon lie
in a 1OO-mile arc 40 to 65 miles from
Paris. All four cities fell yesterday.
Dreux is 40 miles due west of Paris
and only IS miles from Versailles.
Chartres is 20 miles south of Dreux
and 38 miles from Versailles.
Orleans, city of $4,000, is IS miles
below the capital Dreux and Char
tres, French department capital of
$4,000, form the western gateway to
Paris.
The occupation of these cities
gave the Americans control of all
highways leading into Paris on the
west and southwest.
German resistance was weak, and
gains from LIE Mans ranged from
so to 80 miles.
Paris itself was virtually ouf1anked
TO the south by the fall of Orleans,
which gave Gen. Patton a fight
ing foothold inside the Seine-Loire
Rivers gap.
His sweep past Dreux threatened
to box off the fleeing remnants of
the German 7th Army against the
Seine, whose bridges west of Paris
have been destroyed by bombs.
At least one Yank column speared
forward across the Eure River, pre-
sumably near Dreux, where it curves
miles east of that road center, and
then pounded on toward Paris.
Possible Trap on Seine.
Gen. Patton could now send his
columns beating northward from the
Dreux area. possibly forming a trap
on the Seine. Five spans on the
Risle River west of the Seine were
struck overnight.
The Nazis would have the greatest
dif1iculty pulling their armor and
heavy equipment across the river
over temporary bridges which likely
would be easy marks for the vast
Allied bomber fleets.
The push to Orleans gave the
Allies a 200-mile southern flank
along the Loire River. This flank is
only some $50 miles northwest of
the Allied offensive beating in from
the French Riviera.
Gen. Patton's powerful thrusts
again had been blanketed in secrecy
until today.
Canadians Move South.
After capturing Falaise. Canadian
tanks and infantry pushed 1000
yards south. field dispatches said,
narrowing the pincers on the Ger
mans in the Falaise trap to miles
even as the American 1st Army
chopped off the entire western end
of the pocket.
Canadian mop-up forces still were
mopping up in the FalaiSe streets
and buildings where some Germans
were holding out. But for any prac-
tlcal purpose the city was useless
to the Germans.
Supreme headquarters said there
was hard fighting east of Falaise.
Surviving elements of the Ger
man 7th Army are milling around
lin complete disorganization" both
inside the trap and in the area east
ward to the Seine, British staff
officer declared at field headquarters.
To hamper Allied air attacks. the
Germans are sandwiching French
refugees in their army columns flee
ing the trap, Allied flyers reported.
The escape of the bulk of Marshal
Guenther Won Kluge's armor already
has been conceded, leaving only