Evening star., 1944-08-20
French Enter
Town Bki|es
Above Marsei||e
EnveIoping Movement
Heads Swiftly Toward
Rhone River Valley
MAP on Page A-4.)
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
ROME, Aug. 19.-Hard- driving
French tanks today led 1t. Gen
Alexander M. Patch's American
7th Army into st. Maximin, only
rs miles northeast of Marseille
and % miles below the vital
road hub Of AiX-en-Provence, as
the Allies outflanked the great
Toulon naval base in a broad
enveloping movement headed
swiftly toward the Rhone River
Valley.
Less than $50 airline miles sepa-
rated the forces in Southern France
from those in the North as they
moved rapidly ahead for a union
Announcing the latest 10-miles-
a-day gain against German oppo.
sition that was considerable" al
some places but feeble at others
Allied headquarters said the bag oi
captured Germans now had passed
10000 Headquarters identified the
second German general captured as
Gen. Ferdinand Neuling. com.
mander of the 62nd Reserve Corps
which controls the entire enemy
coastal defense area from Nice tt
Toulon.
The French. operating new Ameri.
can-made tanks. drove into st
Maximum by leap-frogging tht
tired American infantry who hae
carved a path for them.
Yanks Deepen Foothold.
Other American forces shot out
northward to the vicinity O,
Grasse, 8 miles northwest of Cannes
and La Bastide. % miles northwest
of Cannes, thus deepening up te
30 miles their solid foothold alone
more than so miles of the curvine
French mediterranean shores or
which they landed Tuesday.
An Allied staff officer said the
Germans were Withdrawing so rap
idly they were unable to accomplish
their usual demoltions. He sait
they were expected to stiffen some.
what as the Allies progressed north
ward, but declared German reserves
in France already had been vir-
tually exhausted. He highly praised
the American-French tactics in by.
passing and cutting of enemy
strong points.
Only on the coast a dozen miles
directly east of Toulon was German
opposition described as determined
The Toulon garrison, however
already was outflanked by the
American-French drives farther
north. One of these took La Rooue.
brussanne, IA miles north of Tou.
Ion, and another captured Sollies.
Pont. 6 miles northeast.
Near Open Coastal Plain.
Another S miles west from Sollies.
Pont would put Gen. Patch's mer
on an open coastal plain acros.
which they could move dozen mile.
to the sea, cutting of Toulon en-.
tirely
While elements of a third German
division, the 338th Infantry, hav,
been identified in the northwestern
sector, probably around Brignoles
there still were no official reports O
any movement of substantial Ger.
man units toward the battle zone.
On the east of the beachheas
front the Germans announced the,
had abandoned Cannes, but officia
information at Allied headquarter,
indicated the eastern front was rel.
at1vely stable and there was no wore
OF entry into that one time resort
Four Torpedo Boats DESTROYED.
The Germans made belated at.
tempt to interfere with the unload
Ing operations, but 1t resulted only
IN destruction of four enemy torpedo
boats by American destroyers. For
consolation the Germans could only
report that the Americans "and
their French auxiliary forces" were
suffering losses in building up their
forces and that isolated German
shore batteries had held out until
the last grenade was fired"
Ihe Germans contended thei,
(See RIVIERA page AZ