The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-07-26
Bradley's Forces
 Enter Marigny
Sconsinaed iron Paes O

churned forward in a symmetrical phalanx. DouehboyS aStrioe then dld their lighting from their buck. ing mounts. under orders to dis mount only when necessary. Theil heavier weapons were loaded on ths vehicles swarmlng in the gake ol the tanks.
 Directly behind the advancg Ruard came the self-propelled artil. lery, then more infantry mounted on half tracks. then more tanks and finally another layer Of mobile inc fantry.
 Giant bulldozers accompanied the cavalcade, gouging out passagewayE ln the Normandy hedgerows and toppling fortincations ln the path of the massed arInor.
 Hundreds Of guns Of all caliberE, including eInplaced long toms whose salvos were directed by radio. sup- ported the mobile artillery. blasting out German strong points well ahead of the advance.
 Troops perched atop the front line Shermans in the manner of cowboys on bucking broncos, sprayed every hedgerow with fire. It had been raining earlier. but the battlefield dried out quickly and the arInor churned up a choking pail of dust.
 Closely following up the tank break-through to Marigny, another force of U. s. armor plunged through the German Qualifications just west of St. Lo in the area of the village of St. Giles.
 The Naz defenders of the St. Giles area were stunned by the rec~ ord weight of explosives dropped on them yesterday by American bomb- CTS. and were thrown of balance in a frantic shift of strength aimed at, but failing to anticipate, the focal point of the onslaught.
 While the American offensive picked up momentum, a front re. port said the impetus of the British attack below Caen faded out today.
 The Germans were making sharp counter-thrusts. and stepping them mp to the scale of major activity, while the Naz air attack in the Caen area last night was one of the heaviest since the invasion.
 Tt must be stated that the Allies holding the curving belt of country roughly three miles deep below Caen are not in an enviable position, ' United Press War Correspondent Ronald Clark reported.
 The German Transocean News Agency reported that British troops and material were being unloaded continuously at the Orne estuary above caen under cover Of smoke screens.
 ''It is not impossible that the present attacks are merely the cur tain raiserS to a large-scale break. through attack planned by Gen. Sir Bernard L.. Montgomery East of the Orne," the agency said.
 McGlincy's dispatch said the main weight of Bradiey's offensive was concentrated in a sector about four miles wide some seven miles west of St. To, where the break-throngh was scored.
 'The rest of the line west of st. To is moving ahead somewhat more slowly but very steadily, meeting little resistance at many points," 1t said.
 The line this morning ran through MontTeuil, seven miles west of 6t. To. La Chapelle En Juger a little 10 the east. and Le Hedecreyon, 3 i-2 east of La chapelle.
 The average advance ln that nar- TOW sector was about two miles.
 At the eastern end of the Ameri- can line patrols entered Montrabot, Q i-2 miles east of St. To and four northwest of caumont, and found it deserted.
 At the western end of the active front. the American right wind att tackled across the seyes river in the Periers area.
 "As the arnlored bHeak-through occurred, the Germans were fiereely coptesting an infantry thrust all along the line and q head-on at, tack by United States tanks in the vicinity Of St. Giles" GorTell said. They were stunned by yesterdays bombing Of the St. Giles area west of St. To. and appear to have weak ened their line north of Marigny in an effort to reinforce what they thought would be the focal point of the United States drive.
 Our tanks, closely supported by self-propelled long toms and backed by tank destF0yers, are slashiDg their way through the enemy's rear,
 "As this is written iat 2:s0 D, En.D our aTmor is pounding a new breach lp the European fortress. closely supported by dive h0mheFs, It Is sligbtly cloudy, but visibility en- sbles full cir cooperation with the advancing units"
 Richard D, MeAGillap, United Press WsE Correspondent with the