The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-08-15
Allies Open
 Fourth Front
CContinued from Page D


 ing along the coast appeared to be purely for home front consumption however. HitlerS Mediterranean wall had been preached beyond hope of repair by the first shatter- ing wave of Allied planes and shock troops and the thunderous bom- bardment laid down by British Ad- miral Sir John II. D. cunningham's warships.
 The Allied Mediterranean air forces hurled some 2.7oo planes over the invasion beaches in their cii- mactic D-Day punch, riddling the enemy's coastal defenses and cut- ting their lines of communication to ribbons.
 800 AIlaehells
 Some 800 Mitchell and MaraudeT bombers raced in before the land. ing craft to drop their bombs at the waters edge. touching of the land and sea mines strewn across the path Of the invasion armada. Swarms of fighter -bombers followed the troops ashore and methodically knocked out enemy strong points at the direction of the ground coni- manders.
 The big invasion armada of American, British. French. Cana dian, Dutch, Polish, Greek and Bel- gian warships, transports and other landing craft sailed from ports tn Italy, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily and North Africa in calm. clear wea- ther and put their cargoes of men and machines ashore exactly on schedule under cover Of a terrific naval and air b0Blbardment.
 The naval formations also cleared out minefaelds and knocked out enemy ships in the way of the are mada. The naval commander order. ed the assault pressed home with relentless foree," e naval eommunI- que said.
 4 broadcast from one of the beachheads said seven waves Of in- fantry tOtaling about 2l000 men landed in the first two hours of the invasion against a minimum Of re, sistance," while one company of the first wave ashore reached It's initial objective in less than an hour.
 iAn NEG correspondent reporting from the beachhead said nearly all Of our men are allye.D
 B0mhsFament Center
 While the first announcements did not indicate specific landing points between Nice and Marseiile. Allied planes directed their main weight Of explosives in tine final phase Of the sofetning up bombard, Inent against 8 i6-mile stretch of coast between the port of St. Ra- phael, g miles southwest Of Nice, and Cap camaFat. % miles east Of Toulon and 70 miles east of Mar. seilDe.
 iA German eoInmunlque said the Allies landed in the ''T0ul0p Cannes ares" this morning and were en- gagged by coastal defense forces. The German DINE agency said the Allies dropped dummy paFachutlsts in tlse MaTsellle area. apparently to miss lead the NaEis as to the direction 0f the main aftack.D
 More than 4000 paTatT00ps pag- tielpated ln the invasion, most Of them Seating down from hundreds of C-l7 American transport planes before dawn, 4 second wave dTOp- ped from another group Of planes numbering in the hundreds.
 Fourteen thousand air combat erewnlep took t0 the air iD b0mbeFs flghteFs and transports tn support 0g the landings.
 Landing of the invasion forces between MaTsellles and Nice indts eRted the Allied command Intends to wheel west toward the Rh0ne Valley, the ancient southern tDVR, sion route to the heart Of France, eDveloping both the T0ul0H naval base and Marseille,
 MaFsetlDe, at the mouth of the RhOne, lies some S20 miles south south southeast Of Paris and apv pF0EimateDy 4ls miles southeast of the American Third Army at Le Mans,
 Civilians Evacuated
 (The German army commander at MaFseille only yesterday ordered the evacuation from MaFsellle Of all persons whose presence Ifs not Of direct interest 10 the Wehrmaeht, t,s . French broadcast reported, Non. essential residents we're ordered 10 leave "at 0nee,~
 General Wilson announced the ins v6Aion tn Q special eommunique from hls headquarters tn Rome, Consisting Of only one sentence, it ssld,
 American. British and French troops, strongly supported by Allied RiT forces, are being landed by the American, British and French fleets On the southern coast of France"
 The invasion came two months and nine days after the Allied land. lng 0D the coast of northern France under the supreme command of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and put the Allies master plan for the lIb. eFatl0n 0f western Europe and the destruction Of 6eFmany's armed forces Into Us elimaetse phase.
 seadanaEteFa iEs Italy
 Prime Minister Churchill. U, 6, Secretary of the Navy James V. WORragkal. U. A. undNRR0GretaFg Of