Evening star., 1944-06-07
Victory on the Beaches

"SoeVAh 41OllI, IilOuSu SUlll vague
in many respects, continue en-
couraging. There are indications of
severe fighting at more than a few
points and the Luftwaffe has
begun to show itself in considerable
strength, but our British, Canadian
and American forces-land, sea and
air-quite clearly have the situation
well in hand up to the moment.
At this distance, it is almost i'm
possible for the mind to grasp what
is happening. The reality comes to
us in diluted form through the
medium of words. The sight and
sound of 1t, the physical contact
with 1t. are not ours; we have only
the pale approximation. Yet the
verbs, the nouns, the adverbs and
adiectives in the torrent of news
dispatches are all active and vivid
enough to make clear that our in
vasion Of France represents the
mightiest and most complicated
power display of its kind In the
history of the world.
The statistics are staggering.
Within period of hours before the
first landings, some 10000 tons of
bombs were dropped on the assault
area. Next, in the predawn dark,
more than 1000 troop-carrying
planes and gliders delivered the
biggest air-borne force of all time to
points behind the enemy's coastal
positions. Then, transported by a
gigantic naval armada of 1000 ships
and several thousand smaller vessels
and supported in the sky by 1900
Allied fighters and bombers, untold
thousands of our troops stormed
ashore Minesweepers had done
their job supremely well and the
guns of our warships and the i'm
mensity of our protective airpower
were complete masters of the scene:
Our American losses in the choppy
waters of the Channel totaled two
destroyers and one tank-landing
craft, and at last report, only about
per cent of our bombers and
fighters were missing.
Indicating that the Nazis were
tactically surprised, casualties were
light on shore as well. Though it is
mounting in fierceness now, the
enemy's original opposition to our
landings was relatively light, with
the result that Allied beachheads
were established along broad front
to depth of several miles. The
precise location of our positions has
not yet been revealed to us by
EiSenhower's headquarters but the
general area is the Normandy Penin-
sula, particularly from Cherbourg
around the Bay of the Seine to points
near the great port of lie Havre.
Once they are well established here,
our forces may conceivably make
Paris their next major objective.
The Allied strategical plan, how
ever, is still a secret of the deepest
sort and the pattern of attack re-
mains too shapeless to the layman's
eye to permit intelligent speculation.
Actually, the Normandy assault may
prove to be less than the main effort,
for other and even greater blows
may be struck elsewhere in the West.
The Nazis, moreover, can be counted
upon to strike back sooner or later
as violently as possible, a fact indi-
Gated by Goering's order of the day
declaring that we must be beaten
back even if the Luftwaffe perishes.
At this critical juncture we cannot
be certain of what the next develop
ment will be; we can only know that
everything has gone well so far, that
the fate Of the free world hangs
upon the success of this brilliant
and heroic venture, and that we
shall be serving ourselves If we
continue to pray-as President
Roosevelt has urged-for further
good fortune to our arms.