The Wilmington morning star., 1944-07-07
Enemy FORCES
AWAITING BLOW
Savage Fighting Reported
As Germans Toss Out
American Soldiers

SUPREME HEADQUAR-
TIERS ALLIED EXPED1-
TIONARY FORCE, Friday,
July 7.-(F)-U. S. troops
closing a ring about the enc
my anchor of La Haye du
Puts have stormed to the
edge of the Foret de Mont
Castre-Where strong enemy
forces lie in wait - and are
threatening the last wooded
heights dominating the town,
Supreme Headquarters an
nounced last night.
Front line dispatches said the
only escape route out of the road
and rail junction on the south was
under artillery fire, and reported
savage fighting toward the heights
of the forest, three miles east of
La Haye, whose capture would I'M
hinge enemy defenses resting on
La Haye on the west and the bog,
Marais de Gorges, on the east
Supreme headquarters said that
doughboys fought twice into La
Haye in the last 48 hours and twice
probably still held the railroad
station in the northern outskirts.
Capture of the heights might
force the enemy to withdraw as
far as Lessay. five miles south of
La Haye, and Periers, nine miles
southeast.
In the brightest, hottest day in
Normandy since D-Day, another
column coming around the great
bog on the east forged beyond the
village of Culot, which the Ger
mans once regained with counter
attack, and fought to within a mile
of Sainteny, five miles southwest
Of Carentan, widening the narrow
est sector of the whole front in
an advance of more taan mile.
Botl British and Germans pour
ed armor and infantry into the
battle raging for Carpiquet airfeld,
only three miles east of Caen on
the road to Paris, and the night
communique said number OF
enemy tanks were destroyed.
With the skies cleared at last,
and the Allies free to throw tae1r
Sunday Aerial punch at the enemy,
German communications took
severe nauling as hundreds OF war
planes went bombing and straflng
transport, roads and rails all the
way behind the front and on oack
10 the Paris area.
Rail lines where cut by bombs at
many points, fuel dumps were left
blazing at Chartres, Argentan ard
Cerences, and dive-bombers at
tackled troops massing to oppose
the American push southwestWard
from Carentan.
A dispatch from Gen. Dwight u:
Eisenhower's advanced command
post declared taat more and more
Allied troops and vehicles-"an as
tonishing totar'-were piling up
along the beachhead for the deci-
sive battles ahead.
British and Canadians around
Caen battled the greatest mass OF
German manpoWer ever concentra-
ted on a narrow front in this or
the last world war-one division to
slightly less than three miles OF
front, Supreme Headquarters said.
The German news agency DNB
said Field Marshal Karl Rudolf
Gerd Won Rundstedt, German COM
mander in the west, had been re-
placed by Marshal Guenther Won
KIuge, counter ffensive specialist
from the Russian front, possibly
lresaging a heavy counter blow.
DNB said Won Rundstedt was IL
i'll health"
This appeared to be a victory
1or Marshal Erwin Rommel, advo-
cate of bold strokes, over the con-
sentative Won Rundctedt.
As the fighting ragged about La
haye, U. S. troops in the bright
normandy sunshine struck from
Carentan and widened that mar
roWest sector of the bridgehead.
In the biggest advance of the
DAY, they fought forward more than
Z mile into the village of Culot,
lour miles southwest of Carentan.
me enemy hit back in strength,
Forcing the Americans from the
Town, but the doughboys took up
positions just outside.