The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-05-28

vast invasion base. Her green fields from all the Allied world. Miles of big guns, tanks and armored vehi- cles damned her country lanes From her myriad airstrips, swarms of Allied bombers were raining an average of 10000 tons of bombs a week on Fortress Europe.
 Across the water, from Norway down to Spain, stretched the Nazi Atlantic wall, bristling with forts, tank traps, minefields and, report edly, rocket guns. The Germans boasted this barrier was deepening and stiffening daily, and Joseph Goebbels hinted darkly about the unpleasant surprises in store for the Allied troops.
 AS the H-hour of D-day drew near, the war of nerves reached new peaks. The Allied commander, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower broad cast last-minute instructions to Europes underground; diplomats were forbidden to send uncensored dispatches from Britain; travel to Fire was stopped. In response, the Berlin and satellite radios stepped up their warnings of fierce re- prisals to the captive peoples. Blow Fell June 6
 The blow was struck on the morning of June 6. It's punch and scope surpassed the worst Nazi fears. In the greatest amphibious operation the world had ever seen, an armada of 4,00O ships, covered by an air fleet of 11,OOO planes, landed armies of the United States, Britain and Canada on the coast of France.
 The target was a 40-mile stretch of the rugged Normandy peninsula which has Cherbourg at its tip. The Allied assault forces stormed ashore at a. m. while rows of United Nations Warships stood of the beaches and poured 2,OO0 tons of explosives into the German de- lenses.
 MinesWeepers had cleared the sea lanes and underwater obstacles proved less formidable than ex- pected. In most areas the invaders secured beachheads after sharp but brief fighting. But in some, en- trenched enemy mortar and ma- chinegun crews put up bitter and bloody battle and in these the AL lies, particularly the Canadians and the Americans, suffered severe losses.
 The enemy finally was f1attened in all sectors. and by nightfall the invasion forces were fighting their way inland, the British and Cana dians under It. Gen Miles C.. Dempsey on the left flank and the Americans under It. Gen. Omar N. Bradley on the right. As dark ness settled down, asky train 50 miles long started to arrive from England with additional men and weapons.
 Tie Points Important
 In the days that followed suc- cession of struggles began for the little country towns which were the tie points in the au-important network of roads across Normandy
 Losing no time, the British struck out to capture the ancient town of Bayeux and cut of the highway between Bayeux and Caen, a five way road hub at the Atlantic end of the peninsula $ base. The Amer jeans took Sts. Mere Eglise, 19 miles from Cherbourg, and then Valognes, only II miles from that first major objective of the campaign.
 The Germans continued to hold out stoutly at Caen so now the American end of the line began to expand more rapidly than the British. Hard-driving Tank col umns occupied Montebourg, nine miles from Cherbourg, after a bit- ter ouse-to-house struggle and then pushed on westward along the roads converging on the port itself.
 Then, on June 9, an event oc- cured which almost collapsed the invasion strategy. A great channel gale, the first in 30 years, smashed the Allied lifeline of supply ships with winds reaching 70 miles an hour and waves IA feet high. Hundreds of the smaller ships were swamped and miles of the Nor mandy shoreline was piled up with the wreckage. Meanwhile the AL lied beachhead force was rapidly using up it's stores of food and ammunition. Because of censor ship, few back in America knew how near the campaign was to disaster. Just in time, the storm abated and the work of supply re- stunned.
 Americans Took Cherbourg
 Cherbourg was taken June 27 by American tanks and infantry, smashing into the city on top of terrific aerial, naval and artil- lery bombardment. Engineers has tened to clear the port and restore it for use by Allied shipping.
 Then the Allied timetable went haywire among the apple trees and barnyards of Normandy. The Nazis found the crazy patchwork of earthen hedgerows which criss- crossed the whole countryside ideal terrain for defensive battle. They yielded nothing without exacting a price in lives or prolonged artillery bombardment.
 During the next four weeks. the Allies were able only to straighten their peninsula line so that it ran from the British anchor before Caen through St. Lo in the center of the peninsula to point just above Lessay, 20 miles below Cher bourg on the west coast.
 It was not until July 20 that they could launch a determined offensive to burst out of the pen insula. Then the British punched forward in a drive which, although it took Caen, was principally effec- tive in drawing to their front the major share of the German forces,