The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-12-01
CONTINENTAL DEVELOPMENT,

CONTINENTAL ENVIRONMENT
 Meanwhile on l5 August, opera tion ANVIL was executed by the U. s. Seventh Army under It. Gen. Alexander M. Patch in landings on the southern coast of France, which further weakened the fast-deterior- ating position of German Army in France Preparations for this opera ton under the general supervision of the Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean Theater of Opera tions, had been under way, while the campaigns in Italy and North ern France were in progress. The very threat of such landing had held substantial German forces of the First and Nineteenth armies inn nnobilized in the south of France, preventing their deploynlent against our forces in Normandy A naval force, comparable in size to the one which participated in the Amer ican landings in Normandy, had been assembled. An air offensive, conducted chiefly by the Allied Strategic Air Forces, prepared the way for the invasion by sustained attacks on vital enemy communica- tions and installations in Southern France
 The Seventh Army landed. south- west of Cannes in ideal weather. The area had been selected as tle most favorable approach to the Rhone Valley The landing force consisted of elements of General Truscott's VI Corps, our 1st Special Service Force, and French com- mandos. A British-American Air borne Task Force jumped astride the ArgenS River west of St. Raphael the night preceding the Seaborne assault and seized the pass through which our forces would debouch. B1 28 August the beach, heads were firmly established and the advance up the Rhone Valley was well under way.
 The operations had been sub stantially aided by the efforts ot the French underground. The land ing of our VT Corps had been fol- lowed up immediately by the land and II Corps of General de Tas- Signys First French Army, which quickly captured Marseille and Toulon; by l September Nice had fallen. While the main force swept west to the Rhore before moving northward, task force from the American 36tn Division under Brig. Gen. Frederic B. Butler headed di- rectly north from the landing beaches through Gap, seized Gren- oble and then turned northwest toward the Rhone to cut off the German columns retreating up the Rhone Valley. This drive into the rear of the German Nineteenth Army greatly facilitated the rapid advance of the main body of the VI Corps up the Rhone Valley. Lyon fell on September and the advance northWard continued un- abated.
 On 15 September other United States and French forces were com bined into the 9th Army Group 1ater designated the Southern Group of Armies) commanded by It. Gen. Jacob L. Devers
 France Is Liberated
 On 25 August the 2d French Armored Division of the First U. $. Army entered Paris, as the battered remnants of the German army which had defended the Normandy coast fell back north of the Seine. The Germans had suffered at least 400 900 casualties, of which more than 100000 were prisoners of war. The units which had escaped de- struction were forced to abandon the major portion of their equip ment.
 AS the enemy withdrew he had left behind substantial garrisonS to defend the critical seaports: Brest, St. Nazaire, Lorient, Dieppe, and LeHavre. In order to prevent the Allies from developing harbor facilities to sustain the advance of the gathering millions, the Germans freely expended thousands of men, to make the supply problem diff cult if not impossible Of accomplish ment
 Desuite these Instructions by September (D-S0) 2,086,000 Allied troops and 3.446,000 tons of stores had been put ashore in France. This was an outstanding logistical achievement, but nevertheless we were still in urgent need of addi- tional ports if we were to support adequately the faStmoVlng OHen- sive across France that was operat- ing on a dangerously thin supply basis. Many divisions had very limited supply on hand.
 On September the Ninth U. s. Army under the command of It. Gen. William H. Simpson began operations unGer the 18th Army Group for the reduction of Brest and other French ports, where four German divisions were bottled up. Dieppe fell or 31 August; LeHavre on Il September; Brest on 19 Sep tember. The most strenuous efforts were made to put these ports into