South Yorkshire Times, July 1st 1944
Shadow of Defeat
With the fall of Cherbourg things really begin to look bad for the Germans. Having got our invasion forces ashore with the loss of some 40,000 men compared to the German losses of about 70,000 we have now a first class port, which was all that was wanting to speed up the development of our continental attack. True, Cherbourg is not in first class condition, but it will soon be made serviceable. Admirably as our supply services have functioned with nothing but open beaches on which to dump stores and equipment they will do even better once the big ships can come close alongside, as they will be able to do at Cherbourg. This ever-swelling stream of supplies is what will overwhelm the Germans.
Once the Allies can exploit their material advantage the German armies may expect severe treatment indeed. In France there is not the restriction of terrain which has aided Hitler’s forces in Italy. There is room to deploy, and already General Montgomery is spreading his elbows and prising from the grasp of fiercely resisting Nazis the necessary room for the terrific armoured punch which the Allies by now must be capable of wielding. There is superb assurance in the timing of the British, and Canadian push near Caen, so pat upon the fall of Cherbourg. So far the invasion has been handled brilliantly, and we are justified in feeling complete confidence in the outcome of a battle in which the Allied armies are handled with such unerring skill. The coordination of the British and Canadian home to the American shares in the first stages of the operation has been remarkably effective. Cherbourg is in our hands and on schedule, thanks to an adroit manoeuvre carried out with impeccable efficiency and gallantry.
The German armour was pinned down and a vital part of the enemy’s strength hotly engaged while the Americans cut through the western flank of the opposing forces and then swung round on the coveted port. A great deal of foolish comment about the part the Americans would be destined to play in the invasion has been scotched by the perfect dove-tailing of the team which has won this initial success. Cherbourg has been won by a display of inexorable efficiency which heightens our pride in having the Americans at our side in the great counter attack in the West. The Germans boasted, apparently not without material cause, of the scale and calibre of the Cherbourg defences. They were indeed fantastically strong, but the Americans drilled their way through this ring of concrete, steel and high explosive with the unfaltering precision of a high-grade cutting tool. “There are no impregnable islands,” sneered Goering after the fall of Crete; the phrase may prove more applicable to Nazi strongholds in the future.
Russia, having limbered up at the expense of the Finns, now begins to unleash her vast power against Germany’s Eastern front in ernest. Before long the home front will be ablaze, for the Allies are bent on stretching Hitler’s decimated legions to the limit. Reinforcements have become necessary to check the swift retreat of the German armies in Italy. Yet even the dispatch of these precious reserves fails to prevent the ominous shrinkage of the Nazi Fortress of Europe. Everywhere the Hun is being driven back. The gravity of the situation is at last being recognised within the Nazi hierarchy, and gloomy pronouncements have been made this week by Dittmar, spokesman of the High Command, an official political commentator and a Foreign Office spokesman. Their call for a supreme effort of resistance contains more than a hint of desperation; tacitly admits that Germany has her back to the wall. As the triple stranglehold tightens even bitterer truths will be squeezed from the Nazis.