August 12, 1944; 750 miles from Tokoyo:

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY, AUGUST 12, 1944:

 

BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA, SATURDAY, AUGUST 12, 1944

Paris Battle in

Decisive Stage

100,000 Germans Sent Reeling Back on Paris,

Seine, as Allied Assault Power Threatens to

Chop Through Nazi Army; Tanks Smash Gains

SUPREME HEADQUARTERS, AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY

FORCE, Aug. 12. (U.P)—

The Battle of France went into its decisive stage today as Allied assault power

swept around the German Seventh Army in the Normandy pocket and sent some 100,000 Nazi troops reeling back on Paris and the Seine. British and Canadian troops smashing at the German bolt positions below Caen were the "handle" of a great Allied assault sickle, while the slashing tanks and infantry columns of the

American First Army north and east of Le Mans formed a gigantic 60 mile long blade that, threatened almost momentarily a chop through d the rear of the entire Nazi army.

Lieutenant-General Omar N. Bradley's armored columns were fanning out across the rolling terrain beyond Le Mans in every direction at a speed that appeared to have stunned the German forces thrown across the southwestern roads to Paris.

Headquarters spokesmen said the battle had entered the "blackout" stage so favorable the Americans were concerned. The Germans themselves aparently were completely confused by the whirlwind American tactics

and unable, to determine the direction and strength of Bradley's main attack.

Probe Paris Outskirts

The Germans hinted yesterday that Yankee spearheads were probing the capital's outer defenses at Chartres, 46  miles southwest of Paris, and Chateaudun, 26 miles

farther south. 

ALLIED ARMIES TAKE FLORENCE;

GERMANS WITHDRAW TO NEW LINE

MILITARY AUTHORITIES BEGIN ADMINISTERING

RELIEF TO POPULATION OF ITALIAN ART CENTER

By .I.AMES E. ROPER

United Press War Correspondent

ROME, Aug. 12.—Florence, ancient treasure house of Italian renaissance art, fell into Allied hands today as the Germans withdrew must of their troops from the city to new positions northward, ending a siege that started two weeks ago. While the British Eighth Army troops had not yet crossed the Arno river, which cuts the city in half. Allied military government officers moved into the northern sector and begun administering relief to the civilian population.

For the last two nights, a special communique announced today, the. Germans have been withdrawing their main forces from Florence. To a new line north of Mugnone canal, which runs through the northern outskirts of the city.

Snipers Active

Front dispatches reported that enemy snipers, however, still were active in the city's northern sector.

Florence, with a prewar population of approximately "50,000, was reported in recent dispatches to have had some 100.000 civilians still with in its gates when the British drove the Germans back of the Arno and been jockeying for positions to take the city without resorting to artillery fire which would damage its priceless art treasures.

B-24s Rip Volcanos

Yanks Hit

750 Miles

of Tokyo

Allied Bombers Sink

Four Jap Freighters,

Destroy 50 Planes

By Associated fleas

Death-dealing United States Liberators have crowded closer to Japan than ever before, opening the enemy's Volcano islands to their first heavy attack by land-based planes.

B-24s of the Seventh Army Air Force sprayed Iwo island, 750 miles southeast of Tokyo, with 47 tons of bombs Wednesday. The Seventh American Air Force recently established an advanced base around a Japanese-built, airdrome

on Saipan island in the Marianas. 725 miles south of  Tokyo.

Other Allied bombers from the New Guinea-Australia area sunk four Japanese freighters, a coastal vessel and a number of smaller craft at Halmahera Island, between New Guinea and the Philippines, and damaged a 2000-ton freighter near

the Talaud islands, 200 miles south of Mindanao.

Reflecting Japanese uneasiness over the attacks and over recent B-29 raids upon Japan and Manchuria and Liberator strikes against the Philippines, Tokyo radio said today the Japan Industrial Machine Control Association had decided to set up a supervisory office to order emergency shifts in machine tool factories "to cope with the enemy air raids."

50 Planes Destroyed

Tokyo also reported that enemy planes attempted to attack targets in the Canton. China, area Thursday night, but "fled without being able to enter the city or its vicinity."

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