20/6/1944. 9.= am.
In Normandy American forces are approaching
the outer defenses of Cherbourg and were last
reported 8 miles from the town.
Their field artillery has been bombarding Cherbourg.
German resistance has been stiff in places
especially in the Eastern side of the peninsula,
but in general the enemy have been leaving only
small groups of men with a few mortars to
cover their withdrawal. British troops have
beaten off a local attack near Tilly and
by noon yesterday had cleared the enemy
out of the Northern part of the town and had
worked round it to the West. The British
cruiser Diadem has shelled enemy armour
north of Caen. In the Mediterranean French
troops now hold the island of Elba. They crushed
all organized resistance in less than 3 days
fighting and took 1800 prisoners.
On the Italian mainland troops of the 8th
Army have captured Bastia a few miles from
Perugia. It is now revealed that the North
Staffordshire Regiment was on the right of the
British line in the Allied drive towards Rome.
The Russians have captured 70 places in the
Karelian Isthmus and are now only 10
miles from the big port of Viipuri. In the
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