North-West Europe, Aug,1944.
The Allied advance in France and the Low Countries continues but only just. In the NW the US attack there has all been but abandoned because of strong German defence and the difficult terrain.
The Germans continue to hold onto Keil and Hamburg with grim determination. Further south, British attempts to push past the German city of Bremen have been thwarted at every turn by
massed artillery and small but lethal groups of heavy tank destroyers and Tiger II tanks. There have been some modest gains north of Essen made by elements of British forces under the
command of Montgomery and Lumsden but there still look to be very strong SS armoured units east of Essen and around Dusseldorf. Only in the very south in the Ardennes and around the city of
Lille are the Americans in that sector making anything like what could be called an advance. Artillery and US dive-bombers gave the German units there a good pasting this time
around. It looks likely they will have to make a retreat in that area soon. In the Channel Islands, US and Canadian battleships gave the German defenders there a fearful pounding and it
now looks like US troops will be able to over-run whats left of the defenders there within the month. In Southern France, French resistance fighters look to be making good on their promises
to make life difficult for the Germans. Many railroads blown up now which cant be making life easy for the German supply situation in the region. Last but not least, German artillery, AT and
infantry continue to put up almost fanatical resistance in the Hague and Amsterdam areas. The Canadians unfortunately again took heavy losses trying to storm these citidals. On a more
encouraging note, combined US and British fighter groups paid particular attention to the small but the growing menace of the new Me262s and flew repeated sorties over airbases where these fighters are
located. US battleships also bombarded Me262 airbases east of Hamburg. Significant losses were inflicted on the new Nazi wonder-fighters.
North Africa and the Mediterranean.
British armour and artillery, combined with Australian infantry have literally decimated the Italians in North Africa and they (the Italians) are in full retreat heading for Tripoli. It will be doubtful that
any of them will make it there though. French forces are heading for a showdown with the Germans in Tunisia. However logistic problems continue to plague the French and it may be a
month or two before the combined French forces are ready for a full-blown assault. British Battle-Cruisers have bombarded Tunis for some months now. Athens in Greece was attacked by Commonwealth
artillery and fighter-bombers and significant casualties were inflicted on the German forces there. Allied forces are massing south of Athens for an assault, hopefully within
a few weeks. German forces in Greece have been curiously ineffective, with the terrain being a much bigger factor in determining the rate of Allied advance.
All in all, its difficult to see the Germans fully recovering from the advances the Allies have made in the West and from the counter-attacks the Russians have made in the East. It appears now the
sheer weight of numbers against them will eventually bleed them dry. Having said that though, its fair to say that thus far, the German defence has been superb. It did appear at one point, shortly
after the landings in the West, that US & Brit soldiers were going to be in Berlin in mere months but however that was not to be. They made very efficient use of the terrain and that, combined with
their superior armour (and now aircraft) has been enough to slow the Allied advance in the West to a crawl.
Current situation in North Africa/ME
