3-INCH GUN AND .50-CALIBER MACHINE GUN of an M10 tank destroyer fire on enemy troops trying to destroy a Marne River bridge. On 26 August Château-Thierry was captured. On 28 August Châlons-sur-Marne was taken and the following day Reims fell.] [Illustration: FRANCE AN M4A1 TANK passes a burning German vehicle. By 30 August Saint-Dizier was reached and on 31 August the ground east of the Meuse River near Commercy was seized while Verdun was captured and the Meuse River crossed in that area. At the end of August the drives of the First and Third U. S. Armies were slowed down by lack of fuel.] [Illustration: FRANCE ENGINEERS LAYING A GASOLINE PIPELINE in France. In an effort to transport fuel to the front-line units of the Allies, three fuel pipelines were laid across France. This also relieved the road traffic which became more and more congested as the number of Allied troops in France increased.] [Illustration] [Illustration: FRANCE MEDICAL AID MEN MOVE UP UNDER FIRE to give first aid to a wounded infantryman (top). A wounded German is given medical aid by U. S. soldiers (bottom), by 3 September first army troops had cleared most of the army’s zone south of the Belgian border. On that day the remnants of twenty disorganized divisions were trapped before they could reach the Belgian border and 25,000 men were quickly liquidated. The British entered Brussels on 3 September and were also closing in on Le Havre, one of the major port cities on the coast.] [Illustration] [Illustration: BELGIUM A LIGHT ARMORED CAR M8 ENTERING BELGIUM. On 1 September 1944, Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), was established at Versailles and assumed the active direction of the 12th and 21 Army Groups. During this period the main problem was that of supplying the racing armored columns since the only points of entry were the beaches and Cherbourg, a distance too far removed from the Allied forces advancing to the German frontier. By early September supply trucks were traveling 600 to 900 miles in round trips to carry fuel, ammunition, and rations to the combat units.] [Illustration: BELGIUM 75-MM. HOWITZER MOTOR CARRIAGES M8 in Belgium (top). 155-mm. gun motor carriage M12 firing in Belgium (bottom). In spite of the shortage of supplies the pursuit of the enemy continued between 4 and 14 September 1944, with the greatest Allied gains being made on the northern front. On 4 September the British forces captured the port city of Antwerp, one of the greatest prizes of the war. On 12 September the city of Le Havre surrendered. These two cities were of extreme importance because of their port facilities and their nearness to the battle front. In both harbors the enemy had carried out measures to render the ports useless, but they were not too badly damaged to prevent repair.] [Illustration]