Germans Fail In The West

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20045, 18 September 1939, Page 7

Germans Fail In The West

COUNTER ATTACK ON FRENCH Three Waves Of Infantry And Tanks BAYONETS TURN FIGHTING TO ROUT Royal Air Force Planes In Major Conflict (Elee. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (Reed. Sept. 18, 10.30 a.m.) LONDON, Sept. 17. An official communique issued in Paris states : “The enemy attacked at two points on. our front line yesterday. 'One attack was east of the Moselle Valley. The other was in the centre of the front between the Saar and the Vosges. These attacks were repulsed. The latest reports confirm the arrival on our front of further German forces from the Polish front, principally aviation and heavy units.” ‘The biggest battle so far on the Western Front resulted in a crushing defeat for the Germans, according to military despatches which readied Paris late yesterday. This refers to the repulsing of vigorous German counter-attacks on the French lines in the Nied Valley. Three waves of German infantry and massed tanks utterly failed to breach the French lines on the Saar front. An official French communique issued last night says:“The enemy are continuing to send up reinforcements opposite our lines. They have abandoned and destroyed certain villages while retiring.” Yesterday’s big battle raged in a loop of the Nied River, adjacent to the Saar-French frontier, nortli from the village of Niedaltdorf. Formations Hurled Back. Reports state that the attacking German formations were hurled back, in spite of terrific shelling, assisted by scores of German warplanes dive-bombing the French positions. Fresh German troops were brougb up from Trier, but the French stood firm, in spite of an intense 10-hour artillery barrage. They are reported to have awaited the oncoming formations in newly-dug trenches. The French artillery speedily found the range and the massed German tank formations were blown up, resulting in < very severe German losses. The French thereupon took the initiative and charged the dazed attackers with the bayonet, turning the fighting into a rout.

The German High Command at the outset had brought up 100,000 picked troops in an endeavour to prevent the French from gaining a footing on the rugged plateau forming a triangle between the Nied River and the Saar, from which the French guns could not only dominate the industrial town of Saarlouis, but could bring the main Siegfried Line within range.

The Basle (Switzerland) correspondent of the Associated Press of Great- Britain reports that the Royal Air Force yesterday participated in a series of major battles on the Palatinate front.