Feelers On Western Front

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20049, 22 September 1939, Page 11

Feelers On Western Front

POSSIBLE BID FOR OFFENSIVE Intense Artillery Barrage Resumed WARSAW REPORTS QUIET DAY SPENT Berlin Declares Operations In Poland Ending 1 (Elec. Tel. Copyright.— United Press Assn.) (Reed. Sept. 21. 2.50 p.m.) LONDON, Sept, 20. Paris messages state that although the Western Front was all quiet for the greater part of the day heavy artillery opened up at various points, particularly on the Saar brack en sector and there is every indication that the Germans are preparing to take the offensive as they are probing the French strength along a front of 25 miles east of Saarbrucken. German troops are still moving to the west from Poland. French troops released from the Italian frontier have also moved up to the Western Front. The morale ot the Trench troops is exceedingly high. The losses have been light. The efficiency of the French tanks and other mechanised equipment has proved excellent. A Brussels message states that another violent explosion occurred opposite the Luxemburg village of Schengen, alter which an intense artillery bombardment started. •The Polish military Commandant at Warsaw, M. Lipinski, in his latest broadcast, said that the city had had a quiet day, but the Poles tverc attacking the enemy, not merely defending the capital. The commanders had no time to issue communiques. They must hold out for political and moral reasons. A Berlin message quotes an official German statement announcing that, with the defeat of the Poles on the "Vistula front, the military operations in Poland are closed. A Warsaw message states that the Governor of V ilna (Wilno), M. Bocianski, committed suicide. The Rome correspondent of The Times states that Italian officials are strictly reserved regarding Ilerr Hitler’s speech at Danzig on Tuesday, but the Italian press unanimously emphasises that, now that Poland is virtually wiped out, reasons for intervention by the Western Powers no longer exist. The Italian press maintains that the idea oi the complete restoration of Poland is an “idiocy even beyond the capacity of the democracies.” The war, therefore, will be a vendetta against a regime and is doomed to failure.