ATTACKS BY GERMAN TROOPS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20086, 4 November 1939, Page 7

ATTACKS BY GERMAN TROOPS

NONE ALLOWED ON FRENCH SOIL

SHELLING OF AREAS BEHIND THE LINES

NEW VIGOUR IN WEST FRONT RAIDS

FREE USE BY NAZIS OF SHOCK UNITS

(Elec. Tel. Copyright.—United Press Assn.) (Reed. Nov. 3, 3 p.m.) LONDON. Nov. 2. Messages from Paris state that the Germans to-day threw shock troops into daring raids on the Western Front.. Simultaneously long-range guns repeated spasmodic shelling of French roads and villages behind the lmes The frontier town of Forbach and the main road from Metz to aaarbiuckcn were heavily shelled. The Germans made a determined attempt to pass the first. French line of resistance and succeeded at one or two points. They concentrated their efforts on a village about 11 miles m advance of the Maginot Line, but the latest dispatches emphasised that no German troops were on French soil. These developments injected new vigour into the operations. They are steadily gaining momentum after the respite from the autumn storms. Activity by Patrols There is considerable patrol activity on the Moselle and Rhine sectors. An attack by the Germans on,a village m this quarter was repulsed. A company of infantry succeeded m reaching the French outposts west of Saarlouis, but were thrown back with heavy casualties. Similar attacks were launched on the Ohrenthal salient in the Lower Vosges region. The Germans are now using shock troops in every battalion for raids. It is believed that a shock battalion is included in every German division. A report from Berlin states that Herr Hitler, who has not left the Chancellery for several days, conferred with Herr von Papon, who then left for Ankara. Herr von Mackensen, who is leaving for Rome immediately, and also army and air force chiefs. The German press continues to threaten Britain with an immediate onslaught.