BELGIANS REPULSE ENEMY

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 139, 13 May 1940, Page 7

BELGIANS REPULSE ENEMY

VIGOROUS COU NTER-ATTACKS DEFENCE LINE NOT DENTED ALLIED TROOPS POUR IN (United Press Association —By Electric Telegraph V Copyright.) Received May 13, 10.5 a.m. LONDON, May 12. The Premier of Belgium (M. Pierlot) announced on the radio 'to-night that the Belgian counter-attack in the Maastricht area has halted the German advance. He added that the latest reports state that Germans have nowhere resumed their advance. “Our line eastward from the Albert Canal and further north is not yet dented. Violent German attacks on the Liege forts have all been repujsed. The approaches to these forts are covered with German corpses. Allied ’planes shot down a hundred German machines,’’ added the Premier. Tlie Paris radio says the Belgian counter-offensive in the Maastricht district was so vigorous that the German division, in grave danger of being cut off from its base, was forced to retreat. \ , A French spokesman said columns of British and French troops continued to pour into Belgium all night without loss. The Allied forces had made contact with the Belgians fighting the Germans. •••'■ TERRIFIC FIGHTING. A message received earlier this morning stated:— The French War Ministry spokesman to-day stated that the Belgian forces were withdrawing in good order in the face of heavy pressure from the Germans, who,, after taking Maastricht, had crossed the Albert Canal and were progressing westward. - The spokesman added that the. general situation was not alarming, though serious in the Maastricht region. He also said terrific fighting was proceeding in the Ardennes north of Neuf Chateau. The Germans were making a heavy and repeated attack. - . -A French communique, states: “Our Air Force has massively and effectively intervened in support of the Belgian troops in the region of the Albert Canal and the Meuse, where the German attacks are continuing with extreme violence. Our bombers towards the end of the day attacked enemy columns and bridges, and brought down eight enemy ’planes. Our approach operations on land have continued normally and according to plan. The German artillery has opened violent and continuous fire in the region of the Saar west of the Yosges, where fighting has begun.” The Brussels radio says several hundred parachute troops were dropped around the city by night, but almost all were .captured or became casualties. The German Ambassador and his staff .left Belgium last night.