TRIPLE OFFENSIVE IN WEST

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

TRIPLE OFFENSIVE IN WEST

NAZIS LAUNCH MASS ATTACK BIG BATTLE IN PROGRESS (United Press Association. —By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) Received May 13, 10.35 a.m. PARIS, May 12. The Germans have launched a mass attack between Forbach and the Vosges Mountains as part of a. triple offensive against the West. It began with a terrific bombardment at 8.30 a.m. over a 40-mile sector. The battle is continuing. The Germans, simultaneously striking at two points on the Belgian frontier, have forced the Belgians to withdraw to their second-line positions.

FIRST REAL BATTLE. Earlier reports regarding the position in Luxembourg suggested that the first real battle of the Western Front had been in progress between the Germans and advance units of the Allied forces along both banks of the Moselle on Friday night. The Germans attacked on the French front east of the Moselle on Friday evening with forces estimated at one division. The only result was a withdrawal to advanced posts according -to a prearranged plan. A Paris message yesterday 6aia that heavy lighting was reported round the French town of Sierk (in front of the Maginot Line near the south-east corner of Luxembourg). There was heavy German artillery fire this morning along the Saar River on the French front. German parachute troops have landed north of Rheims and north of Verdun to attack the Maginot Line from the rear, states a Paris message. SWISS PRECAUTIONS. The Basle correspondent of the Associated Press states that military observers report large German troop movements northwards oil the Swiss frontier. It is believed they involve numbers in excess of twenty-one divisions hitherto concentrated hereabouts. In addition to Switzerland’s general mobilisation, ammunition has been supplied to every owner of a rifle as a precaution against parachute troops. ASSAULT ON "LIEGE. GERMANS CROSS YSSEL. ALLIES POUR IN TROOPS. LONDON, May 12. Against fierce resistance the German land forces have made little headway in their western invasion. The Belgian defences and AiTTed forces have halted the German advance from Luxembourg into the hilly country of South-Eastern Belgium. Farther north the Germans are still attempting to capture Liege, which they reached yesterday. The Germans artreported to have gained a footing in the outer Belgian defences along the Albert Canal. Fighting is very heavy. About 15 miles inside the Dutch frontier the invaders have crossed the Vssel, the forward defensive line, at one point. The German parachute troops in the Low Countries, after almost complete failure, were yesterday rein forced in South-Western Holland and sharp fighting continues. Allied troops, pouring east and north through Belgium, have engaged German forces at a. number of points and have crossed the border into Holland.

Paris reports that German ’planes yesterday machine-gunned the evacuation centre at Damvillers. killing two and wounding four civilians. The. raiders cut out their engines and glided noiselessly toward the victims. Raiders dropped 30 bombs without casualty at Montmedy, which is of no military importance. Forty peop'o were killed and 50 wounded in one Marne village. Ten are dead and 10 wounded at Valenciennes, and it is feared more are buried under ruins. Incendiary bombs caused considerable damage. STUBBORN RESISTANCE. Stubborn resistance by Dutch and Belgian troops on the frontiers and at the town in the Netherlands where the Germans landed by air continues. Throughout Friday night the Allied advance into Belgium was pressed forward - uninterruptedly, co-operation between the highly mechanised troops of the B.E.F. and the French army working smoothly. Newspaper correspondents contribute stirring accounts of the advance into Belgium of the British Expeditionary Force and of the enthusiastic welcome accorded them. The guns were decorated with flowers by the inhabitants, who entertained 'the troops to hurried .refreshments as they passed. Brussels reports this morning that raiders bombed Brussels and L:cge. The Belgian air-raid casualties before noon yesterday had already surpassed Friday’s total. British military, circles report that the German forces are making a strong drive toward Roermond. Their main advance appears to be north from the Rhine toward Almelo, toward Hengel and toward Arnhem, where fighting is proceeding. The Germans are reported to have penetrated as far as Groningen. Apparently they have not so far debouched southward from the Luxembourg frontier. During the advance our troops were bombed yesterday but without any very serious results. The Allied Air Forces retaliated by bombing German troop concentrations and columns on the move. ENEMY LOSES 200 ’PLANES. A message from Brussels states that German air activity over Belgium diminished at 1 a.m., but was renewed at dawn. The Belgian army still holds the “line of destruction,” which is considerably in advance of the main lines of defence. , The Allied air forces shot down 36 ’planes over Belgium and France. One of our pursuit ’planes alone shot down 11 enemy ’planes yesterday and five today. It is now estimated that tin Germans have lost more than 200 ’planes since the invasion. It is understood in London that the Wellington leading pilot, Flying-Officer E. J. Kain, shot down at least five German ’planes in yesterday’s air battles above Belgium and' France. His present total in the war is at least 10. Earlier it was reported by Dutch official circles that' the Dutch had retaken Dordrecht and Waalhnven from the Germans, but a later message described this as apparently premature.