VIOLENT NAZI DRIVE

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 140, 14 May 1940, Page 7

VIOLENT NAZI DRIVE

PENETRATION OF BELGIUM. OPERATIONS DISLOCATED. LONDON, May 13. The enemy attacks in Holland and Belgium have been redoubled in violence, particularly' in the region north of the Albert Canal and also between tbe canal and the Lower Rhine, besides tlie region soutli-east of Tirlemont and in the Belgian Ardennes. There is no appreciable change in the area from Longwy to the Moselle, despite an intense bombardment. The Royal Air Force has bombed and machine-gunned German columns and brought down twelve German ’planes. Despite anti-aircraft and fighter opposition, the communications of German mechanised troops advancing in Belgium and Luxembourg have been dislocated by the destruction of Maastricht’s two road bridges. Railway communications are also interrupted with Maastricht and. the roads destroyed. Important road and railway damage in Germany between the Rhine and the Dutch irontier included damage to several trains and railway stations.

The Rotterdam correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain says that Dutch troops have regained possession of a bridge over tbe Maas River, The' German attack in North-East Belgium has developed in a south-west direction from Maastricht, where the Germans crossed the Albert Canal on Saturday, A. counter-attack by the Belgians checked the enemy, but they were nevertheless, able to push on and have reached a point 20 miles from Maastricht near the main railway. line from Brussels to Liege. They have also reached another point half way between Liege and Brussels. The fortified zone around Liege is still holding out though the Germans are making desperate attempts to capture it, and the ground in front.of the forts is covered with German dead. The Germans have made a quick advance across Luxembourg, as far as the Belgian border, where French troops are supporting the Belgians. North of this sector the Germans may be presumed to be making progress, though the Dutch High Command says the Dutch forces are holding up the eneinhy advance. Partial withdrawals were made by the Dutch after the object of delaying the advance had been achieved. . Yesterday, in a heavy assault in tbe Saar region west of the Yosges the Germans made their' first frontal assault on the Maginot Line. IN MAGINOT SECTOR.

An earlier French communique said that German pressure continued 1U miles inside the Belgian frontier. It also confirmed that the Allied .. Ail forces were seriously harassing the Germans by attacking bridges and bombing troop columns. further south in Belgium there have been violent encounters,/and the french communique says that lighting continues on the Luxembourg irontier. Events are developing south of Luxembourg, and at the northern end of the original Maginot Line, where fighting began late in the nigh . The German artillery is keeping up a violent fire. Experts in Paris describe this as the first serious offensive on the, Maginot Line, but its significance remains yet to be seen The main drive of the German attack still appears to be directed in the region of the Albert Canal and the Meuse. It seems that the invaders are trying either to turn the flank of the Maginot Line or to drive a wedge through the sea between Holland and Belgium.