MASSIVE NAZI ATTACKS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 141, 15 May 1940, Page 8

MASSIVE NAZI ATTACKS

HEAVY LOSSES IN BELGIUM FRENCH WITHDRAW TO MEUSE (United Press Association. —By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, 'May 13. The Trench official evening communique states: “In Holland and Belgium the German troops continued to-day massive attacks. Especially to the south of the Lower Meuse and in Holland the Germans have made progress. In Belgium, in the region of Saint Tront, Trench counter-attacks, mostly led bv tanks, have inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. In the Belgian Ardennes the Germans made a particularly important effort when they were able to advance. Our cavalry units, after fulfilling their mission to retard the enemy, fell back on fiie Meuse, which was reached by the enemy on part of its course.

“The enemy lias brought heavy pres--sure on Longwy. These attacks were repulsed as well as those launched to the east of the Moselle and in the region of the Saar._ “There is nothing to report along the Jilting. Allied and enemy. bombers have continued the activity in support of the land forces, attacking their adversary's columns. Fifteen enemy aeroplanes were brought down during the encounters. In the rear of the lines continued enemy aircraft activity has resulted in little damage from the military point of view. A message from Basle (Switzerland) says that French artillery allied with bombs have .shattered part of the fstein Tunnel, south from Schliengen, under Germany’s “Gibraltar of the Rhino,” resulting in the closing of a vital section of the Siegfried Line railway. The Berlin Official News Agency states that German bombers attacked the British forces attempting to land on the Belgian and Dutch coasts, ft adds that several transports and escorting warships were set on lire and partly sunk. MORE” RECRUITS. RESPONSE STIMULATED. SYDNEY. May 14. It is officially stated that the recruiting for the Australian Imperial Forces in New South Wales has been stimulated by the German attack on Belgium and Holland. In Melbourne the Southern Command Headquarters have announced that the age limit for enlistment in the A.I.F. has been raised from 35 to 40 years. The minimum height for certain units has been reduced to sft. PLACES IN THE NEWS. NETHERLANDS CITIES; With a population approaching 500,000, The Hague is the capital of the Netherlands. It lies about two miles and a half from the sea. It is a city marked by fine old buildings and excellent museums and art galleries. In the Mauritzhuis, erected 1633-44 and rebuilt 170-1-18. is a famous collection of pictures, and in the Binnenhof, a group of buildings round a square, is* the Hall of Knights, used by the Legislature. The Sixteenth Century Town Hall is a characteristic Dutch building of that period. Other fine buildings include notable churches, the Royal Palace, and the Palace of Peace, built by Andrew Carnegie to bouse the international peace conferences and the Court of International Justice.

Commercial capital and largest city of the Netherlands, Amsterdam ha.s p population of 752,000. A shin canal links it with the North Sen. Built on piles, the oldest portions of the city lie round the Dam, a great square. Later extensions are marked by concentric crescents of house-lined canals, some filled in, which form its principal structural lines. In more recent times the city lias expanded into outer suburbs, where developments are supervised by the authorities, with the result that the suburbs are pleasingly arranged, with wide streets and onen spaces. Amsterdam is Holland’s chief money market, and an important Euro? pean commercial centre. Diamond polishing is almost a monopoly and other industries are shipbuilding, sugar refining, printing, brewing, dyeing, and the making of glass and paper. It is also a great market for tobacco and timber. Over the canals which intersect the city there are more than 300 bridges. Standing on the Maas River. Rotterdam is a leading seaport of the Netherlands. being connected with the sea by the Nietiwe Watenvag. which admits large vessels from the Hook of Holland. It does a considerable transit trade and shipbuilding and allied industries are of primary importance. BELGIAN CENTRES.

Situated on a tributary of the Schelde. Brussels is an important centre of communications radiating in all directions. It possesses notable buildings and as a centre of art is little inferior to Antwerp. The famous Monnaie Theatre and the park—with the Houses of Parliament at one end and the Royal Palaces at the other — are associated in the Belgian mind with the revolution of 1830, as a result oE which the Dutch garrison was withdrawn. Though hardly a centre ot commerce in the widest sense, Brussels has industries which give it a prominent position in the commercial world. Jts lace is famous and the making ot carpets, curtains, tapestry and furniture employs a large part of the population. Ships of considerable tonnage are able to reach it by canal. It was occupied by the Germans for the greater part' of the Great 'War. Its population is about 850,000. Situated on the right hank of the Schelde, here a great tidal river Antwerp has a population of about JUu.UUU. and is chiefly noted as a centre of import and export, being the Continental Atlantic seaport nearest the heart of Europe. It is connected by an extensive canal system with the Rhine Valiev, and Northern France. The most famous of its old buildings is the magnificent cathedra.] of Aotre Dame, which contains masterpieces o Rubens. Great extensions and improvements of the harbour works were undertaken after the Great War, during which Antwerp was for the most pa'rt in German hands. Lic"e is a centre of the Belgian iron and steel industries and stands in a rich coalfield that has been worked continuously since the Twelfth Century The State.-irifle factories and gun foundries are in Liege; there arc large zinc works and a big cattle market The forts resisted the Germans for 11 days at the opening of the Great War.