OFFENSIVE IMMINENT

Opotiki News, Volume II, Issue 248, 18 October 1939, Page 3

OFFENSIVE IMMINENT

WESTERN FRONT BATTLE SIGNS BUSY GERMAN MOVEMENTS VIOLENT REACTION BY FRENCH GUNS % J - —— LONDON, Oet. 16.A morning communique issued at -Paris states that, great activity is reported withiri the enejny lines between the Soar and the Moselle. There was patrol activity on both sides west of Wisseinbourg. Further Paris- reports state that the •Germans are making great preparations cn the whole of the Western Front and! an offensive appears very imminent. Troops are being brought up to the Front line. The noise of engines was'heard throughout the night, hut the German artillery was silent in order to avoid disc losing the. positions. The French artillery reacted violently. A communique issued hv the German High Command records slight activity on the Western Front. It claims that the French were forced to evacuate an armoured fort owing to; the rising waters of the .Rhine.

MEASURES TO MEET ATTACK A LLi I til) ARM LFS FURH-iWARN IvD SEEMING MASSING OU GERMANS HITLER. CONFERS WITH KEY MEIN LONDON, Oet. 1(5. The Paris correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain states that the artillery on the whole of the French left flank laid down a barrage on Germans massing from the M’c-selle to the Hard Forest, bombarding the communication lines and rearguard cpneentration points. The German strength in the Rhineland is estimated at nearly SCG.UCO. In an area opposing a. vital sector of the Magi not- Line the Germans reciprocally' shelled the French rear, which customarily is a precedent to an infantry drive, besides giving attention to the French advance posts. Motor head lamps could he observed on the roads to the front as far hack as 10 miles behind the German lines, this indicating active troop movements. The frequent flashing ol' torches along the German front lines suggested that new traps were being conducted to positions. ' The roar ol engines vas either from troop-laden motor lorries or a massing of tanks, or both. The French are perfectly forewarned and have taken all measures to meet an attack. A message from Berlin states that Herr Hitler presided at a military conference attended by key men of toe German defence iorccs.

AiR RAID BY GERMANS ATTACK ON SCOTLAND FAILS Till {EE PLANKS PfLIOIGHT DOWN MUM OP CM KW C A PTC MED MOAi MS DMOPPED INTO SICA NO CASIAI/IIES; NO DAAIAGE LONDON, Oct. 16. 'llie Air Aiinistry announced that German aircraft attempted to attack .coastal objectives in Scotland this a fternoun. J{ova 1 Air Force machines engaged the raiders and it is understood that at least three German bombers were brought clown, one on the Eirtli ol Forth, and two in If i tosh ire, as a result of anti-aircraft action. The Aiinistry of Home Security, Sir John Anderson. announced that reports to date indicate that there were no civilian casualties and no damage to property. The raiders approached at a great height and were hotly engaged l>y antiaircraft guns. No bombs were dropped on land, though some arc believed to have fallen in the sea. Planes Seen Over Edinburgh Of one crew of lour, one was drowned and two were found killed by bullets The fourth man was rescued alive with an injured arm . Three ol the crew of another German raider which came down in the Pentland Hills were taken prisoner. It is stilted that three planes were sighted over Edinburgh. The raids lasted for two hours, from

2' p'.m.' to 4 p.m. The planes came in waves ol’ three. - .

Although as. £ar as eairbe ascertained there were no direct hits on objectives, there was some damage from shrapnel, , guns' around Edinburgh went, .into action shortly after 2 p.m. The weatlier was fine and shell bursts high in'tlie-t.sky Avere clearly, visible. The filing \Vas particularly heavy in the Firth of Forth and there was also much aerial activity south from .the city towards the Pehtland HillS:. 1 The Air Ministry announced that, despite bad weather, the Royal Am Force carried out a successful reconnaissance over northern and central ■Germany last night. -/M • •?. ■ y " ' .1, *, DOZEN GERMAN AIR RAIDERS a' BOMB-DROPPJN G IN FIRTH OF FORTH v• N , ■ NAVAL ORAET ESCAPE SERIOUS LA-MAGE BRITISH FIGHTERS ENGAGE ' ENEMY LONDON, Oct. 16. A joint communique issued by the Admiralty, the Air -Ministry* and the Ministry of Home Security, referring to to-day’s air raids by German planes states that the attacks, directed at ships in the Firth of Forth, w|re conducts. by about a dozen machines. No

'VW,•- : serious damage was anythough there were^lSf»®4)6ft t siialtie.s„.on the cruiser Southampton, seven on the’ cruiser Edinburgh, and 25 on the destroyer Bohawk. ■ • 1 The raid sirens , were not sounded. Reports from several parts of Edinburgh stated that several pieces of shrapnel were picked up in the streets.! There was much aerial activity over the northern district of Edinburgh. Three planes flew low and disappeared behind the hills. Then anti-aircraft guns fired. ■- Soon afterwards a twinengined 'machine flew low over the city with a’ number of British fighters following it. It later was reported that it fell into the sea near the. coast. One report said that a raid .occurred in the region of the Forth Bridge and .Rosyth. No bombs struck the bridge. SOLD FOR RED COLD GERMAN PEOPLES OF BALTIC CHARGES AGAINST NAZI CHIEFS UNRESISTING SACRIFICIAL RESIGNATION LONDON, Oct, 10. Under the sub-headline “Nazis sell out in' Baltic,” The Times gives prominence to> messages from its special correspondent at Riga that the withdrawal of Germans from abroad means Herr-Hitler lias sold to M. Stalin the German European colonial interests. Herr Hitler needed! gold immediately

and M. ..Stalin' would . not pay in advance iwioluiut. anAuTeydtable relinq-f uishjnent of the German hold in the Baltic, so .Berlin precipitately ordered the Repatriation from the Baltic States. It is considered that these ancient puL posts of the German empire are paying with their bodies, and freedom for Herr Hitler’s of Poland and the war in the West;'. .

Their price in gold, which, it is suggested, was represented by the consignment valued at between £.'1,000.000 and £-1,000,000 sent from M'oscow to Berlin last week, enables Herr Hitler to purchase:- ores from Sweden and other war :materials wherever procurable, The first irrevocable step having been taken”, Germany sees the distress caused and is now trying tq' alleviate it by slackening the pace. - Like voice of Cod Since Bishop Poelcau, the head of German Lutheran . Church in Latvia, likened Herr Hitler’s voice to the voice of God, the spiritual distress of the more mature evacuees has deepened to a sort of unresisting sacrificial resignation. Indeed, some murmured: “We were soldi like live slaves for Red gold and forcibly transported to live on stolen Polish •farms.” NAZI PROPAGANDA BRITISH “LOSSES”. DENIAL. BY ADMIRALTY ~FACT’S MADE PUBLIC RUMOURS TOv BE IGNORED MANY CLAIMS RIDICULED RUGBY, Oct, 16It is awt-lioratively stated that the British Admiralty has no intention of denying all the mendacious reports of British naval losses circulated in the German press and over the wireless. Tlie loss of the H,M.S. Courageous and HALS. Royal Oak have duljS been made public. Not content with this, the Germans have repeatedly announced the loss of the aircraft carrier, Ark Royal, and have now “definite proof” that she has been repined: by the Glorious. These talcs are entirely without foundation, as are * stories that the battlecruiser, Hood, was recently damaged and will take six or eight months to repair, that a heavy cinisei was damaged by aircraft off May Island, and that 10 hits upon British naval units in an engagement last week off the coast of Norway. On this occasion, German aircraft dropped more than 100 bombs in a sciies of attacks lasting for nearly eight hours, and did not obtain a single hit. A few spent splinters 101 l on boaid one cruiser, that is all. The latest report is that the battlecruiser Repulse i.s damaged and unfit for action. 'This also: is untrue.. Unless it is for the purpose of. misleading neutrals or heartening their own people by exaggerating the success of German arms, it is difficult to see the reason for these lying .statements as to British “losses” which have not

•, >' ' • % . • v;,,. TSkon place, ‘•L-Of course, hinVself lias said in “Mein Kampf” that, provided one lies hard , enough s;i)fd often, enough,. someone may eventually believe the wildest misstatement. The Admiralty has made it clear that it has no intention of denying every rumour or, every lie circulated in the German press, or by wireless which, may assist the enemy to discover facts that might be useful to. tnein.

Thus the Admiralty announces ’hat it has no comment to make on the claim made by the Germafi wireless, to-day that the U-boat which sank the Royal Oak attacked the battle-cruiser Repulse, and torpedoed her. Naval circles in London ridicule this claim as another typical example »f German propaganda.'