British Troops Get Ovation In France

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 September 1939, Page 7

British Troops Get Ovation In France

HISTORICAL SCENES OF 1914 RECALLED Anticipation of Major Battle on Western Front . ROYAL AIR FORCE MACHINES IN ACTION (By Telegraph.—Press Association.—Copyright.) LONDON, September 12. According’ to the “Daily Mail,” British troops have already participated in advances in the German territory. The transport of the British Expeditionary Force occupied several days. It was carried out with great secrecy and without mishap. The troops received a tremendous ovation in France, recalling the 1914 scenes. The Paris correspondent of the “Daily Mail’’ says that men and women wept with joy at the sight of the soldiers marching with swinging stride along the cobbled streets and cried: ‘Voila, les Tommies! Voila les Anglais!’’ Once again history repeated itself. Troops sang “Old Faithful’’ and “Tipperary,” the echoes of which were caught up by the throngs hurrying and half running beside the marching columns, singing the refrain in a broken jingle, half English and half French. Laughing and chattering girls sought souvenirs, and all the famous scenes when the Old Contemptibles landed in France were re-enacted. Royal Air Force squadrons have arrived on the Western front. The British Press hailed the announcement that Tommies are on German soil after its complaints of ultra censorship. Secrecy was maintained till the troops landed in order to reduce the danger of submarine attack. Successful operations are reported and the Royal Air Force reconnoitred the West Wall in face of heavy anti-aircraft fire. The British Ministry of Information yesterday acknowledged that British troops are in France, but it did not give details. A French report last night on the fighting stated that their infantry, following massed tanks, are reported to have driven two to four miles deeper over a 12 £ -miles front eastward of the Saar River and are holding the salient close to Bleiskaster and Pirmasens, which are directly along the first fortifications of the West Wall and toward Zweibrucken. The latest news suggests that a major battle is approaching along the 100-mile sector from the Moselle to the Rhine. The French attack at present is concentrated against the heights between Zweibrucken and the Rhine. The Germans, thrusting forward along the Moselle Valley, are reported to have been cut down by withering fire from the Maginot Line. Their counter-offensive extended throughout the night of September 10 and was halted early on September 11. The British United Press says that' Saint Louis in the Rhine Valley has been evacuated of civilians. The whole area can be flooded if necessary. The Geneva correspondent of “The Times” reports the civilian evacuation of Baden on the right bank of the Rhine.