LOSSES ABOUT EQUAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 October 1939, Page 5

LOSSES ABOUT EQUAL

“DOGFIGHTS’’ OVER GERMAN LINES. (Received This Day, 10.30 a.m.) LONDON. October 1. The British United Press Paris correspondent says reports from French headquarters indicate that the fiercest ail 1 fighting since the war started occurred on the Western Front. Losses on both sides are unspecified, but British and French reconnaissance patrols repeatedly clashed in dogfights with German fighters over the German lines. The French report that the losses on both sides are about equal. WATCHFUL WAITING CONJECTURES REGARDING ALLIED POLICY. NEW YORK, September 30. The “New York Times” military correspondent, G. H. Archambault, in a message from Paris states that the effect of the Russian-German accord on military operations seems to be that the Allies must continue the strategy of watchful waiting. A German peace offensive at present dominates the situation. Some quarters suggest that the Nazis are banking on the Allies’ determination to avoid “rash offensives” and may be satisfied with guarding the West Wall while they consolidate a diplomatic and economic front in East Europe and the Ballcans. The retort to this is that even with the Russian, and possibly other aid, the mastery of the seas will tell eventually. During the watchful waiting only minor actions can be expected. Nevertheless local operations are important when correlated with preceding operations, the general purpose being to place the French advanced lines in a position, favourable for future progress or for withstanding the German offensive if or when it comes.