ALLIED PLANES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 October 1939, Page 7

ALLIED PLANES

BUSY ON RECONNAISANCE FLIGHTS FEW ATTACKS BY GERMAN MACHINES. ACCOUNTS BY FRENCH SOLDIERS OF RECENT FIGHTING. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY. October 10. “Eyewitness,” the observer attached to the R.A.F. somewhere in France, says that during the last few days there has been no marked air activity on the Western Front. The British and French planes are constantly busy on reconnaissance flights, but there has been little fighting, and 1 he German air force has only barely been in evidence. It is a long time since cities behind the Maginot Line had an air raid warning. Both sides are behind their lines preparing for ihe next step. Working in the closest co-operation, the French and British air forces are daily improving their positions and co-ordinating their plans for dovetailing their activities. Several pilots tell how the Germans chase, them by sound and send shells screaming up through the clouds at them. This indiscriminate shooting with no result, it is thought, must have a very alarming effect on the German civilian populations hearing it. Some pilots tell how other German aircraft have appeared in the sky •without apparently taking any notice of the British planes. Airmen on night reconnaissance pay a high tribute to the German blackout, though nothing can be done to conceal the red glare of the blast-fur-naces in the Ruhr. French soldiers on the way back to their base from a fortnight’s fighting in the Saar section have been relating their experiences to British R.A.F. officers. Dirty and unkempt after the trenches, the little poilus seem totally unshaken by what they have experienced, and their British colleagues have been much impressed by their spirit. The French soldiers say the fighting has been really heavy, with terrific artillery barrages. On the other hand, they do not give high marks to the German gunnery. The marksmanship, they say, is much below standard and a surprisingly high proportion of tne shells are duds. The prisoners they have taken have in some cases turned out to be very young and some have been Great War veterans. The French describe them as often under-nourished and apparently bewildered by the shellfire. MORE ATTACKS ATTEMPT TO EASE PRESSURE ON SAARBRUCKEN. PARIS, October 11. A French communique states that eemy patrols involving strong effectives were again repulsed during the night sought of Saarbrucken and in the region south of Pirmasens. It is unofficially stated that the Ger-

man activity, despite the driving rain ( and the mud, may be a prelude to an effort to relieve the French pressure on Saarbrucken. The “Petit Parisien” says there is now no doubt of the quality of the troops the Germans are employing.