NEXT WAR PHASE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 25 May 1940, Page 6

NEXT WAR PHASE

ALLIED AND GERMAN PROSPECTS CRITICAL ISSUES AT STAKE. POSSIBILITIES OF POWERFUL COUNTER-ATTACK. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received This Day, 12.20 p.m.) LONDON, May 24. The next phase, according to the Wilhelmstrasse, is a violent onslaught on the United Kingdom itself. The immediate next phase for the British and Allied forces hemmed in in the arc between Calais and Zeebrugge is to cut their way through the German salient southward or withdraw to the coast and transfer the troops by sea to France for a major offensive, from the south. Either operation would be very dangerous because the Germans are rushing up every available reinforcement to consolidate their gains west and north-west from Amiens, and also to provide strong forces for a flank attack from the east in the event of an Allied attempt to advance further southward from Bapaume. The Germans simultaneously are subjecting Channel and Belgian coast ports to a most ruthless bombardment from the air. The Germans claim to have sunk many transports and destroyed harbour works. The Germans, on the contrary, have long flanks which are very vulnerable if General Weygand organises a coun-ter-atack of sufficient weight and speed. GERMAN REPORT (Received This Day, 10.25 a.m.) LONDON, May 24. A German communique states: “Strong German armoured units are approaching the French coast in the area between Arras and the sea. “We repulsed a minor attack from the south against Amiens. No further important events have occurred on the southern front. Strong German air units assisted our attack against the enemy hemmed in in the Belgian-French area. . “Our air force attacked traffic points harrassed troop concentrations, and also hit a cruiser and three destroyers off the Channel coast. They sank six loaded transports. “We destroyed 49 planes yesterday. Sixteen of ours have not returned. “Near Narvik German planes attacked camps and troop concentrations and landing attempts, and also damaged a cruiser and two transports.”

NAZI ALLEGATIONS NON-MILITARY TARGETS BOMBED. (Received This Day, 11.15 a.m.) BERLIN. May 24. ' The British bombed the Aachen, Dusseldorf and Muenster regions last night. Bombs were dropped on nonmilitary targets. BATTLE FOR COAST DEVELOPED ON COLOSSAL SCALE. I CAUSING BLOODIEST HAVOC IN GENERATION. (Received This Day, 12.30 p.m.) LONDON, May 24. \ The battle for the coast has developed into a colossal engagement of manoeuvring and open warfare. The Germans have thrown in tanks, flame-throwers, motorised infantry, and bombers, in a supreme effort to dominate the coast, and the result is the bloodiest havoc in a generation, in which civilians are not differentiated from soldiers. The wounded, the aged, and very young alike fall victims to the merciless war machine. The Germans, if they have occupied St Omer as they claim, now straddle rail and road communications from there to Calais and to Dunkirk. Dunkirk. with its docks and bulging warehouses, is a little over 30 miles from Zeebrugge. The threat to the coast from the south is accompanied by a frontal offensive from the east. The Allies have provided the most stubborn resistance at Ghent and on the flanks there, but the advance claimed by the Germans apparently continues. The Germans do not claim to have gone beyond “the mouth of the Scheldt” toward the north, but are reported to have reached the Lys River in the south. Allied resistance on this front is strong, but the Germans have marshalled mighty forces.