ALLIED COMMANDERS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 May 1940, Page 5

ALLIED COMMANDERS

Keeping In Close Touch On Western Front

GENERAL WEYGAND VISITS NORTHERN ARMIES

ICING LEOPOLD

STILL WITH HIS TROOPS British and Belgians Fighting Side by Side GUNS BRING DOWN MANY GERMAN PLANES DEVASTATING ATTACKS BY ROYAL AIR FORCE The Allied commanders, a Daventry broadcast states, are keeping in close touch with each other in spite of the difficulties involved. General Weygand yesterday visited the armies in Northern France and Belgium, which are separated from tne main French forces. The King of the Belgians is still with his troops. • . ■. A War Office communique states that the enemy yesterday violently attacked the French and Belgium forces on the flanks of the British Expeditionary Force. British infantry counterattacked successfully in co-operation with French tanks. Belgians and British were fighting side by side to meet strong enemy forces. The British front is intact. There was consi erable bombing of towns behind the lines. Anti-aircraft gunfire and light automatic units shot down a number of German planes. . . After attacks during the night on enemy communications, the R.A.F. has been in action in Flanders during the day. . Twenty-eight German planes were destroyed or seriously damaged by British fighters. One patrol shot down five German bombers. British losses were less than one-fifth those of the enemy. A series of devastating attacks was made on five German air bases. The attacks commenced just after midnight. At Flushing the aerodrome buildings were set on fire and the centre of the aerodrome and runway were hit by bombs. At Antwerp high explosive bombs and at Brussels 150 high explosive and incendiary bombs were dropped on the aerodromes. On the Dutch-German border an aerodrome building was wrecked and set on fire. Railway junctions and lines in Belgium and Western Germany were attacked. One German convoy of about 24 vehicles was hit by two heavy explosive bombs. Three violent explosions and a blinding flash which lit up the country for miles around followed. Not a single British plane was lost in these operations.

POSITION STILL CRITICAL

Enemy Pouring in Men and Materials REGARDLESS OF HEAVY LOSSES In the north, says a French communique, great enemy attacks have been launched on the Belgian army and the Belgian troops are fighting back. On the Somme, local operations with the co-operation of the Air Force are being carried out with success. The enemy attacked violently and paid a high price in these engagements. A successful counter-attack was made and artillery, anti-aircraft and light automatic units scored heavily. Large and heavily armed German forces have attacked at Menin.

The whole of the Allied lines are being subjected to terrific pressure and the Germans appear to be pouring into the attack men and arms, regardless of cost. The Allies’ position in the north is still extremely critical.

NORTHERN OFFENSIVE

STEMMED BY THE ALLIES

STUBBORN RESISTANCE MAINTAINED. GERMAN ENTRY TO CALAIS DENIED. By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright. LONDON, May 27. A heavy German attack on the northern defences in Belgium in an effort to continue on the Allied left wing the pincers drive toward the coast, bin reduced pressure on other parts of the front were reported in the battle of Flanders yesterday. Fewer enemy forces were passing through the southward gap. and the French claimed some progress on the Somme front. This morning it was reported that the northern offensive was being held. The general impression in French military and political circles this morning is that the situation has slightly improved in the last 24 hours. The German High Command shortly before midnight claimed that German troops from Gravelines had entered Calais after hard fighting, but military circles in London repeated their statement that Calais is still in Allied hands. Despite the German occupation of Boulogne the French military spokesman said that stubborn Allied resistance has halted the main German advance toward the English Channel. A French radio commentator said that Germans are hurrying reinforcements northward from the Swiss frontier and from the Siegfried Line. He added that the number of German divisions on the northern French and Belgian front is six times as great as the forces operating in the gap between the Allied armies. It is presumably these forces that have launched the offensive against the Belgian positions, to which British troops are hastening. A communique broadcast last night over the new Belgian official wireless stated that despite the many and hard struggles fought during the past fortnight and despite the difficult conditions under which the Belgian troops had to take up new positions these

forces had maintained their strength in resisting the enemy, who were trying to push on to the Department of Pas de Calais.

The Stockholm correspondent of “The Times” says that various sources report brisk German troop movements in Norway toward the west coast, possibly directed against Britain. It is impossible to judge the scale, but apparently it is important. There are scarcely* any Germans at present stationed along the Swedish frontier, and thousands in automobile columns are reported to be travelling from Oslo westward. Some Norwegians were compelled to wait for three hours at a point on one road while troops and equipment passed. ALLIED WITHDRAWAL IN VALENCIENNES REGION. LONDON, May 27. There is a great lack of news from all quarters’ The French morning communique states: “The Allied troops have withdrawn from the Valenciennes region to previously-prepared positions. The enemy, strongly reinforced, are continuing attacks in the region of Menin (south-west of Courtrai) regardless of their losses. The Allies are holding the enemy advance in this sector.” RAID ON KENT GUNS DRIVE OFF ENEMY PLANES. BOMBER BROUGHT DOWN ON SOUTH-EAST COAST. LONDON. May 26. When enemy planes raided East Kent today anti-aircraft guns drove the raiders toward the sea. Wardens cleared the streets of people. The “Sunday Dispatch” says that anti-aircraft guns brought down one of three German bombers near a town on the south-east coast. Searchlights picked up the raiders, and there was a deafening crash as the anti-aircraft fire opened. This lasted for 10 minutes. Blazing wreckage fell into the sea. It is understood that a number of bombs were dropped, but that all fell into the sea.