ARRIVAL OF TROOPS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 June 1940, Page 5

ARRIVAL OF TROOPS

LANDINGS ALL DAY IN BRITISH PORTS Great Rearguard Battle Continues ADMIRABLE CO-ORDINATION OF LAND, SEA AND AIR OPERATIONS ALLIED WARPLANES CEASELESSLY IN ACTION Additional thousands of men of the British Expeditionary Force have been taken safely home to England, a Daventry broadcast states. All day long troops landed from warships and every kind of merchant vessel that could be pressed into service. Some of the men who arrived in England yesterday had been in the fighting line on the previous night. Their comrades continue to fight a rearguard battle. , Although the exact number cannot be given, it was learm from authoritative sources in London that the number of the British Expeditionary Force landed in England was very large. Some of the troops when waiting to embark were subjected to shelling from long-range German guns. The British and French navies are in full command at the port of Dunkirk. Little remains of the town, which has been bombed and shelled continuously and fires are raging in many parts. The withdrawal operations are regarded as a remarkable instance of successful joint operations by the Navy, Army and Air Force. Although Dunkirk has been subjected to tremendous aerial bombing, the loss of life is smaller than might have been supposed. The Navy and the merchant ships engaged have been working in fast tides and shallow water and often without lights. The navigation of the narrow channels calls for the utmost skill, as a single mistake would block the channel. No mistakes have been made.

The Royal Air Force continues to maintain its pressure on the enemy lines of communication. Bridges, tanks, mechanised columns and troops are being subjected to bombing attacks, these actions facilitating the withdrawal of the Allied armies. One British machine is missing. Formations of fighters maintained offensive patrols over Dunkirk. The weather conditions were unfavourable and there was a marked decrease in enemy air activity. One Dornier was shot down. British fighters destroyed 12 enemy aircraft and damaged three others. Apart from these activities, in which the main effort of the R.A.F. is being directed, heavy bombers carried out offensive operations in North-west Germany during the night. The Belgian Parliament in France has confirmed that certain units of the Belgian Army had refused to surrender and were fighting with the Allies.