NEARING ZERO HOUR

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 93, 17 October 1939, Page 9

NEARING ZERO HOUR

GERMAN ACTIVITY

NIGHT PREPARATIONS

THE FRENCH READY.

BARRAGE LAID DOWN

(By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received October 17, 12.50 p.m.)] PARIS, October 16. The Germans are making great preparations on the whole oi tha Western Front, and an offensive ap- X pears very imminent. Troops are being brought up to the front line, and the noise of engines was heard throughout thfl night, but the German artillery was silent to avoid disclosing the positions of the guns. Motor headlamps could be observed - on the roads leading to the front as y far back as 10 miles, indicating active troop movements. The frequent flashingf of torches in the German front lines suggested that nev/ troops were being conducted to positions. The roar of engines was either that of troopladen motor-lorries or massed tanks, or both. The French are perfectly for* ~-■, warned, and have taken all measures ■ to meet an attack. The Paris correspondent of tha Associated Press of Great Britain says that the artillery along the whole French left flank laid down a barrage ■; op. Germans massing from the Moselle y to the Hardt Forest, bombarding the s communication lines and concentration points in, the rear. > '- The German Strength in the Rhine* land is estimated at nearly 800,000 men in the area opposing the vital sector of the Maginot Line. The Germans reciprocally shelled the French rear, which is a customary pre* cedent for an infantry drive, besides paying attention to the French advance '- posts. GERMANS KEPT IN THE DARK. The British "War Offlce announces that examination- by the French Army ' of German prisoners shows that their rank and file some weeks after the outbreak of the war were still being told that there was no war, of which they were unaware until they were \' captured. Prisoners from quiet sectors believed they were on manoeuvres; • , being informed that the firing which they heard was target practice and blasting. They were convinced that - the Fuhrer would get everything without war, and that the Polish conquest l , ; was a walk-over. One prisoner said, "' when apprised of the Russo-German y pact, that it was a ruse by the Fuhrer ' » in order to trap the Russians, whom _ he hated beyond anything * else. An- '/: other prisoner refused to believe that Germany, allied with Russia, was fighting England and France, but said that if it was true there would be trouble, adding, "But not at first, because, as we don't think for ourselves any more, it will take some time to realise that we have been deceived." A communique issued by the German High Command records slight I activity on the Western Front, and - claims that the French were forced ( to evacuate an armoured fort owing to the rising waters of the Rhine.