FRENCH URGED TO LEAVE COAST AREAS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 134, 9 June 1942, Page 5

FRENCH URGED TO LEAVE COAST AREAS

WARNING BROADCAST

Invasion Of Europe Hint

From 8.8.C.?

United Press Association.—Copyright. Rec. 12.30 p.m. LONDON, June 8

The 8.8.C., broadcasting in French, urged all French people to evacuate immediately from the coastal districts from the Belgian frontier to the Pyrenees. "The coastal regions of occupied France are in danger of becoming more and more the theatre of war operations," the announcer said. "It is impossible for obvious reasons to state in advance either the time or the place of such operations. They will be carried out at the right moment wherever they may be judged useful and will inevitably entail the greatest danger for the civilian population. "We do not under-estimate the difficulties of such an evacuation, nor the obstacles which will be put in vour way. If we ask you to surmount them it is because it is necessary for the success of operations of capital importance in the struggle for the liberation of France. "It has been shown time and time again that the presence of civilians at the scene of military operations gravely impedes the activity of troops, especially friendly troops." The announcer urged those unable to leave to do everything to preserve their lives, because they would be needed by the arrhies of liberation. A message from the French frontier reports that the Nazis are planting minefields and constructing forts in the Russian style in a 25-mile deep strip in the French coastal area. A second defence line runs between Ailette and the Aisne. A third line runs along the Mouse. The Siegfried Line has been maintained in readiness. Evacuation plans have Ijeen prepared for the coastal French population.