GERMAN MOVE AWAITED

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22823, 23 September 1939, Page 13

GERMAN MOVE AWAITED

ATTACK ON NEUTRAL COUNTRIES REPORTED DANGER TO NETHERLANDS (UNITED PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT.) (Received September 22, 8 p.m.) LONDON, September 21. Instead of an, Allied attempt to storm the. West Wall, fl new phase of the war on the Western Front is more likely to be "a German attempt at an enveloping movement necessitating the violation of the neutrality of a small adjoining State* says the Paris correspondent of the “New York Times.” Some French military experts believe that the move may be made through the Netherlands. ' With. the blockade threat becoming more definite daily, the German High Command must strike quickly. ■The Germans’ aims cannot be attained by an attempt on the Maginot Line, especially as the French have consolidated their position as much as ,15 miles beyond it. and have dug trenches at the very outworks of the West Wall. It would be a long and hazardous task to try to drive them back. The French base the suggestion or an invasion of the Netherlands on the fact that the Netherlands fortifications are improvised, also on the ground that Holland is a good jump-ing-off place for aerial attacks on Britain. . , , .. . However, it is considered that if the Germans took the serious step of violating Dutch neutrality, they would hope to obtain a decisive result which could only be obtained by engaging opposing armies. It is recalled that the historic road of the invasion of France, the Oise Valley, entails passing through Belgium or both Belgium and Holland.

FORTIFICATIONS IN HOLLAND PREPARATIONS MADE FOR INVASION ' PITIFUL SCENES AT AACHEN (Received September 23, 2.15 a.m.) LONDON, September 22. The Amsterdam correspondent of the British United Press reports that in spite of German denials of any intention to violate Dutch neutrality, Holland is pressing on with fortifications on her eastern frontier. Three defence lines are being constructed with the object of forming a better barrier than the present methods of mining bridges and bringing down trees on the main roads.. The southern part of the frontier cannot be flooded like the north and centre, but big reservoirs are being constructed which would be filled with water in the event of invasion. Inhabitants of the big eastern'towns expect, to be evacuated. Signposts and blher indicators have been removed ffom. cross roads near the frontier. A Brussels message says pitiful scenes accompany the evacuation of older inhabitants from Aachen. The police : were forced to intervene .three times, before it was possible to separate tearful families on the station platforms. Rationing was enforced at Aachen before the war, but families are already unable to procure even the meagre amounts detailed on their Cards. The arrival of' troops waiting to be sent to the Saar front is making the situation worse.