Second Edition PREPARED FOR A BIG BATTLE

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 303, 20 September 1939, Page 10

Second Edition PREPARED FOR A BIG BATTLE

British And French Armies

POLES STILL RESIST

By Telegraph.—Press assu.—Copyright. (Received September 20, 1.35 a.m.) LONDON, September 19.

A message from Paris states that the British and French armies are now preparing for a major battle. The French expect a lightning attack, possibly through neutral countries.

A Basle report states that the arrival of guns and equipment from the Bolish front is assisting the Germans in the west. Their intense artillery fire has transformed the village of Perl into a no-man’s land, bearing out the belief that the Germans withdrew from their advance posts to enable heavy artillery to bombard the French attackers.

Activity has now increased all along the front, including the new forestclad sector south of Saarbrucken where the Germans are reported to have dynamited 100-yard-wide patches of forest to enable their machine-guns to operate without obstruction. Defence of Warsaw. It is reported that Polish troops are still resisting, though repeated appeals have been broadcast by Germany to lay down their arms. The appeals are replied to by the mayor of Warsaw, who says that the Poles will defend the city to the very last. The French newspaper, “Le Matin,” declares that the Poles are fighting desperately on a 60-mile front north of the Dniester River to cover the Hungarian and Rumanian frontiers. A German High Command communique says that the dissolution and capitulation of the various Polish groups continues rapidly. It is impossible to estimate the amount of war material that has been captured. It is stated from Riga that Russian forces began to enter Vilna last night, aud there was some street fighting Iretween Russian ;rnd Polish troops. White Russian folk songs, which had not been heard in Poland for years were sung.

Lithuanians hope Russia will return Vilna to Lithuania. It was seized from them by Poland in 1920.

LIKELY NAZI PLAN Offensive Of Threats And Cajolings (Independent Cable Service.) (Received September 20,1.30 a.m.) LONDON, September 19. Well-informed quarters iu Loudon 'believe that Herr Hitler will shortly launch it two-fold offensive of threats and cajolings, first against neutral States in order to offset the British blockade, and secondly against the British and French peoples in the hope of forcing London and Paris to agree to Nazi peace terms. . . It is becoming plainer that Britain will not fall into the trap of declaring war on Russia but will confine her action to a strong protest and allow Herr Hitler to worry- about the Soviet advance. , . , The threat of the German mechanized forces being transferred to the Rhine from Poland is believed to be greatest for Holland and Belgium, but when Herr Hitler’s peace proposals fail the German General Staff will be faced with the momentous decision on whether to strike through the Low Countries in an effort to outflank the Maginot Line and ease the pressure on the Siegfried Dine and save the Ruhr. The Berlin newspaper “Boersen Zeitung” sounded the note for the Govern-ment-inspired Press by calling on the French to end the hostilities now that Russians and Germans have overrun Poland. Editorials in other papers sard that the democracies are faced with “the necessity of revising their opinions with regard to a continuation of the war.” GERMAN PRESSURE Expectation In Italy (Received September- 20, 1.30 a.m.) ROME, September 19. The “Osservatore Romano” declares that the Soviet action “constitutes a cowardly gesture.” The "Lavoro Foscista” states that Turkey has assured Russia that she. will not neglect her trade relations with Germany. It is believed that Italy and the Balkans will only be suffered to remain outside the conflict if they keep Germany supplied. REVOLT BY CZECHS IN SKODA WORKS The Havas news agency in Copenhagen reports that revolution has broken out in the great Skoda armament works iu Czechoslovakia. The Gestapo have -made hundreds ot arrests, and executions have occurred.—By Radio.