NOTES ON THE WAR NEWS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 111, 11 May 1940, Page 13

NOTES ON THE WAR NEWS

THE NAZI INVASION

HOLLAND & BELGIUM

PROBLEMS OF DEFENCE

The new, German, offensive, the sudden attack, without warning, on Holland and Belgium yesterday morning, brings the war home to the Allies in the fullest possible degree. The war in the West now begins with a threat by Germany to both Britain and France in an area which has been a battleground of Europe throughout the centuries. Compared with" this new invasion, the campaign in Norway fades into the background as a mere skirmish. This is the critical phase of the war.

Germany, victorious in Holland and Belgium, would be in a position to strike at both Britain and France with all her force; defeated', the Germans might be tumbled back on their. eoun-! try in no better condition .to defend it than they were in 1918. ' | Features of First Attack. The news in brief, at the time of writing, makes it clear that the first attack- was by air on the principal aerodromes in Holland and Belgium, together with attacks on several aerodromes in France. These are familiar tactics, employed with such devastating effect in. the "blitzkrieg." against Poland. No such results should follow in Holland and Belgium, as these countries were far better prepared.' Still, much damage may Jiave been done. The German air losses are reckoned at about a hundred machines. Dropped From the Air. At the same time parachute troops were dropped in different areas in both countries. Their task is to attack vital points behind the lines and sabotage communications; also to infiltrate among the civilian population with the idea of hampering in every possible way the defence, Many Germans landed by. parachute are said to have been clad in Dutch uniforms. So far parachute descents of troops behind the lines have not been a marked success. The Finns easily accounted for Russian parachutists in the war in Finland, while the Germans seem, to have achieved little by their parachutists in / Norway. It remains 'to be seen what they can do in the Netherlands. The abuse of uniforms, renders- them liable to the fate "of spies. Meanwhile the Allies are moving to help the Dutch and Belgians to repel the invaders and a general advance. of the Allies is reported from the North Sea to the Moselle. . What Preparations? The question, next arises: What preparations the two countries assailed have made for their own defence. The Belgians have profited by the lessons of the Great War, when their country was overrun .and occupied for the duration, to strengthen their defences immensely. The Dutch have been slower to act, but two threats of invasion by, the Nazis in the present war have put them on their guard, and their defence of at least the .western portion of Hbliami; $lfpuld piti^fc easy to-over-come. Unlike the -campaign in Norway, the problem is not new to the Allies, and their plans no doubt have been long matured. Captain Liddell Hart, the best-known British authority, in his "Defence of Britain" deals with the whole situation under the heading, "The Defence of the Left Flank," the left flank of Britain and.France facing Germany in the West. ■ Belgium's Fortified Line. Along her eastern frontier the defences of Belgium are now so formidable that they may be taken as almost another Maginot Line. "The defence problem of Belgium,'? says Liddell Hart, "turns on the course of the River Meuse," which runs in a deep-cut valley between the plain of Flanders to the west and the wooded and mountainous Ardennes on the east. The Valley of the Meuse is heavily fortified along its course to the Dutch frontier, where it flanks the curiouslyshaped "appendix" of the Dutch province of Limburg, which the Germans are reported already to have invaded. Liddell Hart explains: For the Belgians, the obvious plan of defence is to make sure of holding the Meuse moat, together with . the > Liege bridge-head beyond it, while utilising the Ardennes .as a spring-buffer to absorb the shock of any hostile advance which comes that way. • , ; 'The advance on the Ardennes is likely to come through ' Luxemburg, already, it is reported, in the hands of the invaders, but the British and French forces, particularly the British, should be able to deal with the enemy in the Ardennes, which, according -to the authority cited, might prove a "strategic trap" for him. It is. a German advance from the north and. through Limburg that the Belgians fear most. .Here the new Albert Canal running.west across country from the Meuse towards Antwerp, is', a strong defence. Besides being a "tremendous water obstacle," in the author's words, it is strengthened by a chain, of casemates, about three to the mile,.'along the south bank. .Behind this,"if the Dutch defences fail, the Allies could fall back. The Dutch Defences—a Weak Spot. But the Dutch defences are not likely to fail easily. They consist of two main fortified lines, the Ysel Line to the east, along the. river of that name, and the so-called "Water Line," further west, linking the Zuider Zee with the Rhine and covering Western Holland, with its chief cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and The Hague: The "Water Line" is caused by'flooding the low-lying country south of the Zuider Zee. These particular defences appeared so formidable in 1914 that the German High Command preferred to leave Holland to her neutrality and attack through, the narrow eastern frontier of^ Belgium instead. Today' there is a weakness, in that the Dutch i defences involve surrendering practically the whole of eastern .Holland to the invader, as far.as .the. Ysel .River and the shores of the Zuider Zee.. Accbrding to a recent visitor to Holland the German General ' Staff expected to overrun this part of Holland up to the Ysel Line in the first day or two, just as they penetrated -into Poland. The Ysel Line again was not deemed by the Dutch to be permanently defensible. They relied rather on the Water Line. The Real Menace. Should the Germans reach the Water Line they will be a good many miles nearer Britain and should they be able to cross the Meuse, would - threaten Belgium from the north. On this point Liddell Hart says: ... In the northern part of the country, lying east of the Zuider Zee and the River Ysel, it could hardly be expected that more than a brief check