NOTES ON THE WAR NEWS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 113, 14 May 1940, Page 8

NOTES ON THE WAR NEWS

BATTLE IN THE WEST

WORKING UP TO CRISIS

DESPERATE FIGHTING

The first stages of what Mr. Churchill described as the greatest battle in history are being fought out on the Western Front of the war— the only real front so far in this war. The struggle is going on almost continuously at many points with varying fortunes, and the situation is liable to change one way or the other at any moment.

In such circumstances any survey or comment can Be based only on an esti* mate of the value of conflicting reports at the time of writing. All that can be said is that a desperate conflict is proceeding in; Holland and Belgium between the defenders, the Dutch and the Belgians, aided by the British and French, with all their resources, and the German invaders, who hay» already gained a foothold in the defences. Advance in Belgium. The enemy, with all the advantages of the most carefully laid plans, the choice of time and place, and the use of every conceivable weapon, regardless of any consideration whatever, has struck at the weakest points in. the Dutch and Belgian defences and penetrated some distance into both, countries. The Albert Canal has been crossed at two points and one report states that the enemy is moving southeast of Tirlemont, which is not mora than thirty miles from Brussels. Another report declares that the advance was stopped at Tongres further east. Both these points are to the west of Liege, the scene of the famous siege in August, 1914, and once more heavily assailed by the Germans, who claim the capture of most of the forts. An' Allied report admits the loss of one fort out of a ring of twelve round the city. In the rough Ardennes country, also further south, the enemy is said to have made 'advances, but in this region the Belgian plans of defence never contemplated prolonged resistance until the enemy came up against the line of the Mafase. It is the attack further north towards Brussels, roughly on the line taken by the Germans, in 1914, that is far more serious. In Holland. In Holland the enemy, as antici-. pated by Captain Liddell Hart and other authorities, have struck into the comparatively weakly-defended region of Southern Holland, between the Albert Canal to the south and the Maas to the north. On this pomt ■?Liddell Hart says, in a passage partly: quoted previously: - The danger that' any such inroad could, bring, not only to JJdllarid herself, can be appreciated by reference to the map. For ah invading force which pounced on and occupied the part, of Holland which lies south of the Rhine . could dominate . the Scheldt and Antwerp, threaten Belgium on her .le&st.fortified: side, and establish air bases within a hundred miles of the English coast. ..... Once an invader had crossed .the Meuse and was driving westward, it is likely that the Dutch forces would be forced to swing back north-west ward behind the Waal, to cover the i heart of their country. This would entail the separation of the. Belgian and Dutch forces. . . The Germans claim that they- have already gone a long way to achieve this result. A Berlin report claims that "strong motorised troops have effected a land junction with the troops landed (by air) round Rotterdam, and that the Dutch fortified line has been outflanked. There is no confirmation of this, but it does indicate the general line of German strategy in jne invasion of Holland. The occupation by the enemy of the northeastern area of Holland, east of the Zuider Zee and the Yssel River is^pparently proceeding according to plan. ; The Dutch themselves did not expect to be able to StSs part of Holland, militarily difficult to defend. > . ' Germany's Last Bid in 191 S. It is clear from the speeches of Mr. Churchill and Mr. Duff Cooper, who compares the situation with that ol March, 1918, when the Germans made their last desperate bid for victory on the Western, Front, thatchings ; are serious enough. In March, 1918, the Germans, under Ludendorff, relieved of any anxiety on the Eastern, Front by the collapse of Russia /and the Treaty of Brest Litovsk, threw all available forces into the west and drove back the Allies on the Scram*, almost to the outskirts of Anuens. Here the defences held, and though. Ludendorff carried out other offensives elsewhere on the front later, the danger was never afterwards so great asta March and April of 1918. Finally the Germans, already war-weary, crumbled under the counterToffensiva of the Allies from August onwards. Liddell Hart holds that Ludendorff s 1918 offensives only hastened the end of the war by weakening his army s powers of resistance. In any event, m 1918 both sides were almost exhausted by four years' war, while today they are fighting in full vigour. Comparison with 1914. A more apt comparison wouldl be with the German first offensive of August, 1914. Then, on August 2, the Germans invaded Luxemburg and on August 4, after the Belgians' refusal to let the German armies through, attacked Liege. The Meuse was crossed near the Dutch frontier. On the morning of August 8 Ludendorff, after sharp fighting, -was able to enter the town of Liege. The forts of Liege were reduced, one by one, by heavy 6iege artillery of 8-inch mortars and 16-inch howitzers, far heavier than any guns in the forts. The last of the forts surrendered on August 16. In the meantime the German army had penetrated far into Belgium opposed only by the Belgians, for the French, engaged in their own offensive in Lorraine, did not co—c on the scene until August 16. The British did not arrive at Mons until August 22. The-Bel-gian army, outnumbered and outgunned, fought several rearguard defensive engagements in its retirement on Antwerp, reached on August 20. On the same day the Germans entered Brussels. The French and British were on their way to the frontier, but the Belgian fortress of Namur succumbed under heavy bombardment on August 25. The battles of the frontier followed and after that the great retreat of the Allies, ended really by the Battle of the Marne in which defeat was turned to victory. ■