WEST FRONT FROZEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 February 1940, Page 8

WEST FRONT FROZEN

ARTILLERY ACTIVITY FRENCH BROADCASTS’ EFFECTS [by CABLE —PRESS ASSN. —COPYBIGHT.] LONDON, February 12. * The battle lines are again freezinghard and all is quiet except for artillery activity yvest of the yosgds. The French flight communique reports' local activity by patrols and artillery. -• \ ........ r . • ■!. *- ■ The'British regiinenfs'in the front are getting .periodical relief, and a battalion of the Cameron Highlanders which arrived 'behind the lines for a short rest excited great interest arid erithusiasm in the villages. Kilted pipers headed the march from the railhead to billets. , ' Broadcasting 'of news by loudspeakers from the French lines oii the Western Front has caused considerable consternation among Nazi authorities. German soldiers have been prohibited from listening to the news, and it is reported that they are ignorant of both political and military activities abroad. The French, however, began their broadcast to German soldiers across the Rhine, confining the information given to actual news. When the first broadcast was given the German soldiers left their positions to listen. On the second occasio.n they again left their positions, but were observed to be forced back Ipy their officers. On the third occasion machine-gun fire was opened.

GERMAN ARMY’S STRENGTH. PARIS, February 13 Colonel Fabry, in “Le Martin” says- “ The German Army will soon reach a strength of 200 divisions. The Allied Armies will reach this figure some time later, when the British Army is fully developed. Belgium has 20 well-train-ed divisions.” A French communique says: The enemy made an attack on our posts It was repulsed. There has been some artillery firing. x NAZIS AND BELGIUM FRONTIER TROOPS WITHDRAWN. LONDON, February 11. The Brussels correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” says that two crack German corps, totalling six divisions, which were concentrated at Aachen, on the Belgian frontier, departed last week, and were replaced by two newlyformed corps of Austrian units of the same strength, but rated as thirdclass. It is now revealed that General von Brauchitsch, Commander-in-Chief of the German army, personally inspected the frontier districts of the southern Netherlands and northern Belgium by air on November 10, /and decided that the flood conditions were unfavourable for an offensive.