HAVOC OF WAR

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20257, 27 May 1940, Page 11

HAVOC OF WAR

DRIVE BY NAZIS battle for coast PITTILESS WAR MACHINE BERLIN’S NEXT PHASE ATTACK ON BRITAIN (Elec. Tel. Copyright-—United Press Assn.) (Reed. May 25, 3 p.m.) LONDON, May 24. The battle for the coast has developed into a colossal engagement of * manoeuvring and open warfare. The Germans have thrown in tanks, flame-throwers, motorised infantry, and bombers in a supreme effort to dominate the coast. The result is the bloodiest havoc in a generation in which civilians are not differentiated from soldiers. Wounded, aged, and very young alike fall victims to the merciless war machine. The Germans, if they have occupied St. Omer, as they claim, straddle the. rail and road communications from there to Calais and to Dunkirk. Dunkirk, with its docks and bulging Warehouses, it little over 30 miles from Zeebrugge. . The threat to the coast from the south is accompanied by a frontal offensive from the east. The Allies have provided a most stubborn resistance at Ghent and on the flanks there, but the advance claimed by the Germans apparently continues. The Germans do not claim to have gone beyond the “mouth of the Schelde” towards the north, but are reported to have reached the Lys River in the south. The Allied resistance on this front is strong, but the Germans have marshalled their forces /to secure a victory in this phase of the campaign. The next phase, according to the Wilhemstrasse, is a violent onslaught on the United Kingdom itself. Task Before Allies The immediate next phase for the British and Allied forces, hemmed in in an arc between Calais and Zeebrugge, is to cut a way through the German salient southward or withdraw to the coast and transfer the troops by sea to France for a major offensive from the south. Either operation would be very dangerous because the Germans are rushing up every available reinforcement to consolidate the gains west and north-west from Amiens, and also to provide strong forces for a flank attack from the east in the event of an Allied attempt to advance further southward from Bapaume. The Germans are simultaneously subjecting the Channel and Belgian coast ports to the most ruthless bombardment from the air. The Germans claim to have sunk many transports and destroyed harbour works. The Germans, on the contrary, have long flanks which are very vulnerable if General Weygand organises a counter-attack of sufficient weight and speed. The first step in the campaign against England is possibly indicated by an Italian correspondent on the Belgian front who says that the Germans’ plan to occupy England has been subordinated by the destruction of military works, ports, and coastal towns in which long-range artillery Will supplement dive-bombers. The Germans are preparing to place very long-range guns on the Belgian and French coasts about to be occupied.