DUMBFOUNDED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20259, 29 May 1940, Page 7

DUMBFOUNDED

BELGIAN PEOPLE EARLIER FAITH SENSATIONAL TURN CALM PARIS REACTION "WE CAN TAKE IT” CRITICAL LONDON VIEWS (EU“C. Tel. Copyright—Unitod Press Assn.) (Reed. May 29, 11 a.m.) LONDON, May 28. An indication of the sensation caused by the announcement of the surrender to the Germans by King Leopold of Belgium may be gained from the expression of faith in the King voiced only a few hours previously by the Prime Minister of Belgium, M. Pierlot.

“King Leopold had not left his troops for three weeks,” said M. Pierlot.

“In the grave trial through which the nation is passing one figure dominates all our thoughts—King Leopold is the incarnation of the Fatherland. King Leopold is a man and a leader.’ Cabinet Meets in Paris M. Pierlot announced that the Belgian Government met in Paris yesterday. He added that having examined the situation and envisaged all possible developments, the Government was unanimous in affirming its will to continue, whatever happened, the struggle at the side of theAllies until common victory was won. After M. Reynaud’s broadcast in Paris announcing the surrender by King Leopold a crowd of men and women of all ages gathered outside the Belgian Embassy in London. Belgian ex-servicemen were on the verge of tears. “I cannot understand it,” explained one. “Why have we stopped fighting?”

The Belgian Ambassador, looking very worried, arrived at the Embassy alone and, gave instructions that he must not be disturbed.

The first reaction by the French public to the Belgian capitulation was indignation, but the general attitude may be summed up in the phrase: “It is a hard blow, but we can take it.”

The London Standard, in a leading article entitled: “King Quisling’ says: “A savage and treacherous blow has been struck against the cause of the Allies. It was not thought that an example of capitulation would be set by a king. >■

Penalty of Defeat

“The bravery of the British and French forces has been reduced to nought by an acf of desertion. They were not defeated in the field, but the penalty of defeat has been exacted from them.

“We know all {lie perils and all the menace which hover over this island, but one thing the latest blow has no more disturbed than all others rained upon us in the past 20 days is our faith in freedom and victory.” The Evening New 6, in a leading article says: “The position of t«e British and French forces northward of Arras fs now perilous indeed. They are cut off from the main French Army. Their left flank has disappeared. Seemingly only a miracle can save them. Instant and powerful action to close the gap and cut off the German forces who have poured westward through it can alone save them.”