FLANDERS ORDEAL

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20262, 1 June 1940, Page 7

FLANDERS ORDEAL

EVACUATED UNITS PRAISE OF PROTECTORS TALES OF HORROR GERMAN BRUTALITY MURDER OF CIVILIANS (Elec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (Reed. June 1, 9 a.m.) LONDON, May 31. The arrival of troops of the British Expeditionary Force at south coast ports in England is continuous. Troop trains are carrying the soldiers to their homes and camps throughout the country. The men are battle-scarred but still cheerful. They tell tales of horror, but are unanimous in. their praise of the courage and skill of the forces which are protecting the Allies’ withdrawal. They were without food for 24 hours and without sleep for three days. Many were still wet because they had to swim out to the ships. Naval crews, dropping from exhaustion, had to be relieved. Immediately a hospital ship arrived doctors rushed aboard and performed operations before the men could be moved. Shopkeepers cleared their shops to provide food. Hundreds of volunteers worked day and night making sandwiches and tea. Soldiers stationed at one town handed over their evening meals. More Planes and Men All members of the British Expeditionary Force told the same story — the need for more planes and more men. One said: “It was sheer weight of numbers that did it. The British put up a mile-long barrage, but the Germans advanced right into it, disregarding human life. I was in the last war, but I never saw anything like the slaughter. We were heavily outnumbered both on the ground and in the aix-.” Another said that refugees hampered troop movements, but the Germans did not care. They drove tanks straight through the refugees. Mass Murder “Words fail to describe the brutality,” he said. “It was mass murder. A German plane came down to 100 ft. and machine-gunned children fleeing along the road. “Their planes were everywhere. Our airmen were magnificent but it la numbers we need. We were continually bombed and machine-gunned.” A soldier described a bombing attack on an ambulance convoy in which the ambulances were wrecked. The wounded soldiers had to walk 12 miles to the coast. A sailor said that the troops waded out neck deep to the ship’s boats. The German planes swooped down and the rescue operations were carried out under a rain of bombs.