WEST FRONT

Grey River Argus, 8 September 1939, Page 7

WEST FRONT

FRENCH OFFENSIVE NORTH SECTOR PUSH FORCES NEARER SAARBRUCKEN [Aust. & N.Z. Cable Assn.] PARIS, September 6. Unofficial despatches report a French tank advance towards Saarbrucken. Despatches indicated the penetration of the German lines at Saarbrucken, and an aerial bombardment of Aix-la-Chappelle. The French attacks last night were concentrated on the north-east frontier near the Saar Basin. A Polish radio broadcast intercepted'at London, said that French forces were in the outskirts of Saarbrucken, late to-day (Wednesday), and were advancing so rapidly that the Ger* mans were unable to evacuate the police and municipal administrations in the suburban centres. FRENCH RIGHT WING. PARIS, September 6. Strasbourg (Alsace) is reported to have been completely emptied of civilians, before an artillery duel, which is expected shortly across the Rhine. The 175,000 inhabitants have moved to the interior. France has closed the French-Swiss border from Basle to Geneva. Seven Mile Advance TOWARDS SAAR CAPITAL. 300 ’PLANES ENGAGED. (Recd. Sept. 7, 7.50 p.m.) PARIS, September 6. According to Luxemburg reports, the maximum extent of the French advance towards Saarbrucken was a little over seven miles. It is reported that the French used 500 tanks in one operation. It is also reported that in an advance of 125 miles further north, 300 Allied ’planes attacked a German position. Air Raid on Ruhr ESSEN STEEL WORKS ATTACKED. (Recd. Sept. 7, 5.50 p.m.) PARIS, September 6. Allied 'planes, in large numbers, ihave attacked the great German steel and munitions region in the Ruhr, centred round the city of Essen, , Saar Basin Penetrated

(Recd. Sept. 7, 10.10 p.m.) PARIS, September 6. A communique to-day announced that the French forces are progressing beyond the German frontier. Other French sources state that they have penetrated the Saair Basin. Simultaneously, French and British ’planes, supporting the land troop:, battered munition plants in the North Saar region. STRASBOURG EVACUATED. (Recd. Sept. 7, 10.15 p.m.) PARIS, September 6. It is reported that Strasbourg (in Alsace-Lorraine), and other cities, such as Erstein, have been evacuated. Marked Activities ON BOTH SIDES. (Recd. Sept. 8, 12.28 a.m.) NEW YORK, September 7. The Associated Press of America correspondent from Paris says: A French communique has been issued as follows:—There is marked activity on both sides of the front; A Polish Report ARE FRENCH AT SAARBRUCKEN ? (Received September 7, 7.10 p.m.) LONDON, September 6. A later Polish report on the French advance on the Western Front, says; “The French are at Saarbrucken.” Some credence is given to the above Polish report by military experts, as a deep salient of French territory prctiudes into the Reich (south of th* Saar and south of Strasbourg). Thi< sectinn is regarded as one of the weak pcin;s in the German frontier. A broadcast in London, earlier this evening, reported that there is heavy firing “east of Luxembourg.” Saarbrucken is under fifty miles south-east of Luxembourg. . # French Official Report GERMAN SOIL INVADED. RESISTANCE AT ALL POINTS. BRUSSELS, September 6. To-day’s French army communique, recording local advahces against the Siegfried Line, and observations elsewhere, indicates activity on the Fran-co-German frontier. A later official statement says that the French have invaded German soil, but are encountering resistance “at all points.” Newspaper correspondents at Luxembourg and Basle report a heavy artillery duel between the Maginot Line and Siegfried fortifications. It was especially violent in the Moselle region, lasting all night. The reference to local' gains in the French communique is interpreted to mean that the French, after an artillery barrage, crossed the frontier at various points, capturing outlying concrete pill-boxes. This activity is seen as a move to draw Germany from Poland. \

WEST GERMANY. TOWNS EVACUATING. (Received September 8, 1.52 a.m.) LONDON, September 7. The women and children in many of the big towns in western Ger-1 many have been evacuated.