Cermans Massacred

Northern Advocate, 28 May 1940, Page 5

Cermans Massacred

Very high casualties suffered by the Germans in the past few days’ attacks are mentioned in the French 1 official communiques last night ,and this morning. Unofficial reports reaching London today lend further emphasis to this aspect of the fighting in Northern France and Belgium. The losses inflicted on the enemy ® are described by the military spokesman in Paris as at times assuming the proportions of a massacre. He added that the French had been amazed by the German persistence after slaughter, in which whole German units were wiped out by the French guns. In reporting French developments of the battle front, British correspondents also constantly refer to the magnitude of the German losses, and to the fact that every ounce of the enemy’s strength and resources is being thrown into the present battle, irrespective of the losses suffered. In the Lys sector, says one correspondent, the Germans threw artillery, motorised troops, infantry and aircraft into a determined drive to break the

Belgian line, but registered only slight local .advantages at tremendous loss to themselves. In the vicinity of Valenciennes, the Germans threw everything they had into two attacks on the French position on the Scheldt, but without success. The Nazis sustained enormous losses in the Montmedy sector, the correspondent says. He adds: “The German losses on Saturday were exceptionally heavy. “The French, after counterattacking, foimd the battleground literally covered with enemy dead and wounded.” Referring to German air losses, the correspondent says the enemy’s losses are now estimated at 100 to 125 daily. The losses of mechanised vehicles, etc., are also reported to be on a large scale. The same correspondent writes that, according to military circles in Paris, enormous numbers of German tanks and armoured cars have been destroyed, especially during the German advance into Picardy.