CLASH ON FRONT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23599, 7 March 1940, Page 9

CLASH ON FRONT

BAID BY GERMANS

BRITISH CASUALTIES ENEMY TAKE PRISONERS By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright (Received March 7, 1 a.m.) LONDON, March 0 A communique issued by the British Expeditionary Force headquarters on the Western Front states that two British soldiers were killed and one was wounded during a morning raid by Germans against a British front line post. The enemy took several prisoners. The position was recaptured and the enemy retired, leaving one dead.

The Berlin news agency says a German raiding party took prisoner 16 British troops south of Merzig. Their reconnaissance troops advanced under cover of darkness, cut the British barbed wire entanglements and attacked at sunrise. The patrol found the enemy hiding in circular trenches. There was a violent exchange of shots. An Englishman put up a white handkerchief, but it was a trick and he fired on the attackers with a concealed pistol, the German report alleges. The Germans replied with machine pistols and hand grenades, and then the Englishmen came out of their trenches. The patrol escorted them behind the German lines in spite of severe enemy gunfire. Unfavourable weather reduced land activity on the Western Front, states a Paris communique. The opposing air forces carried out reconnaissances. The British penetrated Northern Germany and the French flew over German back areas, while Germans reconnoitred Eastern France.

A Berlin communique reports that artillery fire was more active between the Moselle and the Palatinate, with patrol action on both sides. Five British soldiers, says a Brussels message, accidentally crossed the Belgian frontier and entered a cafe, discovered their error and beat a hasty retreat, but were arrested and interned.

THE BRITISH SECTOR STRENGTH OF DEFENCES TANK TRAP SYSTEM INTERLOCKING FIRE PRINCIPLE LONDON, Feb. 26 "The skeleton of the defensive framework which the British inherited from the French when they reached their allotted section of the Maginot Line in September has now acquired a body," writes the special correspondent of The Times with the British Expeditionary Force, Mr. H. A. R. Philby. Describing the "Embattled 8.E.F.," he reveals for the first time the nature of the main tank trap system. It is a skilfully camouflaged and deep fosse which crosses the country in a zig-zag, so that the enemy will never know at what angle he will meet it. Heavily concreted strong - points dominate ,each traverse. Enemy tanks, whether they fall into the ditch or waver on its brink, will face guns which hurl more than 12 armour-piercing shells a minute.

Wherever possible, the fosse follows natural features. Some streams have been deepened and widened, and their banks reinforced.

Squat, solid siege-resisting blockhouses are now banked on the enemy's side. They are capable of withstanding a direct hit from a heavy gun, and ventilation pumps have been installed because if all guns were fired simultaneously they might cause dangerous gases. The military map, which was a mere sketch in September, is now. as a result of British labour, scored with cartographical symbols representing hundreds of variations in the defensive posture. A large number of "pill-boxes" have been built and more are being built. They are grouped in positions which enable their fire to support the blockhouses. Their thick concrete roofs enable them to resist a severe bombardment.

A real novelty in the history of warfa re is the thoroughness with which the British have applied the principle of interlocking fire. No centre of resistance is organised solely for self-defence; its fire can be directed to the front or at al angles. The correspondent adds that where heavy surface water makes trenches impossible, the British have built breastworks.

These consist of semi-circular sandbagged enclosures, armed with Bren guns. They form resistance centres and are highly valuable because they are small targets.

EXPLOIT ON PATROL DECORATION FOR OFFICER ASSAULT WITHOUT LOSS British Wireless LONDON, March 5 The award of the Military Cross to Lieutenant J. A. MacKenzie, Gloucester Regiment, is announced. On the evening of January 13, Lieutenant MacKcnzie, with two men, while on listening patrol in front of the German lines, became aware of the approach of an enemy patrol. Allowing the leading German to approach to within 10 yards, he fired a Thompson sub-machine gun, a heavier and more powerful" kind of automatic pistol, upon which the enemy scattered. The officer withdrew unmolested and later took out a strong battle patrol, which again made contact with the enemy and after inflicting casualties returned to the British lines without loss.

PURSUIT AIRCRAFT FAST NEW FRENCH TYPE PARIS, March r> The French aviation industry has developed a pursuit aeroplane which is faster than the Messerschmitt 112 type, says the Paris edition of the New York Herald Tribune. Aircraft production since the summer of- 1939 is greater than Germany's, it adds.