GERMAN MENACE ON ALLIES’ FLANK

Southland Times, Issue 23931, 25 September 1939, Page 7

GERMAN MENACE ON ALLIES’ FLANK

Holland And Belgium May Be Threatened PROTECTIVE FLOODING Precautions In Face Of Nazi Troop Concentrations (United Press Association —Telegraph Copyright) (Received September 24, 7.10 p.m.) NEW YORK, September 23. The British and French forces on the Western Front have made full preparations to meet the German menace on the left flank, says the Paris correspondent of The New York Times. The menace is indefinite as yet, but it is significant that Holland, as a precautionary measure, has opened the sluices, and the area around Utrecht is reported to be flooded. Belgium similarly is pouring water from the Albert Canal into the country between Liege and Antwerp. Residents of Luxembourg are abandoning the German frontier and are taking refuge in the interior. The continued German concentrations in the Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) zone are sufficient to warrant the neutral States’ precautions. It w a s from Aachen that General von Kluck’s First Army and General von Bulow’s Second Army marched simultaneously; the Third Army and the Fourth Army started from Mahnedy and the Fifth Army from Trier. The Netherlands frontier fortifications, which are not permanent, are reported to be being strengthened feverishly along three successive lines. The Belgian Minister of Defence (General Denis) reported the opening of the Albert Canal dykes to protect Antwerp by artificial inundation. The measure was described as purely precautionary.