FIRST LOSSES IN FRANCE

Southland Times, Issue 24003, 19 December 1939, Page 5

FIRST LOSSES IN FRANCE

British Troops In Action SEVERAL KILLED AND WOUNDED

(United Press Assn.—Telegraph Copyright) (Received December 18, 7.50 p.m.) LONDON, December 17. The headquarters of the British Expeditionary Force in France state that the British front line troops have suffered their first casualties in actual warfare. Several are wounded and some are dead as the result of night patrols in no man’s land. All were brought back. . The slightly wounded, swathed in blankets, were taken to a first aid station and (hose seriously injured were transferred to field hospitals. The first Christmas leave trains have departed. Several hundred troops will go to England daily on 10 days’ leave. Several thousand will spend Christmas in England. German troops again raided the Blies river section, states a message from Paris. Fighting continued for several hours. The Germans fell back. Artillery fire continued all night. Smaller raids were repulsed east of the Vosges. The night communique says there was reduced activity and there is nothing important to report. The British Prime Minister, _Mr Neville Chamberlain, who is visiting France, resumed his tour after an air raid alarm shortly before breakfast. No aeroplanes were seen., ' A German war communique states that there is nothing of importance to report on the Western Front. The. Air Force carried out reconnaissance flights over the North Sea areas.

Describing shock troop activity on the Western Front yesterday, the German Official News Agency states that one unit heavily engaged enemy troops in six dug-outs in the Forbach region, inflicting considerable losses. “Prisoners taken enabled us to draw certain conclusions,” it states. “Our losses were small. Two are missing.”

SPEECH BY ITALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER FAVOURABLE PASSAGES PUBLISHED IN BERLIN LONDON, December 17. Only short reports of the speech by the Italian Foreign Minister, Count Galeazzo Ciano, have been published in Berlin, and they are confined to the passages favouring German policy. Press comment emphasizes the absurdity of the Allies’ hope that Italy will allow herself to be detached from Germany. ALLEGED PLOT IN VILNA ATTEMPT BY POLES TO BLOW UP UNIVERSITY LONDON, December 17. The German radio reports that a plot by young Polish radicals to blow up the university at Vilna was frustrated at the last moment. Several bombs with time fuses were discovered in the heating apparatus. Several hundred young Poles were arrested at Vilna recently for sabotage and instigating violence. ALUMINIUM COINS IN GERMANY CONSERVATION OF NICKEL STOCKS LONDON, December 17. The Reichsbank has announced that it is substituting aluminium coins for certain nickel coins and also is circulating notes of one, two and five marks. WOOL ALLOTMENT TO UNITED STATES ANNOUNCEMENT WELCOMED BY TRADE (Received December 18, 6.30 p.m.) NEW YORK, December 17. Mr Arthur Besse and Mr McLyde Moore, president of the Boston Wool Trade Association in a joint statement on the wool allotment to the United States, say that it is most welcome to the trade generally and expressed the opinion that it will have a highly constructive influence. “Our analysis is that the industry can proceed confidently with the allotment of 75,000,000 bales,” they state. “It is a small quantity to supply the United States industry until the new domestic markets are available in May, June and July. It should be realized that some time before the Australian wool was available the mills were informed that there was no possibility that the British authorities would offer lower prices.” .