ALLIES ARE READY

Southland Times, Issue 24027, 18 January 1940, Page 7

ALLIES ARE READY

WOULD ACT WITH RAPIDITY

“NO MORE GROPINGS AS IN 1914”

PARTICULAR ANXIETY IN HOLLAND

(United Press Assn.—Telegraph Copyright) (Received January 17, 10.5 p.m.)

BRUSSELS, January 17.

Le Soir says that the British Comniander-in-Chief, General Lord Gort, interviewed, said that if Belgium was attacked and her neutrality, independence and her vital interests threatened, the French and British guarantee would operate with lightning rapidity. “This time all is ready,” he said. “There will be no more gropings, as in 1914. If the Germans come they will be well received.”

French Foreign Office officials declared that the Allied policy provided for the defence of any neutral State invaded by Germany. However, an official statement is not being issued.

In the view of military experts in Britain no single incident is wholly accountable for the frontier tension, but the evidence from various quarters accumulated during the week-end undoubtedly has aroused anxiety, particularly in Holland. Certain features of the activities on the German side of the Dutch frontier, it is noted, bore a close resemblance to the elaborate scare manufactured by Germany last November. An increase in the number of divisions facing the

Dutch frontier south of the Rhine and remarkable activity on road-making were observed. Both were factors in the November crisis, and in Belgium warnings that a new crisis was impending led, as in Holland, to increased precautions. It is semi-officially stated in Berlin that the French Prime Minister (M. Edouard Daladier) is responsible for the Belgian and Dutch military measures. They say that he alarmed the Dutch Ministers during their visit to Paris because he wanted to intensify the war. SINKING OF STEAMER The sinking of the Netherlands steamer Arendskerk is related by some British commentators to the tension, which, although somewhat relaxed, still persists in the Low Countries because of the threatening situation on the Dutch and Belgian frontiers. There .is a strong general belief that the underlying purpose of the German action at sea, no less than her bullying tactics on her land frontiers, is to terrorize the small nations, if for no other reason than to keep them in a false state of alarm and, possibly, to attempt to force them to suspend commercial relations with the Allies.

The Dutch Press gives prominence to the torpedoing of the Arendskerk. The Press unhesitatingly blames Germany in spite of the neutrality restrictions. The sinking of the Arendskerk is regarded in some quarters as an event which may throw additional light on Germany’s intentions. The Yorkshire Post after stating that the Arendskerk was on her way from Antwerp to South Africa, says: “This looks rather like a new move in Germany’s long-standing campaign of terrorization against her neutral neighbours. Our military correspondent suggests that this campaign is aimed at building up a system of Continental exchange. Under German orders, neutral states are to forego their sea-borne trade and consent to serve as suppliers of Germany’s economic needs by land. Hitler hopes perhaps by this means to reach a position which would enable him to laugh at the British blockade and so once more to suggest a means of continuing the war. He may well be reluctant still to engage in “Blitzkreig” (lightning campaign) against the Allies together, or even separately. “If he does start a campaign now against Holland or Belgium he will encounter resistance resolute and prepared. The task of Britain and France during this period of renewed tension is to take all necessary precautions and then to stand quietly on guard, neither ignoring Hitler’s threats nor playing into his hands by nervously taking them at their face value.”