A LOOK OVER THE CHANNEL

Timaru Herald, Volume CLV, Issue 22788, 12 January 1944, Page 5

A LOOK OVER THE CHANNEL

France Sees Disquieting Scene Invasion Preparations By Telegraph—N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright LONDON. January 10. . In an invasion warning the Faris radio said that France could not survive war from outside and a civil war within. "With the massing of British and American invasion forces across the Channel we have the certainty that France will soon be drawn once more into the fiery cauldron," stated the “ radio. "We are about to witness tremendous military operations compared with which the war of 1940 will be dwarfed into insignificance. “Our towns and villages will be razed and our roads and railways w’Ul be hotly contested. We must. irr addi- • tion, reckon with the de Gaullist shock troops who will begin operations as soon as the invasion gives them the • signal. That is why the most drastic measures must be taken to eradicate the terrorist movement. British Forces Assembling “British and American invasion 1 forces are assembling on the Kent and Cornwall coasts for the decisive . battles of this war, but the German U-boats are on the alert in the Channel and are ready to pounce on the invasion fleet. General Eisenhower is putting the final touches to the gigantic plan that will, in the near future, be brought into action. ~ “German troops along the whole of Europe's coastline are waiting for zero hour. They are manning every rock position, every hill, and every hidden bay along the edge of the fortress of Europe. Tanks, artillery, flamethrowers. and machine-guns are waiting on the beaches to repel the invader.”

Prefects of the Channel coast departments met in Paris yesterday *o discuss the evacuation of the French Channel coast, particularly the areas now being subjected to heavy air attacks, says the Vichy radio. The Paris radio said that the evacuation of certain areas of the Somm° , Department had already been ordered.