THE WAR

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 9435, 6 October 1939, Page 2

THE WAR

Nazi Submarines LOSS OF HALF REPORTED BELGIAN NEUTRALITY GERMANY ASSURES RESPECT DAVENTRY, this morning. It is thought in London that at least half the ocean-going submarines possessed by Germany at the commencement of the war have been destroyed and the fact that only one small British merchantman has been sunk this week seems to indicate that the remaining submariens have quitted the main trade routes. 'flie Swedish Fleet has begun to patrol Swedish territorial waters and it is stated that 100 merchantmen are to be armed for this purpose. France is taking firm measures to remove Communists from civic administrative positions and there 1 have been many arrests, mainly on. I the charge of distributing defeatist ! literature.

An American station advises that Herr Hitler will address the Reichstag to-night between 11 and 11.30 o’clock, New Zealand time.

A pact of mutual assistance between Russia and Latvia was signed in Moscow to-day. It follows closely along the lines of the Estonian Treaty. It is generally expected that Lithuania, the remaining Baltic State, will be the next to come under Russian influence. The Russo-Turkisli talks are progressing very slowly, there being no discussion to-day at all. A new Soviet Ambassador has been appointed to Italy.

The new Russo-German frontier has been decided, and a mixed commission has been appointed to attend to any disputes that may arise. In contradiction to a Paris report that Germany intended to violate Belgian neutrality, the Germans reaffirm their intention of respecting Belgian neutrality.

Heavy artillery fire took place on the Western Front in the vicinity of Moselle last night and French troops advancing to take important road junctures were intercepted by the enemy patrols, hand-to-hand fighting taking place in no man’s land.

STALEMATE ON WESTERN FRONT QUESTION OF WHO WILL MAKE THE FIRST MOVE - 1 - i OPINIONS OF OBSERVERS LONDON, October 5. It is reported that parts of Saarlouis, north-west of Saarbrucken, are in Allied hands. Semi-official sources state that French guns are dominating the cities of Bergzabern, Pirmasens, Zweibrucken, Saarbrucken, Saarlouis and Merzig in the Saar-Pala-tinate area which civilians have evacuated. Troops are skirmishing in this vicinity. Intermittent artillery exchanges continued along the whole front, otherwise there was comparative quiet. Heavy rain impeded operations in the Moselle-Saar region. Low clouds brought air activity to a standstill.

The special military correspondent in France for the “New York Times,” Mr G. H. Archambault, states that barring surprises diplomatically, because militarily they seem well-nigh impossible, the situation seems to be well defined. All available forces of each side are concentrated and. waiting action. The question is who will make the first move, when and how? The British Army momentarily may be left out of account, although it is potentially great. At present it is more in the nature of reserves.

The initiative of a general battle on the Allied side is improbable, because it would be considered a rash offensive. A tactical initiative fully answers the present purpose, since it has enabled the Allies to come within easy striking distance of the West Wall and, at the same time, to place the greater part of the Maginot Line out of range of German guns. The Germans may decide that they have ceded enough ground and launch a massive frontal assault with fresh troops on what they judge to be the weakest spot in the French lines, in order to recapture all lost positions in one swoop, after the 1315 and 19i7 pattern. But a frontal assault, however successful, would inevitably spend itself on the Maginot Line. Its value would be chiefly moral, namely, to repel the enemy off German soil.

A second possibility is an attack on both I reach wings simultaneously. A third is to attempt an enveloping movement through neutral territory. There are no other possibilities, except a protracted passive resistance behind the West Wall.

The French believe this cannot be adopted, since it must provide time to bring the British armies into action. Rather it is believed in France that, should the peace offensive prove ibortive, the Germans cannot do anything but attack in one of the (hree ways mentioned above.