Evening Star Newspaper, May 29, 1940, Page 3

- Lack of Mechanize Escape by Sea Seen Only Hope as Speedy Germans Close In Neutral Observers Find Allies, Equipped for Siege, No Match for Nazis By DREW MIDDLETON, Associated Press Foreign Correspondent. LONDON, May 29.—Neutral mili- tary sources said today the des- perate situation of the British expeditionary force and French troops in the shrinking Flanders pocket could be relieved only by mechanized forces equal to Ger- many’s as the spearhead of a south- ward thrust—or by escape by sea. These sources said the Allies there face one of the greatest disasters in history unless Adolf Hitler’s armored legions can be met with mechanized divisions at equal firing power and impervious to German anti-tank guns. and unless Nazi bombing of troop concentrations can be met by equally heavy bombing. Nazi Germany, applying the les- sons imperial Germany learned in the World War, has forced the Al- lies—equipped for siege and fortress warfare—into hurried reconstruction of their forces to meet an enemy traveling 50 miles an hour, the neu- tral military men said. Amazed by German Mechanization. They viewed as the two most amazing features of the German campaign the development of mechanized cavalry to the point of equaling the effect of horse caval- ry in the days before repeating rifles and machine-guns, and the use of aircraft as “artillery of the air"—more effective than the best long-range guns. ° The British Army on the conti- nent is extremely mobile, and so is the French Army, although many of its divisions use horse-drawn transport. But this mobility, mili- tary men said, was designed to rush troops to threatened points and fails to combine mobility and fire power— the German objective. British and French tanks were built and manned for use as recon- naissance units or shock absorbers in a general push against fortified positions. Nazis Go Around Forts. The Germans have used aircraft for reconnaissance and invariably have gone around fortified positions rather than to storm them by frontal assault. Full development of the tank— 8 British invention—Ileaves the Nazis & long stride ahead of Britain. Thus the strategical situation re- sembles—in reverse—that of the winter of 1914-15. Retreating after the battle of the Marne, the Imperial German Army dug into fortifications which took every advantage of concentrated fire power of the machine-gun, a weapon ‘whose potentialities the Allies had far underestimated. Stopped Allies for Three Years. Upon these positions, the British and French hurled themselves with little success for three years. Today the best fortified positions belong to the Allies, but command of the new form of warfare belongs to the Germans, military analysts asserted. The Maginot Line lies open to at- tacking armies driving down the rear, and no one will say whether its guns—pointed at Germany—can be reversed. Similarly the Gort Line, which the British built along a string of French blockhouses on the Belgian frontier, runs east and west, rather than north and south, and already has been flanked by the Nazi armies. The size of the task facing the Allies is reflected in the bare outline of the Germans’ mobile and mecha- nized divisions. Germans Outstripped British. At the outbreak of the war, Ger- many had five armored divisions, three motorized divisions and four light divisions, with a sixth armored division being formed, according to military reports. The armored divisions centered around tank brigades, each of which contained 200 heavy and®200 light tanks. Accompanying divisions were motorized artillery, engineers and infantry, with armored cars in reserve. Thus the Nazi army had 2,000 tanks plus perhaps 4,000 armored cars. In contrast, the British then were constructing a single armored division The German motorized divisions were simply infantry divisions of 15,000 to 16,000 men traveling by truck. Divisional artillery engineer and anti-aircraft and anti-tank units also were motorized. The four light divisions were simi- lar to the armored divisions except that their tanks were small and were carried on trucks to the front, where they could be launched at crtiical points. Both- motorized and light divisions included battalions of motor cycle and bicycle troops. Straten-Ponthoz Continues As Belgian Ambassador Count Robert van der Straten- Ponthoz continues as the Belgian Ambassador to the United States, representing the kingless govern- ment with headquarters at Paris, according to a note to this Govern- ment, handed to Assistant Secretary of State Berle by the Ambassador. Count van der Straten-Ponthoz made his position clear yesterday. The Ambassador called on Mr. Berle to inform this Government formally that the capitulation of King Leopold and the King’s sur- render of his armies was an act contrary to the wishes of the Bel- glan government, headed by Pre- mier Plerlot and smtlng Tlhn PA::: as & refugee government. e as- udm“‘umd that judgment be re- gerved on King Leopold’s step. Hearing on Proposed Radio Station Ordered The Federal Communications Com- on yesterday ordered a public hearing on the application of the Capital Broadcasting Co. for & new radio station in this city. The date Was not set. The applicant is seek- :f;’gmthewi f;equency of 1420 kilo- 3 th 250 power, un- dmited time, s A THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 1940. "We Need Action Now, Not Advisory Reports,” Hoover Declares Country Should Insist On Defense Speed, He Asserts By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, May 29.—For- mer President Herbert Hoover said, “We need action now and not ad- visory reports for the files,” in commenting today on appointment of an Advisory Defense Commission | by President Roosevelt. Mr. Hoover's statement, issued from his hotel suite, also took As- sistant Secretary of War Louis Johnson to task for a radio speech | last night in which Mr. Johnson criticized Mr. Hoover's suggestion that a one-man defense adminis- | trator b2 appointed. The Hoover statement said: “In view of the crisis we face and all the exposures of the past month, the country will be disappointed that President Roosevelt has chosen to set up another advisory committee instead of reorganizing the War and Navy Departments and appointing somebody from industry for the pro- duction of munitions. “There are three or four good men on this committee, and the country will gain confidence in it if it boldly insists that these things be done at once. “Certainly Assistant Secretary of ‘War Johnson last night demonstrat- ed that his capacities at political smearing exceed the capacities he has shown in past years in produc- tion of airplanes and guns. “We need action now and not advisory reports for the files.” Berlin (Continued From First Page.) southwest of Ypres. Both Ypres and Kemmel were maelstroms of World War fighting. Kemmel is known particularly for the combat on Mes- sines Ridge. Passing of Bruges and the reach- ing of Dixmude, both in Belgium, by the swift advance through North- ern Flanders. Raising of the swastika over Langemarck, scene of fierce combat in 1914 Occupation of Armentieres, near Lille. Fracture of a fortified French bor- der position near Cassel, through a rear guard attack. Widespread air raids on “retreat- ing columns and all kinds of troop concentrations and tanks.” Destruction of 24 Allied planes yesterday as against the loss of three German machines. : Destruction of an allied destroyer by a torpedo-carrying speedboat off the Belgian city of Nieuport. Heavy damage to three Allied de- stroyers, two transports and two freighters, bombed off the Belgian and French coasts of the English Channel. Sinking of an Allied submarine by bomb in the Central North Sea and “probable” destruction of another. (The capture of Ypres, famous World War battlefield, by Ger- man troops was reported today in a special Berlin shortwave broadcast, quéting the German high command, heard by Colum- bia Broadcasting Co. in. New ‘York. (German troops have occupied the French port of Dunkerque, a Rome broadcast picked up by N. B. C. in New York, said last night.) The German high command ac- entered Narvik, Norwegian ore port above the Arctic Circle which had been besieged since the April 9 in- vasion of Norway. (The British said Narvik had fallen.) But the Germans said that their air force had scored a “serious hit” on a “large battleship” off Narvik, putting its guns out of action and enveloping the craft in smoke, and heavily damaged three cruisers, a destroyer and a freighter. Troop landings at Ankanes, Nor- way, also were bombed. French Collapse Reported. The Artois region and the Flan- ders area—the coastal plains of Northern Prance and Southwestern Belgium—form the zone of intrap- ment for the Allied forces, now bereft of Belgian aid in the Ostend- Bruges area on their left bank. French resistance south of Lille has “collapsed,” said the Germans, and “the English Army which was hemmed together in the region of Dixmude, Armentieres, Bailleul and facing destruction through our con- centrated attack.” The “swift advance” through Northern Flanders—over the patch opened by the Belgian surrender— carried German forces of occupation into Ostend, Belgian port city. For a brief interval, after the fall of Brussels, Ostend was seat of the Belgian government now constituted in Paris. Ostend’s peacetime popu- lation was about 44,000. Advance Units in Dunkerque. The street fighting at Dunkerque apparently represented attack by an advanced German column—perhaps one of the swift mechanized units. The pocket has been tightened drastically and swiftly, but there was no other indication, save this unofficial report, that the real Ger- man line had carried to Dunkerque, on the English Channel, 40 miles east of Galais. As closely as could be determined from the rapid-fire reports on the German advances, the encroaching line—drawstring of the pocket in which the northern British and French armies found themselves— runs like this from its northernmost coastal point: Eastward from Ostend, past Bruges, 15 miles; thence southwest- ward to Dixmude, 25 miles; then southward 15 miles to Ypres and then 20 miles southeastward to Lille and Armentieres, 10 miles west of Lille; thence northwestward through the sea at a point 15 miles west of Dunkerque. (Other mileage figures are approximations.) Germans gleefully declared that the Allied jig was up in the Artois- Flanders pocket. Sedan Break-Through Cited. As a sample of what the trapped soldiers were facing, DNB, official German news agency, gave a bird’s- eye view of what had happened in the Sedan break-through several days ago. Six hundred and fifty of Ger- many’s power-diving bombers con- centrated on that point showered quarter-ton bombs upon pillboxes of the little Maginot Line, upon march- ing columns, upon clusters of trees and strategic bits of terrain—upon every point where Allied troops could hope to make a stand. And then, when the Allied posi- knowledged that Allied forces had —_— Sold, Serviced and Guaranteed by L. P. Steuart & Bro. INCORPORATED 139 12th St. NE Lincoln 4300 Sunday Htar \ | tions had been smashed and troops Bergues, west of Dunkerque, also are | Cassel, Bourgourg and Gravelines to tained. HOW GERMAN HIGH COMMAND DESCRIBES BATTLE FRONT—The German high command today described the battle front in Belgium and France as shown on this map, saying it formed a rough triangle around trapped Allied forces in Flanders from Zeebrugge to St. Amand and thence back to the English Channel. Germans hold diagonally-shaded area, pocketed Allies are in black area. Germans said there was street fighting in Dunkerque (1) and that Ostend and Lille had been taken. Paris reported heavy German pressure on the northern Allied Army along the south- ern front (2), but that a French force of 30 divisions had massed along the Somme .and Aisne Rivers and were striking near Rethel (3) in an effort to relieve German pressure on the “trap.” —A. P. Wirephoto Map. scattered by bombs, the German infantry charged under cover of | mechanized forces. DNB conceded that French artil- lery placed every German vehicle under fire at Sedan in a shelling de- fense of unparalleled ferocity. It appeared certain that these tactics would be repeated multifold on the British and French forces still clinging to the region of Lille. The high command declared that the French defense south of Lille— that is the less heavily fortified side—had collapsed, permitting the Germans to crash into that border industrial center. Allied Front Smashed. The British Expeditionary Force evidently was backed against the Channel coast, in the vicinity of Dunkerque. The once-solid British- French front between Lille and Bix- mude seemed to have been smashed into fragments. As for the uncertain fate of Dunkerque, only 108 miles by sea | from London itself, informed Berlin | sources said that “things may have changed already,” meaning that| perhaps Dunkerque, too, had fallen. | Official confirmation, however, was lacking. German circles were optimistic that the fate of the trapped Allied troops might be decided in the Nazis’ favor in within a matter of hours. Authorized quarters still were un- able to say how the surrender of the Belgian Army was carried out militarily, but the speedy forward thrust which the Germans reported yesterday toward the Belgian Chan- nel ports and Dunkerque, which is Jjust alongside the Belgian border, indicated that the Belgians in that | sector were swiftly obeying King| Leopold’s orders. Military commentators said de- moralizing air attacks had left the British and French troops—es- timated here at about 500,000 men— “weak and disorganized” and de- clared that they must surrender or die within a few days. “It is only & matter of days,” said one commentator, “before every- thing around them will crash and burn—everything down to the last house if necessary.” Authoritative sources acknowl- edged that German losses had been heavy in the drive to wipe out the British and French in the north, but said the price paid was not excessive in view of the results ob- Most of the losses were said to have been suffered by infantry units. German newspapers said Nazi forces following up the retreat of the British forces in Belgium had found evidence of much sacking of private property. Large quantities of abandoned stolen property were being recovered, it was said, and re- stored to Belgian owners. | of defense against Germany. Perfinax Crificizes Leopold’s Action In Deserting Allies Says Assistance Pledge Should Have Caused Sense of Obligation By PERTINAX. PARIS, May 29 (NANA. by radio) —There is hardly a precedent for the deed of King Leopold. It is well known, of course, that the Sax- on allies of Napoleon deserted him on the battlefleld of Leiptzig, but nobody ever dared to say that they had joined him as willing partners. King Leopold was a willing part- ner and he should have had a lasting sense of obligation toward France and Great Britain in so much as in March, 1937, they had agreed to release Belgium from her commitments as an ally, but nev- ertheless to renew their pledge of assistance on the mere condition that she would resist invasion and maintain an adequate army to per- form that task. That sense of obligation, move- over, should have become more intense on May 9 when the French and British cabinets hastened to answer the call sent by the gov- ernment of the King. In the past the ministers who spoke in behalf of France had always emphasized that if no arrangement between the general staffs concerned had not been arrived at beforehand military assistance would be lent only within narrow limits, as we were not willing to incur the risk of having to fight another battle of Charleroi. Resisted Unity of Command. However, when Belgium turned to the western powers for immediate help the whole left wing of the Franco-British forces in France was unhesitatingly thrown far away in a sweeping movement which went beyond Antwerp and Breda, Ot course, the British and French thought of themselves then as well as of Belgium. But King Leopold should not have forgotten that by having eluded all our demands for the conclusion of military arrange- ments—on every occasion it is said that his most intimate military ad- viser, Gen. van Oberstratten saw to | it that the door should be flung open to our face—he bore the main responsibility for the unfortunate developments of the last fortnight. Even as recently as May 20 the Belgian monarch caused the Pranco- British Army in the north to waste precious time because of his un- willingness to submit to a unity of command. Former Premier Daladier had to leave Paris hastily and go| to the front in order to remonstrate with him, and he did not succeed easily in persauding him to toe the line. The men who wish to find excuses for what King Leopold has done argue that he had given up hope of ever winning back his kingdom by the side of the Allies. The an- swer is that on his part it was not 50 much a question of despair as a question of personal leanings and disposition. As a matter of fact, the policy of neutrality and inde- pendence he initiated in October, 1936, as a substitute for the alliance, put in shape seven months before, meant that at the bottom of his heart he refused to bring up the cause of his country with the cause of the western powers. But for the refusal he would not have started a policy which could not but impair France's and Great Britain’s means Cruel Price for Policy. His true attitude was concealed behind the screen afforded by the Franco-British unilateral guarantee of March, 1937, for which he had to profess thankfulness. But there are indications that he saw in it something else as a means to spare German By the Associated Press. BERLIN, May 29.—The text of today’s German high command communique follows: ‘The fate of the Frenchh Armies in Artols is sealed. Their resistance in the region south of Lille collapsed. The English Army which was hemmed together in the region of Dixmude, Armentieres, Bailleul and Bergues, west of Dunkerque, also are facing destruction through our con- centrated attack. Bruges was passed in the swift ad- vance through Northern Flanders, Ostend was taken and Dixmude reached. On the Yser and the Yser Canal, north of Ypres, the enemy was still offering desperate resist- ance, The Reich’s war flag is flying over the memorial of German youth ut Langemarck, the scene of their courageous fights in 1914. Lille has been reached in the at- tack from the east and west. The city has been taken. Advancing from the west, Armentieres was oc- cupied. At Bailleul there is still fighting. East of Cassel, a fortified French border position which was defended by the opponent with a reversed front, was broken through and the Belgian border reached. At Wormhoudt the fighting is still in progress. On May 28 the air force raided retreating columns and all kinds of troop concentrations and tanks. In the course of armed reconnaissance off the Belgian and French coast and in the Channel three destroyers and two transports and two freight- ers were bombed and seriously dam- aged. One enemy submarine was sunk by & bomb in the central North Sea. Destruction of an additional U-boat was probable. Despite unfavorable weather, German speedboats succeeded off Nieuport in sinking by torpedo hit a big enemy destroyer on flight to England. On the south front, iso- lated attacks by enemy infantry and tanks were repulsed. The losses of the enemy in the air amounted to 24 planes on May 28. Of these 16 were shot down in an air fight and 8 by anti-aircraft. Three German airplanes are miss- ing. Col. Moelders scored his 20th air victory The number of enemy planes shot down by anti-aircraft in the period from May 15 to May 26 increased from the hitherto an- nounced 100 to 265, according to exact information. The number of airplanes thus brought down by anti-aircraft since May 5 amount to 607. In addition, the air defense during the same ——— render as well as to attack. But the Belgian cabinet, including Foreign Minister Spaak, the obstinate ser- vant of the King, do not consider, as vouched by their proclamation on the radio, that a case can be made for Leopold on that basis. The decision to conclude a trick did not come suddenly under pres- sure of military circumstances. It was the outcome of long-matured political action, and it was not per- haps reached without extensive pourparlers conducted through se- cret agents. Let us not forget that in the immediate entourage of the King and of the Dowager Queen German influence has always held more than its own, served as it was, by & woman in the case of the for- mer and by a man in'the case of the latter. What proportion of the former left wing of the Allied Armies will have the good fortune to extricate itself from the circle of steel which gradually is closing upon it nobody can foresee. But the French and British military observers are con- fident that a left wing No. 2 al- ready has been put in position (here the feelings of his French-speaking subjects in Liege and elsewhere, who now have to pay a cruel price for his mistaken foreign policy of the last four years. Other well-wishers of the King will explain that as commander in chief he had within his powers to enjoin the Belgian Army to sur- —_— WILIIAMS Only Oil-O-Matic gives you money-saving *‘Measured Heat.” Enjoy finest oil heat ing this more economical way. Ask for details now, The press also reflected bitterness over reports of ill treatment ac- corded German prisoners—particu= larly captured airmen—by the TINTaGE e VINTAGE the utmost M tiow priateness or serviee of WINE. Milstone’s ACME service ot mo cost or obligetion o you MILSTONE'S ACME LIQUOR STORE Retailers—Im porters 927 Peana. Ave. NW. COLONIAL FUEL OIL 1709 De Soles St. N.W. MEire, 1814 hat does this mean? WINES are those produced in years when conditions of sunshine, tempera- ture and soil moisture are perfect. These wines sre of the highest quality, achieving in color, body snd bouquet. . Charles Englebert . . . Consult owr wine expert, M. Cherles Engle- bort, who will cheerfally envwer omy ques- of vintage, type, quality end -eppro- LIQUOR STORE offers this NA. 0840 B three words were censored). War Communiques period destroyed 101 enemy armored cars. In Norway the enemy, supported by numerous warships, landed on the ore railway yesterday and en- tered Narvik from the north. Ger- man fighting units raided enemy naval forc's lying there. One large battleship sustained a serious hit amidskips and cessed firing after being enveloped in smoke. Three cruisers and one destroyer, as well as one freighter, were heavily hit by bombs. Troops disembarkations at Ankanes were attacked with many bombs. French By the Associated Press. PARIS, May 29.—The French high command’s morning com- munique said: Our troops are resisting in the north with admirable courage against flerce efforts of the enemy. Positive information permits af- firmation that losses suffered by the Germans during combats yes- terday and last night were partic- ularly high. On the Somme and Aisne (rivers) local actions were conducted with successes. An enemy raid was thrown back southwest of Chateau Porcien. East of the Aisne there were no actions during the night, Roosevelt (Continued Prom Pirst Page.) He called it a “cap and gown com- mission,” and said the President failed “to recognize the necessity of calling in' experts in mass produc- tion.” In this regard, Mr. Landon added that three appointees whom he did not name qualified as ex- perts. The commission is constituted as follows: Mr. Stettinius, chairman of the board of United States Steel, who will supervise the production of raw materials. Mr. Knudsen of General Motors, who will be concerned exclusively with manufacturing problems. Sidney Hillman, president of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, re- sponsible for matters involving labor. Chester C. Davis, member of the Federal Reserve Board and former director of the Agricultural Adjust- ment Administration, who will in- tegrate the farmer’s part. Ralph Budd, president of the Chi- cago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, the transportation specialist. Leon Henderson, member of the Securities Commission, charged with stabilization of wholesale prices. Miss Harriet Elliott of the Uni- versity of North Carolina, guardian of consumer interests. In appointing the National Defense Commission, President Roosevelt went back to the World War Na- tional Defense Act. This authorizes the formation of a National Defense Council consisting of six cabinet members, with a National Defense Commission of seven operating un- der it to do the actual work of industrial, labor and consumer co- ordination. As it works out in this instance, however, Mr. Roosevelt advised cor- respondents they could forget about the cabinet council. This led to a general view that the commission would function under the President’s immediate supervision and report directly to him. In actual operation, the Army and Navy will place its own orders, after consultation with the com- mission, and it will then be the | latter’s task to see that materials | are on hand at the proper plants | 8s needed, that production sched- ules are maintained, that transpor- tation is available as needed and that labor is available to do the task. Mr. Stettinius’ and Mr. Knudsen's tasks will be full-time jobs from the start, the President said. s A3 d Forces Blamed for British Defeat in Flanders Willkie Favors Asking Allies What U. S. Aid They Require Sees Morale Helped Even if Assistance Is Not Given o By the Associated Press. AKRON, Ohio, May 29.—A request that the United States ask warring European democracies what help they need was issued last night by Wendell L, Willkie, utilities mage nate and a “dark horse” Republican presidential possibility. - “I should like to ask Secretary of State Hull to ask the democracies publicly and in the name of the American people what help short of troops the American people can give,” Mr. Willkie asserted at an American Legion banquet here, “It is clear that England and France constitute our first line of defense. But we can dismiss any thought of going over ourselves to save them. We have no troops and if we had troops we would lack equipment. Sees Morale Aided. “If the Allies respond to our query with a request we can debate it on its merits. Even if we cannot grant it our inquiry will help Allied morals and will have helped a little to check Hitler.” 5 The banquet was sponsored by Legion Post 19, of which Mr. Willkie was commander when he was an Akron attorney a decade ago. “We cannot risk sending our boys against Hitler as poorly equipped as the British and French boys,” he said. “But put the situation in the most selfish light—if Britain and France lick Hitler we may be saved billions of dollars, billions of tons of armae ment, billions of hours of unfruitful effort. To America’s Advantage. “On the selfish side it would be enormously to our advantage to have them win. It must therefore be to our advantage to help them in every way we can short of declaring war, “Our Government has been slow to get help to them. One reason is that industry is not prepared. An- other is no one is quite clear as to what to do.” Mr. Willkie, president of the Com- monwealth and Southern Corp., re- ported he would confer with Alf M. Landon, 1936 Republican presidential candidate, at Topeka, Kans, to- morrow. He said he had been “invited by Mr. Landon, who I sup- pose is titular head of the Repub- lican party,” but did not know what course the conference would take. Canadian Legion Hall Blasted by Crude Bomb VERNON, British Columbia, May 29 (Canadian Press) —A home-made bomb planted at the rear of the Canadian Legion Hall exploded last night as leaders of the district vole unteer home defense unit were dis~ cussing their first day of recruiting. Windows were shattered at the rear of the room in which the men were meeting. Police started an in- vestigation. Officials said they believed the bomb was made of stumping powder packed in a kettle, + LAWYERS’ BRIEFS E COMMERCIAL PRINTING g’ ADVERTISING SERVICE - BYRON $. ADAMS [RAwweaReg $12 1170 ST T 13 Jumbo Cone only |0¢ 28 FLAYORS HOWARD Jotinson’f 73 1CE CREAM SHOPS AND RESTAVRAWT. 3900 PENNSYLVAMA AVE.SE, WASHINGTON, D.C " ARLINGTON,VA. FAIRFAX,VA.