Evening star., 1939-09-14
Machine e-Gunned and Bombed
By Germans Say Fleeing Poles;
French Close in on Saarbruecken
Seek Jump-Off
For Wider Attack
On Nuzi Line

Dy tHt ASSOSlhIcd ASoS'
PARIS, Sept. 14.-French forces,
supported by thousands Of newly
landed British troops, were reported
today in military dispatches to be
closing in from three sides on Saar-
bruecken, industrial center of the
rich Saar Basin.
Seizure of the city, the reports in
dicated, was considered vital to give
the French a jumping off point for
wider attack against the heavily
fortified Siegfried line.
Indications the poilus were being
hard pressed by concentrated Ger
man artillery fire came in an official
war communique.
Strong action by heavy enemy
artillery on heights south of Saar-
bruecken," the communique read.
The German artillery lombard
ment was described as resulting in
destruction of some roads leading to
Saarbruecken from the French posi-
tionS.
Common Retreats Reported.
Advancing French troops which
have been feeling their way slowly
eastward reported forces from both
sides were obliged to fall back at
times during both infantry and ar
tillery actions
Reich troops previously were re-
ported moving heavy, long-range
guns into the battle areas. The
position of the firing batteries and
the intensity of the shelling were
not disclosed.
German reinforcements were re-
ported maSsing behind Saarbrueck-
en- to forestall a direct French at
tack anc occupation of the Saar cap
ital. Heavy fighting was reported
near Hornbach as the French troops
pushed eastward in an attempted
encircling movement.
Rain hampered operations along
the 100-mile front between the
Moselle and Rhine rivers, but mil
itary dispatches spoke of "substan-
tial' gains
Saarbruecken is located midway
on the front not far from the French
border.
Town Out of Artillery Range.
Reports of fighting in the Saar
Basin said the advance had almost
removed the French frontier town of
Sarreguemines from the range of
German artillery. The dispatches
said French shellfire had caused the
corp,oy, Army to cto rt renoya1 0f II c
Saar headquarters from Saarbrueck-
| en-.
The latest advances were said to
have been accompanied by the
heaviest aerial fighting on the West
ern front to date Dogfghts over the
lines, French sources said, resulted
! in destruction of three German
planes and "one or two French.
(Swiss observers, watching the
progress of the fighting from
across the border, said the Ger
mans appeared to have demon
strated marked superiority in
artillery mobility. On the other
hand these observers said, French
machine gunners, had proved
more effective than the Germans.
The heavy fixed guns in the
Maginot line, they declared, also
had proved superior in range and
destructive power to the guns
installed on the Siegfried line.
alterations in the Maginot
fortresses while the Siegfried
Notifications were being con-
structed, the Swiss observers said,
had given French advance posts
a firing power which in some
spots over matched the German
There were reports that Gen.
Maxine Weygand, commander OF
the French forces in the Near East,
was en- route to Poland to assist
in the Polish defense. A conflicting
report, however, said that he had
left Ankara, Turkey, by plane and
was returning to Beirut, Lebanon,
British Not Yet In Action.
The French government declared
officially that there already are "sev-
eral hundred thousand British
troops now in France officials said,
however, that the British had not
yet engaged in action, pointing out
that it would take some time to con-
centrate supplies and dispose the
units along the front.
Crossing of the channel was ef-
fected without incident by the Brit
ish forces, the announcement said.
French officials contrasted the ap-
pearance of the new troops with
what they described as "the handful
of heroes" who were thrown into the
breach in the early days of the
World War in an effort to stem the
German advance from Belgium.
Plans for the reception of British
reinforcements in France appar-
emily had been worked out in great
| detail Loaded down with war kits