Evening star., 1939-09-10
French Claim
Advance Is
Continuing
Beginning Of Army
Action on Larger
Scale Seen Near
By TAYLOR HENRY,

n
Associated Press Foreign Correspondent.
PARIS, Sept. 9-German planes
and heavy artillery swung into ac-
ton today in roaring counter-at-
tack against the French on the west
ern front.
Reinforced German advance
guards moved into the attack behind
an artillery barrage, striking across
the Saar River on the northern
flank of the front in an effort to
blast the French from some 2O0
square miles of German territory
cleaned out during the first week
OF Europe's new war.
Despite German resistance "along
the entire 'front.' French general
staff communicate said the French
advance continued. The communlque
added tersely that "a brilliant at
tack by one of our divisions assured
us possession of an important Sec
ton of territory.
The fact that the communique for
the first time mentioned the use
of forces as large as division lndl-
Gated the battle was one OF growing
scope. 1t indicated, too, that the
first part of the second week OF the
war might see an end to preliminary
action and the beginning OF opera
tions on larger scale.
Operations Only Local.
During the first week the general
staff insisted on operations limited
to local advance guard actions.
During the last two days French
scout planes have reported ROADS
leading to the Trier sector, on the
extreme northern tip of the front,
jammed with German troops, con-
VOWS, heavy artillery and ammunl-
ton moving up to reinforce the Nazl
6iegfried line.
1t was these Nazi divisions which
apparently the German general
staff threw into the battle for pos
session of the strategic heights and
wooded areas that cover 1O0-mlle-
long strip of no ,.man's land from
the Moselle to the Rhine River.
AS the German counter attack
began France frightened its eco
r1omic belt for long war. The
cabinet late in the afternoon ap-
proved a series of financial DEGREES
which Finance Minister Paul Rey-
maud will announce and explain to
the nation in a broadcast at 8 pm.
g pm, E. S. T.) tomorrow night.
An hour before the meeting
Premier Daladier received the
American Ambassador, William C.
Bullitt.
Forest in Area Held.
The 200 square miles of territory
held by the French included about
20 square miles of the Warndt
Forest, west of Forbach, where
starlight attack last night swept
through the wooded area which
embraces one of the Saar Basins
richest coal deposits.
Forbach is on the northern flank
of the French line, where infantry
and tanks were reported to have
penetrated seven or eight miles into
German territory, reaching the Saar
River, in their advance toward the
Siegfried line.
Infantry and tanks, supported by
fast attack planes, were believed to
have pushed advance guards to-
ward the Saar River. The river
flows parallel to the French from
tier. 1t lies five miles within Ger
man territory from a point opposite
Forbach and runs through the Ger
man towns of Saarlouis and Mer-
zig. From Merzig it gradually wild
ems its distance from the frontier
until it flows into the Moselle just
below Trier.
Beyond the river line the Ger
; mans apparently were making Sc
rious stand, the unofficial reports
said, adding that they had blasted
all bridges crossing the stream,
which in this district is wide enough
to be navigable. Roads leading to
river crossings had been mined by
retreating Germans so that they
could be blown up with touch of
q plunger from the other side when
French troops came into view.
German Planes in Action.
Asst the French approached the
river German warplaneS flew into
action to bomb and machine gun the
infantry shaking its way through
underbrush and tanks ploughing
across country, these sources re-
counted.
Paris reports, however, said
French planes fought off the Ger
man airmen, reducing to a mini
mum the danger from air attacks.
Conquest of German territory,
even so industrially rich as this
area, was considered by military OBJ
servers to be merely incidental to
two main results of the first weeks
operation of Gen. Maurice Gustave
Gamelin's plan to aid Poland
through the back door,"
These results, not only obvious to
observers but confirmed in the eau
tious terms of the general staff's
communiques, were:
/. Germany already is rushing up
reinforcements to the Siegfried line,
diverting that many divisions from
those available to attack Poland.
2. The French advanced approx
imately halfway through the Is
mile-wide norman 's-land separating
the northern flanks of the Maginot
n1A ~