The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-21
Oechener Story
OF War Horrors
Continued From Page -

strong pill box,
I'VE captured II by attacking an
unexpected direction" an officer
said. "That's the secret Of warfare
don't expect It,"
I asked why the Belgians had not
blown up high bridge over O
steep canal, which certainly would
have halted the Germans for some
hours.
I'VE moved too fast" the officer
said. "There wasn't enough time
between the Belgian retreat and
Our advance. Besides, our engineers
know how TO handle dynamite and
we have found that the Belgians
often use time fuses"
He said the French were expert
dynamiters and that we would see
later examples OF their work.
AT Tongeren ! saw my frst sam
pie OF the dive bomber work since
Poland, and what the stukas could
do to q town In combination with
tanks. The railroad station was a
hattened pile Of bricks. Whole
fronts Of houses had been shorn
away. Beds, wardrobes, bathtubs,
kitchen tables, baby carriages, hung
crafty or stood as II In open
fronted doll houses. Restaurant
fronts we're blown away, their
tables still intact as II awaiting
guests.
Germans Too Fast
hut for n few dynamited spots
which engineers quickly repaired,
the main road to Brussels was al
most unchanged -- the Germans
again had been too fast.
As we approached Tirlemont the
tenacity OF the pleasantly became
apparent. In driblets, farm families
who had fed we're returning In
hores or dog drawn carts, their
children perched atop bedclothes,
their hungry dogs welcoming them
with staccato barks and plaintive
Whines.
The Germans warned children 10
stay of the roads because OF the
racing stream Of transport.
At Tlrlemont o general staff Off.
Ger proudly showed us where O
German tank corps had gone
around a dynamited bridge by
smashing Its way through factory
yards and walls until II reached the
next bridge. That Is what the Ger.
mans are doing In their flood"
method advance, by which, when
they meet an obstacle and can not
beat their way through, they flow"
around 1t.
The minute attention to detail In
this blitzkrieg, with every cog In
Germany geared to advance the
striking force, made the World War
seem like q slow motion picture by
comparison.
There were not many devastated
areas. But such as they were show
ed the terrible force, thoroughness
and mercilessness Of modern war
fare.
Planes In Lead
The Stuka planes took the lead.
Then came the tanks along parallel
highways and fields. Then came
motorized shock troops and ordin-
airy infantry and artillery. For
miles there would be almost no
sign that war had passed, except
that the villages were empty.
Then would come q town or VIII
lage that had been q target. Per-
haps one building, perhaps q street,
would be fiattened ruins. This was
chiefly the work Of the dive bomb
ers, striking with deadly accuracy,
to knock out a defense nest and
clear the way for the clanking
tanks.
That Is why the blitzkrieg has
done In day what the Kaiser's army
did in weeks. The technique has
the precision and the decisiveness
Of a surgical operation.
The civilian population shows
signs Of deep shock and grief.
People usually turn their heads
away when our cars pass, or when
the great supply motor trains roar
by toward the front. Only women,
old men and children are TO be
seen All the men are fighting.