Imperial Valley press. (El Centro, Calif.) 1907-current, 1940-05-22
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north are concerned.
The German sources denied the
allied claim that ArraS had been
letaken from the Germans. AT
the same time they declined to
confirm unofficial reports that Ger
man troops had captured scissors
in the drive of the southern German
wing toward Paris.
They emphasized that the sur
rounded allied northern armies have
not collapsed and still are fighting
with great fierceneSS.
The northern armies, it was said
are exceptionally strong and in
clude some of Frances best equip
ped Elite troops"
The outcome Of the enormous
conflict still was uncertain Scores
of major and minor engagements
ragged from the banks of the AiSne
at Rethel to the mouth of the
Somme at Abbeville and north III
Flanders and Picary.
Only this was certain. The Ger
mans were mastering every re-
source to hold and extend the line
they have driven all the way across
Northern France to the English
channel. Their immediate objec
tive was to crush the allied army
of the north-compriSing the Brit
iSh eXpeditionary force, French
units. the Belgian army and Dutch
remnantS-Which has been cut off
from the main French forces by
the German drive across France.
The th.'uSC OF the German Able
Vile forces toward Montreuil ano
st. Pol, in apparent disregard tol
their communications at ArraS. is
designed to tighten the steel ring
around the allied northern army
AT the same time the German air
force blasted at the French chan
mel ports to hinder and diSorganiZe
any effort to remove the Allied
army by sea.
The allies were fighting back hard.
Their recap;ure OF ArraS may in
dictate an attempt to blast a path
way through the German salient
back to the main Allied postionc
south of the River Somme.
Other units of the trapped allied
force smashed at ValencienneS. near
the northern hinge of the original
Germa break-througn on the west
ern front. Here again the objective
is to blast a corridor through the
German salient. cutting the German
lines of communication and enabl-
ing the isolated French corps tC
rejoin their main body, which here
is south of the Aisne near Rethel.
After conferences with Weygand
Premier Paul Reynaud expressed
confidence in the outcome. If We
hold for a month"; he asserted,
we shall have travelled three
fourths of the road to victory"
Huge losses were being suffered
on each side. French sources esti-
mated that the Germans had lost
100000 killed and wounded since
invading Holland. A London source
placed German casualties on the
western front at 100000, plus 20O.-
900 in Poland and 2500O to 10000
in Scandinavia. The Germans
claimed to have captured 10000
to 10000 prisoners but d:I not
estimate Allied casualties
The Royal Air Force was heavily
engaged in the Allied effort t.
extricate themselves from then
dangerous positionn Raj planes
last night bombed most of the line
of German communications from
Aachen, west to the fighting lines.
Bridges across the MeuSe were
blasted and heavy attacks made
near Namur and Dinant.
German sources claimed the Allies
had lost 1000 planes in II days
fighting and predicted that the
wars outcome would be determined
in the space of weeks.
Paris believed that Arras might
be the prelude to a major Allied
offensive in northern France. The
invaders, it was SAID still face the
enormous task of consolidating gains
Wrested in blitzkrieg that put
the Allies with their backs to the
wall but not out.
The French conceded that Ger
man motorized units reaching Alb