Evening star., 1940-05-29

tnlS paICle were 10 De lOSt, the Allies
would achieve final victory.
Military commentators agreed
that large amount of equipment
was bound to fall into the hands of
the Germans no matter what course
was followed in the retreat, since
saving the soldiers lives would be
the first consideration.
A gloomy nation was told the B
E. F. was in peril as grave as that
Of the British who met disaster at
Gallipoli in the World War, when
the Allies were routed by the Turks
in a catastrophe failure to estab-
lish line of communication into the
Black Sea.
The British morning press pulled
no punches in telling the public of
the dark picture and in denouncing
the young Belgian monarch as a
traitor for his capitulation against
the advice Of his government.
Hints All Facts Not Known.
In the midst of the press denun-
ciation OF Leopold, however, both
Prime Minister Churchill and his
minister of information asked the
people to suspend judgment, and
today Admiral of the Fleet Sir
Roger Keyes, who as q special Brit
ish liaison ofhcer was with Leopold
until late Monday night, issued
statement limiting there were Ger
tain important facts attending the
surrender that were not yet gener-
ally known. His statement today
said:
Some very hard things have
been said in this country and France
about the action taken by KinE
Leopold in bringing about the ces-
sation Of hostilities in the part of
Belgium occupied by his troops. I
trust judgment will beNsuspended on
a very gallant soldier until all the
facts are known" 4
Nevertheless the man in the street
and the press accused Leopold Of
laying a trap for the Allied forces.
The military correspondent of
Reuters British news agency wrote
that the Belgian Army, originally
300, 900 strong, had only 300, 900 effec-
tives when it evidence
OF its stubborn fight against German
assaults.
Germany gained little economically
by Belgian's capitulation, an au-
thoritative British source said. de-
claring Belgium had practically no
oil stocks left and her iron and steel
industries had been wrecked.
Blunt on B. E. F. Position.
The press was blunt In its treat
ment Of the precarious situation of
the B. E. F. The News Chronicles s
military correspondent said:
1T is time to face up to the facts,
to await the worst. With the sur
render of the Belgian Army the
B. E. F. would seem to be cut of
Escape by sea is the slenderest of
hopes. A break-through to the
south is a possibility equally remote.
Within the steel ring of the
Reichswehr are as many men as we
lost in the battle of the Somme and
as much war material as we aban-
doned to the Germans in March,
1918.
THE magnitude and gravity of this
disaster need no elaboration. ="
In the first Battle of the Somme,
in the summer of 1916, the British
lost 500, 900 officers and men. In the
second, in the spring of 1918, they
lost 100000.
The Times called the position Of
the B. E. F. "precarious" and re-
marked: There will no doubt be
more bad news to face and much
more hardship and danger for all
to pass through before the tide
begins to turn. But about the un-
alterable resolution of both peoples
there is happily no doubt whatever" !"
Congo Declared Unaffected.
Leopold's surrender, it was said
here, failed to affect the status Of
the Belgian Congo, Belgian colonial
possession in Africa, since the Bel