Evening star., 1940-05-27
Massed Forces Hurled Into Fight;
Torpedo Boats Strike on Channel;
British Naval Guns Guard Calais
Defenses Broken
In Ypres Areo,
Berlin Claims
~ the Associated Press.

~ the Associated Press.
BERLIN, May q. Sudden
blows by swarms of warplanes
and high-speed torpedo boats
paced Nazi attempts today to
score a quick knockout in the
battle for the English Channel.
While German ground forces
broke deeply through the Flan-
ders battle line almost to Ypres
in a squeeze" to split the en-
circled Allied forces in Belgium
and Northern France, the high
command said, warplanes left
the water front of Dunkerque in
flames and the mosquito like tor
pedo boats stung the Allies in
raids along the Channel coast.
The high command credited the
epeedboats with a daring feat in
entering Ostend Harbor where, it
said, one of them sank a British
destroyer. Another was said to
have sunk an Allied submarine OF
Helder, once Dutch naval base.
Two Objectives.
The German forces evidently had
two objectives:
/. To dominate the whole French
coast of the English Channel-po-
tential springboard for a direct as
sault on England.
2. To cut in two the trapped AL
lied armies before clamping down
the stranglehold which they are
confident will mean death or sur
render of some 100000 French,
Belgian and British soldiers In the
battle Of Flanders and Artois.
Both sides appeared to be pouring
all their available resources into
the battle. Among extraordinary
results was the high commands
report that guns of German tank
had set fire to an Allied destroyer in
the Channel port Of Boulogne.
Nazis expected German troops In
the northern fighting area from st.
Omer eastward and from Courtrai
northwestward near Ypres quickly
to close the narrow opening of the
sack In which the Allies are caught
and boasted that I'VE are now In
position to determine the temper OF
the war"
Hemmed in Near Artois.
The new gains, 1t was. said, have
further hemmed in Allied troops In
the Artois region.
With the German Army reported
pushing northward from Calais to
threaten the Channel ports of
Gravelines and Dunkerque, the high
command stressed the air force as
the NaM trail blazer. (The Allies
said they still held Calais)
Air attack, it said, frustrated Brit
ish attempts to withdraw parts of
their encircled forces by water and
left. the water front of Dunkerque
afiame.
"The severity of the attacks was
most effectively centered upon the
region wherein the enemy armies
are trapped" the communique said.
German troops attacked north
east of Lens and later repulsed,
with bloody losses for the enemy,
counterattacks by French colonial
troops"
Heavy Tank Fighting.
Heavy tank fighting was indi-
Gated. On the southern front, it
reported five of II Allied tanks were
incapacitated and the others so
seriously damaged that their attack
foundered.
In the air, the communique said,
Nazi flyers achieved these results
yesterday at a loss of only Is Ger
man planes against 73 Allied craft
destroyed:
/. Sank a merchant ship Of 5000
tons and caused explosions with
bomb hits on one large warship,
two cruisers and an 18,000-ton
transport.
2. Raided airports and the vicin-
ity of Paris, traffic facilities south
of Reims and Allied troop move
ments.
8. Dropped more parachutists to
reinforce the beleaguered Nazi gar
rison at Narvik, Norways Arctic
iron ere port.
Expected to Seal Fate.
Seizure of Gravelines and Dun
kerq@e, regarded here as a foregone
conclusion. was expected to pave the
way for direct assault upon Eng
land.
In an effort to cut the Allied forces
In two, one German column was re-
ported advancing in a northerly
direction from the vicinity Of Lille