Evening star., 1940-05-25

o1CW olSutly lilIO 0clS luHl WllIlOul
being hampered by German attacks
he said. The separation of the small
Allied units from the Northern Al
lied army was accompanied by de-
struction of communications which
| prevented the Germans from fur
| ther advance, he added.
While the morning communique
of the high command reported con.
solidation of positions on the Somme
and the taking of "a certain number
OF prisoners, the chief objective oi
the French Army was to bite through
the German salient driven toward
the Channel just north of the
Somme.
The war Office spokesman said
hundreds of prisoners" were taken
in local successes. mopping up op-
erations where Nazi troops had
established bridgeheads south OF
Amiens.
He said the irregular, jagged
French line from Valenciennes
through Cambria, Arras and St
Omer to Boulogne remained un-
changed. while the breech in the
Peronne-Bapaume area still was not
closed.
But he reported Allied troops were
moving in pincher advance in
tended to trap the fast moving Ger.
man "Panzer" units which have
streaked through this corridor to-
ward the English Channel and at
the same time to establish connec-
tlon between the main French force
on the Somme and the Allied Armies
pinned inside the German ring O,
steel In Flanders and Belgium.
Movement War Continues.
The war of movement continued
throughout the north and north.
west, the spokesman said, with de.
tachments moving in between enemy
groups while isolated units Tough,
against opposing advance guards.
South of Sedan, where fighting is
progressing favorably in the wooded
section, the spokesman said the
French had recovered all ground lost
to the Germans. He described en-
gagements in the region as very
hot" and said new artillery bonn
oafdments began this morning.
Dispatches from the front indi-
Gated the French, aided by concen-
trated artillery fire, were attacking
heavily on both sides of the breach
and that they had succeeded in clos
ing in for a distance of some 10
miles.
Military commentators told of
local successes" in the region i'm
mediately north of the Somme, and
said they were evidently the be-
ginning of larger action"
Elsewhere the Allied lines were
reported holding firm and there
was an atmosphere of f1inty conf
dence here Q3 words censored here)
Heavy Fighting at Cambria.
While the main body of the
French sought to drive north from
the Somme and cut the German
"bottleneck," allied troops with
drawing from Belgium were said to
be hammering at the Nazi right
flank in the vicinity of Cambria
Heavy fighting was reported in the
outskirts of Cambria, which is about
% miles north of the Somme.
The battle appeared to be develop
ing into a race against time as the
Allies sought to close the breach in
their lines before the Nazis could
reinforce advance guards which
have penetrated to the vicinity OF
Calais.
If the drive is successful, the Ger
man mechanical units which are
now threatening Channel ports will
be isolated behind the Allied front
Additional Nazi armored cars and
motorcycles were reported roaring
through the narrowing corridor, ;
but the French said every turn OF
their wheels are proving costly.
While maSsed artillery turned the
lane into veritable no mans land
Allied warplanes constantly shuttled
back and forth overhead, strafing
the German columns and returning
to their bases to refill their bomb
racks.
Battle in North Belgium.
In Northern Belgium another bat
tie was surging along the banks OF
the Scheldt River as the Germans
sought to crack the left wing of the
Eroprh Aruov fhot rnorchod fo %hn