The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1941-01-01

since the DAYS OF Napoleon,
las failed in repeated attempts
d.
Thereafter. the German armies.
led by a powerful spearhead II
thousands Of tanks and motorized
troops. crashed forward with time
tablelike precision.
On May IS. German Panzer d.
visions forced a crossing Of the
Meuse between Namur and Givet.
and the next day they broke
through the northern extensions
Of the Magnet line between Maui
beuge and Carignan. starting the
famous bulge" which swelled I'M
till all of the allied northern forces
were cut off in Flanders.
Shortly after the first clash be-
tween advancing German troops
and allied mobile forces. Brussels
fell. That was May II. Antwerp
fell on May IS. and Laon was en-
tered on May 20.
Continuing theta drive, German
motorized columns smashed their
way through Arras. Amiens and
Ahbeville TO the channel coast and
locked up an estimated 1000 900
Allied soldiers.
Without psusing 10 rest, the ex-
IRENE left wing OF the German
army pressed northward. taking
Boulogne and Calais. With the
ring around the allied forces
steadily Tightening. King Leopold
capitulated on May rs.
British Retreat Heroic
In the face of murderous air
bombing and sledge-hammer blows
by German land forces. the Brit
ish navy managed TO evacuate the
greater part of the trapped Brit
ish Expeditionsry Force and rem
nants Of the French northern
armies from the open beach at
Dunkirk.
Without respite. Hitler
launched the second phase of Ger
many's offensive on June along a
$50 mile front between the channel
coast and Laon.
The bitter Battle Of Laon
marked the beginning OF the end
for France. A Panzer division
smashed through the hastily-con-
structed "Weygand Line" and be-
gan the pursuit Of the weary. bro
ken French armies toward the
Seine and Paris. On June .. Ger
man forces crossed the Seine and
the oisne canal and four days
later q frontal attack was launch
ed against the Maginot Line.
Paris Not Defended
From this point the campaign
became more and more one of pur.
suit. On June IA. the German,
triumphsntly marched into Paris
which the French at the last mo-
ment decided not TO defend. Yer
dun fell as German troops sd
vsnced across the lower Rhine. Or
June II. German troops reached
the Swiss frontier. having cut Of
the Maginot Line from the rear
and the same day Marshal Henri
Philippe Petain announced Franc,
had appealed to Hitler for an arm
istice.
On June Is. Hitler and Benitt
Mussolini met at Munich to con
fer on armistice terms. and tire,
days later in the historic setting
Of compiegne forest, Hitler an,
French plenipotentiaries sat in TIT
same salon car where Marsha
Foch in 1918 had received arms
tiee delegates from beaten Ger
many.
An armistice WAS signed will
Germany on June % and a Franco
Italian armistice was conclude,
two DAYS later. At 1888 a. m. O
June rs. hostilities between Ger
many. Italy and France cesse'
with Frances full military defea,
Under terms Of the armistics
German troops occupied more thai
one-hak Of France. including IN
entire channel and Atlantic coas
A. far n the Spanish frontier.
Prepare For Invasion
With the elimination OF France
Germany. and italy. which Ia
entered the conflict on June IL
were confronted by their last foe
Great Britain. A two-month lul
followed as Germany massed thou
sands Of troops. transport ship
and planes along the coast facinI
Britain.
On Aug. Z. Germany declared
total blockade OF Britain, and a
most simultaneously blitzkrieg nj
attacks on the British Isles wer
begun.
Throughout the fall. German
carried on q diplomatic offensiv
in An attempt to line W q "soli
bloc" against Britain. On Sept. 2
the Berlin Rome Tokyo r1ilitsr
alliance WAS signed AZ Berlin. AZ
psrently with the primary desir
Of neutrslixing the united State
On Oct 4. Hitler and Mussolil
met in the Brenner Pass. an
shortly thereafter. German troog
marched into Rumania under q
agreement with the new regime ,
Premier Ion Antonesqu 70 guar
the oil fields
Hitler met Pierre Laval. thu
French vioe-premier. IN France {
Oct ~. He conferred the next d,
with Generalissimo Francis
Franco on the Franco-Spanii