Evening star., 1941-04-09
British Still Wait
To Go Into Battle
With Invaders
Py ,he Associated Press.

Ey tNS hSSOCldlcu FIcoS.
ATHENS, April 9.-With the
same speed and power which
smashed the Allies in Northern
France, a German blitzkrieg divi-
sion has split Greece in two, but
the British apparently have not
yet gone into battle.
NaZi mechanical forces drove a
wedge into the rugged country west
of Salonika, cutting off the big
Macedonian port and trapping un-
counted troops along the Struma
River line, although garrisons were
holding out grimly in the valley
forts.
(There was mt response from
Athens on the German announce
ment of the capture of Salonika
and surrender of some 100000
Greek troops in Northeast
Greece
(Stefani, official Italian news
agency, declared the Germans
had broken through Australian
and New Zealand troops in the
Struma Valley, but Berlin itself
asserted that the Germans had
not yet met the British and a
spokesman tauntingly suggested
the British we're afraid to come
out to fight)
r. A. F. Blasts Nazi Tanks.
A British military spokesman
merely said no British contact had
been established with the Germans,
nor is there any indication when
that contact will be effected"
r. A. F. bombers blasted German
tanks and motor conveys repeatedly
yesterday in vigorous assaults upon
German invaders in Greece and
Yugoslavia, the r. A. F. command
announced.
The Rome and Berlin radios.
heard today in London, quoted
what they called a report from
Sofia, Bulgaria, that sailings of
British transport ships in Piraeus,
port of Athens, had been can
celed.
The ships, according to the
Sofia message, had been ordered
to remain in port, and the radio
said Greek military circles con-
sidered the order a precautionary
measure for re-embarkation of
British troops
Drive at Breakneck Speed.
Flat lands and good roads in the
Vardar Valley, which the Germans
took after a surprise dash across
Southeastern Yugoslavia, enabled
them to proceed at break-neck
speed since dawn toward Salonika.
Germany" a British spokes-
man said, had her usual oppor-
tunity of taking the initiative and,
by choosing her time, naturally got
a flying start
The situation looks rather dark
at the moment and will continue
to look so until the position is clar-
ified. But the situation also has its
good sides"
1t was still questionable how far
the Germans would be able to main
tain their flying start, the spokes-
man said. He added that Germany
evidently had taken action before
she was really ready.
Greeks Fight Delaying Action.
Outnumbered Greeks were said to
be fighting only delaying action,
and it was indicated they intended
to give up Salonika rather than
have it subjected to heavy fire such
as destroyed it in the World War.
The Germans will find the city
virtually deserted. j. Paul Thorne,
American Red Cross representative
in Greece, and one of the last to
leave Salonika before roads across
the Vardar Valley were cut, declared
thousands were streaming from the
Aegean seaport.
Many in Macedonia remembered
the Bulgar occupation of the port
during the World War when thou
sands starved, disease took a heavy
toll and residents worked in labor
battalions.
Resistance above Salonika gave
way gradually as the German
division hit the lowlands where
the Vardar empties into the Aegean,
then wheeled eastward toward the
city.
The move completed the separa-
(see ATHENS, Page A-4)