May 27.
'The complete reticence which the Allied high' command 1s maintaining concerning developments in the battle in Flanders wholly justified for military reasons, Never~ theless it is possible, from the few scraps of information which are allowed to be pub= Tished, to form some idea of how the struggle is waging, and to understand why, despite the gravity of the situation, it is still pos sible for observers to find ground for con~ fidence as to the outcome of this engagement. The German Panzer detachments; {aking advantage of a weakness which deve-oped in the Allied line between Peronne, and Cambrai, were able to sweep north-Westwards along the north bank of the: Somme, reaching Abbeville whence it con~ tinued northwards towards Boulogne, spread= ing fanwise towards St. Omer, creating a Wide swathe of destruction in' which the country, through which these advance troops have passed, has been completely devastated. The German claim to have captured Boulogne are emphatically denied by the Allies, and there is every reason to believe that the Initial speed, with which the German advance troops moved along the Somme valley, has already been held up. In the meantime the French commenced a movement across the Somme between Corbie and Peronne, together with a drive from Cambrai south~ westwards which on Friday had the result of reducing the gap in the Allied lines from 35 miles to 25. That on Saturday: was still further reduced until the two Allied fronts were within twelve nilles of each other, and, consequently, are now in position to dominate the narrow corridor along which the Panzer divisions have been able to advance to the coast. Further progress by the Allies on both fronts should have the effect of creating a junction, and again presenting a unified line of resistance against the German armies. This would have the effect of ultimately restoring the situation. Against the Allied movement the German troops north of the Somme are seeking by advances towards Vimy to outflank the Allied forces at Bapaume and Cambrai with the intention of foreing them {o suspend the southward movement necessary to effect the junction with the French forces which have crossed the Somme.
It is believed, however, that the German, forces behind the Allied lines in Flanders are not sufficiently strong to be able to make such a move effective, while the narrowing down of the original gap makes it very dimly fault indeed for the Germans to send in the einforeements necessary to secure the de~ sired success. The danger of General von Reichenau's troops which have been rushed (hrough the gap being finally cut off ted the Germans on Saturday to try every means of bursting the Allied pocket. Using their numerical superiority at various points they attacked with very considerable vigour, but the latest information shows that the Allies held all points, and beat back the German attacks with considerable loss to the enemy. At no place did these German attacks prove successful. Roughly speaking the lines on, the two fronts run in Flanders and north-astern France from Ghent, to Tournal, Valenciennes, Cambrai, Bapaume, round to) St. Omer and to Boulogne on the coast, while in France it runs along the line of the Somme to St. Quentin, to La Fore, Laou, Rethel and s0 the reign of Queen Elizabeth. to Sedan. The experience of the last few days
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.