The French General Staff issued a communique on the day's momentous events this evening. It stated: "The Jattack by German troops on Bel-glum, Luxembourg and the Netherlands was preceded by an aerial attack on a large scale during the early hours today. Beside the bom bing attacks, many enemy detach ments were landed by plane or by [parachute at different points Belgium and the Netherlands parti cularly, these detachments tried to {fake aerodromes by surprise. On the whole they were successfully counter-Jattacked by the local troops. The enemy's aerial attacks on" French territory began in the early part of the night and were continued throughout the day. Some material @smage of small importance was the only result of these bombings.
"Our fighters and anti-aircraft guns came into action and inflicted heavy [losses on the German air force. Forty-tour enemy aeroplanes were brought down en French territory
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.