W Flanders were false and Berlin claimed that reports of Allied withdrawals from that it was impossible for any of the beleaguered troops to reach Britain, two stories of the withdrawal of 500,000 men were flashed throughout the world from Paris and New York yesterday.
Curiously enough the New York despatch had its source in Berlin, being a message from the "New York Times" correspondent there which had to pass the German censors, Yet another message from Paris: indicated that the Allies had made a swift withdrawal and 300,000 troops had been. evacuated. None of these messages, all of which were issued by Domei, was confirmed by official communiques from the Allied Forces or by any of the other news agencies, although the German claim to have destroyed by air action many Allied troops in the North Sea when more than 60 British warships and troop transports: were fleeing towards England, tended to confirm that withdrawals were taking place on a big scale.
The three messages were as The retreat is continuing, with. heavy fighting, and nota" single: French unit has surrendered, the: statement concludes,—Reuter, isnot seaes 2
Last Stand To Save Troops Paris, May 30: mand Shas "ordered a swift with~ Beet Se pho here that. approximately "300,000 Say ce Been reteaiy wiharaw through Maes eric aap in Planers have pare sand Pish 2
Beige German encirclement des ral Ser"Bers to the sw York ime reported yntery.
"The number of Aled 0098 sll {Sr'pcentinanasts00 gri, the ds= tet the "mr aod 'A part of the forces withdrawn from Jtne Flanders front has been sent by sea to the rear of the Somme-Aisne front while some of the troops have been sent back to England to bolster home defences, the paper was In~ st stand outside Nieuport, determined to hold off the Germans' and allow as many Allied troops as possible to escape {before opening the floodgates of the Yoer River. 'The German. pincers were the tightest between the heights of Casselland Kemmel and the Allied Aeets were hammering away at these two mounts, twenty miles inland, in an effort to' prevent the jaws. from [snapping shut, Fighting attained a rare. pitch of violence during the night as the Germans hurled the full weight of 40 of their most powerful divisions, including the bulk of their mechanized {forees, into the battle aimed at cutting the road of the Allies leading 10 {the sea, a high French military source The trapped French forces under Prioux were trying to smash their way to the sea between positions: which the bull of the British Army, supported by French units, was bit" terly defending against the main mass of the 40 German divisions, roughly Composed of 1,000,000 men,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.