Sea; French Hold All Other Positions Paris, June 6.
SOLID "iron front" was formed by the Germans, who threw thousands of tanks, armoured cars and other powerfully armed mechanized equipment into the great Battle of Somme to crack through several points and force a passage between Amiens and the sea in the Lower Somme sector, the French High Command announced toda:
Although the French made a slight strategical retreat between Amiens and the sea, they continued to hold all other positions in an unbroken line and the High Command emphasized that at no point was the secondary line pierced.
Despite the slight French retreat, General Maxime Weygand, Allied Generalissimo, an= nounced through the War Office that the "situation was good enough, The battle is progressing according to the schedule we expected, The enemy has not yet aligned all his forces."
With the Germans bringing up) enormous forces of tanks overnight fand throwing them in the furious wattle, the biggest, in history, the lash developed into supremacy of machines, for the Fresch also drew a solid "Iron wall" of tanks.
'The Battle of Somme resumed at dawn today as the infantry, protected by hundreds of tanks, advanced. accordance with instructions from aerial observers who followed the hundreds of dive bombers that elear~ ed. the' way for the rumbling mechanized ground forces, The infantry swung ito action after an all-night artillery duel that" assumed record proportions, for never for a minute was there any slackening in the intensity of shell fre.
Theee-pronged Drive The Germans attacked at 5 widening the scope of their efforts 3 include a new right wing rush across the Somme in the region of Abbeville. This new manceuvres was attempted
three-pronged drives, which appeared in add on to the eontinuaton of the to be the main thrusts, toward Amiens, Peronne and across the Allette River and the anal southwest of Laou, Thousands of heavy shells were hurled into the Aillette. sector this morning as scores of German dive bombers also swooped down on this area and subjected it to the most severe assault of the. battle along the 120-mile front, The combination of heavy artillery fire and bombing by the Germans seemed to be concentrated-on Chemin. es Dames and this. strategic. highway Ju a valley in the Soissons area was faced with the threat major German push, There was no attempt made by either side to diminish the terrific intensity of artillery barrages and big guns seemed 10 roar continu ously.
Allied planes made their appear ance in ever-increasing numbers. an was believed that Allied bombers and" Aghting planes in the Somme front were almost numerically equal to the German force, 'Throughout the night Allied bom= ber squadrons soared over areas behind' the entire Somme front in daring fights and seriously ted uy German "movements. The plane: zoomed down and blasted bridges, roads, tank columns and massed troops, Wisdom of Publishing Nazi War Claims London, June 6.
Mr, Ernest Thurtle, Socialist mem. ber for Shorediteh, in the House of Commons yesterday, asked the Minis ter of Information why his Depart ment "continually issued for publica tion German oficial -communiques containing false claims of successes jot a most extravagant character."
"By giving official approval to the publication of these statements the Department is assisting in. spreading
ordinary people are continually. be-false reports against which, action ing warned," he said, Vice-Admiral Ernest Taylor, Conservative member for the "South Division of Paddington, called the attention of the Minister' of Informa ton to the German High Command communique passed for publication on May 30 regarding the condition fand casualties of British forces said to be engaged in the process of evacuation.
Vice-Admiral Taylor suggested that the Minister in future prevent circulation of false news this way.
lying to both questions simuftanepusly, Mr. Alfred Duff Cooper, Minister of Information, sal "It ig not the policy of the Ministry of Information to prevent publication of German oficial communiques, the fmsity of which has so often been proved that they should now univers aly be discredited. Any alteration of that policy at the present time might be misinterpreted both in this country and. elsewhere.
itr." Arthur Reed, Conservative for Exeter, suggested the Government. Insist that newspapers and others: Who published German communiques make it clear in big letters that it is information from Germany.
Mr. Duff Cooper replied: "They always make tt perfectly plain and we cannot make it plainer that these fare German officio!" communiques."
Mr, John Wilmot, Socialist member for the Kennington Division of Lambeth, asked what public interest was served by giving wide publicity to German falsehoods.
Mr. Duff Cooper replied that the! Government's view was to allow the British public to read the German statements and see what Jies they tell, Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.