Of the seriousness of the blow to the Allies caused by the surrender by the Netherlanders of practically all their country with the exception of the province of Zeeland, there cannot be the slightest doubt. Against the overwhelming force which the Germans threw into Holland, and the technical equipment which Germany has built up, the Hollanders despite their indomitable courage could not hope to prevail They valiantly did their best, and very deep, and rea! sympathy will be felt for them in their hour of trial Of this they may rest assured the Allies intend to continue fighting until the machine which has laid the Netherlands low has been smashed, and the Low Countries restored to their integrity, and independence. Their people have made, and are making huge sacrifices to avert that servitude which the Nazis have clamped down upon countries unfortunate enough to be subjugated by them, and in the hour of victory they will be remembered. As a result of six days' fighting a clear picture has developed of what the Germans are attempting to do, with, it must be admitted, up to the present, no small degree of success. Apart from the desire to reach the Netherlands coast from which to launch air attacks upon Great Britain, there is also in progress a vast turning movement through the Low Countries, which may be expected to develop with even greater intensity now that Holland has been forced to capitulate. Commencing with attacks eastward into Holland, and into Belgium in the vicinity of Maastricht, where a piece of bad luck made the German effort all the more successful, the German forces advanced across the King Albert Canal forming a salient roughly bounded by the River Gette, Tirlemont, Varennes back to Tongres and then down to the Meuse somewhere to the west of Liege, the city of which has been captured, though the forts, at any rate up to yesterday morning, were still holding out. In the salient thus described the invaders are at present seeking to cross the River Gette toward Louvain and Antwerp, a movement which should be greatly accelerated now that they will be able to strike southward from Holland and thus probably turn the remainder of the fortified line along the King Albert Canal.
Between the Meuse and the Moselle the Germans have advanced rapidly through the Ardennes, and are reported not only to be driving the spearhead of their advance southwards to Sedan and Longwy, which are reported to have been entered, but are likewise advancing westwards towards the fortified Belgian positions along the River Meuse, particularly towards Namur and Dinant. This may have the effect of forcing the Allies to withdraw from the narrow salient which they occupy west of Liege and straighten their line until it should run from Tirlemont south-eastwards to the Meuse in the neighbourhood of Buy or possibly Namur, while the possibility of a further withdrawal south-eastward in the event of the Germans occupying Antwerp cannot be overlooked. Just where the German advance will finally be held up it is at present difficult to forecast, for it is obviously being carried along by its original momentum, and it may be some days, or perhaps weeks before the present onrush is finally stopped. While the trials to which the Allies are being subjected are similar to those they experienced during the first few weeks of the last war, it is quite impossible to establish true parallels because of the important, new factors to be found in the aeroplane and the mechanized units. Movement is very much swifter than ever before, and released from their preoccupation in Holland, the German advance may again be speeded up at a time when it was thought that the Allies were very nearly holding it. What has been made very plain is that in this advance the Germans following the practice of the last war have sacrificed large numbers of men in killed and wounded, indicative of the desperate lengths Herr Hitler is prepared to go in his endeavour to obtain a swift and decisive victory. There the parallel with the last war seems to be complete, and the manner in which German youth is being used as cannon fodder is all on a par with the way in which they were sacrificed twenty-six years ago.
It would be highly imprudent to seek to minimise the initial German success, but at the same time foolish to permit an exaggera ated idea as to its dimensions to prevail. The Germans had all the advantage of surprise and the treachery of the Nazis in the Netherlands, and they have succeeded in delivering a heavy blow. But this is only the beginning of a battle which judging from the experiences of the past may last for weeks to come. That it will continue until the German momentum is slowed down either by active resistance or the temporary exhaustion of resources, may be taken for granted. The various announcements which have been made by the Allied commands breathe the completest confidence. The real battle has not yet been entirely engaged, and when it does it may take a very considerable time before the results will emerge. The Allied command may be expected to make its stand in positions calculated to give them the greatest benefit, and, if the present movements are taken as a delaying action while the final positions for battle are being prepared, that undoubtedly will give the best idea of a situation which at the present moment is in a state of flux. The Allied troops for the moment are fighting a rearguard action, inflicting the utmost possible damage upon the enemy and making him pay dearly for every advance which he makes. Nevertheless there may be dark days ahead. The Allies cannot expect to win every engagement, and at the moment the Germans have the advantage of the initiative. That will eventually be taken from them as the Allied war effort increases, and passes the peak which the Germans have already attained. This is not going to be a short war, and the Allies may expect their ups and downs, but so long as these are faced with the determination that the last battle shall be won by the Allies, these reverses can be set in their proper perspective. For the rest the fate of the Netherlands will arouse the sympathy of the whole world, and on the part of the Allies the firmest insistence that they shall in the end get back all for which they set out so gallantly to fight.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.