Attached on the right is an editorial by retired U.S. Army Major General Stephen O. Fuqua (1874 - 1943) in which he stresses the difference between a "retreat" and a "withdrawal" in an effort to emphasize that the recent disengagement exercised by the French Army on October 19 [1939] was purely voluntary - and that they were not forced back by the Germans. Additionally, the general sums up other aspects of the nascent war and explains their meaning.
"A retirement behind the Maginot Line would give the Allied forces the advantage in defensive fighting, if there is to be a fight, behind a well-organized and prepared position comfortably equipped for the winter season, thus obviating reliance on an improvised line on German soil defended by a field fortifications."
