DEFENCE OF BALKANS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 63, Issue 229, 8 July 1943, Page 6

DEFENCE OF BALKANS.

MEASURES BY THE GERMANS. LONDON, July 6. “The Germans seem to be increasingly conscious that the Balkans may again be a weak spot in their European armour, from where will come the fatal blow, as indeed happened in the last war,” says the Istanbul correspondent of “The Times.” “Consequently they are frantically perfecting, as far as possible, the defences of the Balkan peninsula. “The Germans are sending to the Balkans reinforcements and war materials, especially fighters, anti-air-craft batteries, and heavy coastal guns. German specialists are supervising fortifications and constructing branch railway lines and roads from Bulgaria to the Aegean coast. The Axis forces in the * Balkans, roughly about 70 divisions, consist of 29 Italian, 15 or 16 German, 21 Bulgarian, and five Croat divisions. The Hungarian and Rumanian armies are not included in this estimate, because they are suspicious of each other and are anxious to keep their available forces in reserve for final settlement of the Transylvanian question, ■ and seem to have made up their minds to take no active part in the Balkans operations.”