NOT IMPREGNABLE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 63, Issue 230, 9 July 1943, Page 3

NOT IMPREGNABLE

GERMANY’S WEST WALL. TESTS MADE IN AMERICA. EFFECTIVE USE OF ABTILLEDY. (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright.) (Bee. 10.40.) WASHINGTON, July 8. Tests at the Army proving ground in Maryland have shown that the German West Wall is not impregnable, and can he crumbled by American big guns, said the Ordnance Chief, Major-Gen-eral Levin Campbell. The Army constructed, a miniature West Wall consisting of a miniature blockhouse of high-grade concrete of the same thickness as tlio original, reinforced with .steel strips and dirt heaps. Various American guns of a size capable of being transported across the Channel were placed at a certain distance and reduced the ersatz West Wall to a broken, pulverised ruin, with twisted and broken steel rods sticking out like strands of rigid spaghetti. Major-General Campbell ascribed the good results to high-explosive, armourpiercing shells. The tests demonstrated that we can handle the West Wall at a considerable number of miles, lie said. The Nazis conducted similar tests before attacking the Maginot Line and the [Russian fortifications. The “New York Times” points out that Major-General Campbell’s disclosure is significant because it is the first time ia. high ranking Army officer has described the West Wall as vulnerable to artillery assault. It also demonstrates the extent of Army plans for the day when troops storm the fortress of Europe.