MOBILISE 7,000,000 MEN IN 48 HOURS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 95, 24 April 1939, Page 7

MOBILISE 7,000,000 MEN IN 48 HOURS.

NEW FRENCH ARMY. Complete Re-Equipment In Last Two Years. FORCE BEYOND CRITICISM. LONDON, April 19. Franee is now fully confident that she possesses an army capable of defending every one of her land frontiers. In the past two years, the Army has heen completely re-equipped. No longer is it subject to the criticisms that still apply to the French Air Force.

Mobilisation has been overhauled In addition to the 2,000.000 in the standing Army, 5,000,000 more would be under arms in 48 hours.

These 7,000,000 would be completely eqmpped with arms and munitions, because the nation's munition factories have recently been vastly increasing their output.

The Army has been very speedilv mechanised.

Although the number of tanks is unknown, Fiance has built a huge quantity, concentrating chiefly on the heaviest." '

These are real land battleships and may easily be proof against the more mobile anti-tank guns.

They have, in trials, overcome various kinds of anti-tank barricades and traps which are a feature of the Maginot (French) and the Siegfried (German) lines.

Tltis thorough mechanisation, says the "Yorkshire Post," is especially necessary because of strategical setbacks France has suffered.

For instance, it is now essential to retain many more -en on the Pyrenees, where formerly a small force of'highlytrained mountain troops sufficed.

More are needed, too, on the FrenchItalian border. Despite its natural defences, this is a source of potential anxiety. The old confidence that Switzerland would be inviolable in a war is no longer tenable. Accordingly a hostile march through that country must be guarded against. Finally, Belgium's policy of isolation has necessitated strong precautions against attack in the north. Famous Maginot Line. Whether the famous Maginot Line, whose full secrets are carefully preserved, is impregnable, only experience will show, but it rule's out any surprise against France. Even if the line is outflanked, an invader could not afford to leave it between his invading forces and their bases. , However, less widely realised is the Maginot Line's offensive value. Its great guns, mounted on hidden emplacements, are within range of highly vulnerable industrial German towns, which could be bombarded far more effectively than by aerial bombs. The Siegfried Line's retaliatory bombardment would be less effective, because the French border districts are less vulnerable. French colonial troops are an additional source of strength to France. Military observers claim that the Foreign Legion could outmatch five times as many of the Italians who are training in Libya.

Finally, the former belief fostered by French Right Wing extremists, that the Army is riddled by Communist cells and some regiments are awaiting war to shoot their officers and start a new revolution, has expired.

There was a time when politics, brought in by industrial conscripts, found a small place in Army life, but the Army has now returned to its aloofness from politics.

The nation's general confidence in the Army has been an important factor in the unity now dominating the country.