GERMAN TROOP MOVEMENTS

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22796, 23 August 1939, Page 9

GERMAN TROOP MOVEMENTS

PRESSURE ON POLISH FRONTIER EMERGENCY PLANS FOR CIVILIANS (UNITED PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT.) (Received August 22, 2 p.m.) LONDON, August 21. The correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain in Zilina, Slovakia, reports that 250,000 German troops, accompanied by artillery and aircraft, are now stationed on the Slovak frontier on Poland’s southern flank. The considerable Polish troop movements towards the western and Slovakian frontiers are regarded as a normal precaution in view of the German dispositions. The Polish public continues unperturbed, chiefly because the threat of a German invasion, long antedates: the present' crisis. The newspapers predict that it will be a matter of days before Germany’s final demands are made.

An Independent Cable message from Berlin states that strong Polish troop movements *and concentrations are reported along the borders of Moravia. Roads and bridges are reported to have been mined in the vicinity of Jablunka. The Berlin correspondent of “The Times” states that the final military preparations necessary if a decision in the Polish dispute is to be forced are now progressing. The concentration of troops has been increasingly expedited, so that all will be ready by Wednesday. Berlin is more heavily garrisoned by troops going eastward or in reserve than since the war.

Germany’s reason for a sudden blow against Poland is based on the assumption that the Polish Army can be put out of action in the shortest time. Germany would rely on the slowness of the Western Powers to join in the action due to diplomatic delays and unwillingness to face war until Poland’s effective resistance is ended, thus convincing England and France .that she is beyond help and that peace talks could follow.

Czechs Mobilised The Prague representative of “The Times” states that the German manoeuvres make demands on the principal roads where emergency measures are being tested. Garages are registered so as to accommodate 5000 military vehicles. German officers are reported to be co-ordinat-ing the hospital services. All Czechs up to the age of 45 have been mobilised for compulsory labour service end evacuation of the German civil population from Prague and other cities. The military police have been strengthened, bridges are guarded, emergency railway schedules have been distributed, and the air raid precautions overhauled.

The Vienna correspondent of “The Times” states that large contingents of motorised transport left the city throughout the day. for the German-Slovak frontier, in spite of the announcement that manoeuvres would not begin until September 10. Bohemia is comparatively normal, but there is marked activity in Moravia, where military equipment is going to Slovakia, to zones where Germany has obtained - the right to operate.

The British correspondent of the United Press in Berlin states that, though no official advice is "given, it has been hinted to Britons that they should not remain in Germany except on urgent business. A few families, including three journalists, are, therefore, departing.