British Army Of Rhine “Out Of Date”

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28451, 4 December 1957, Page 15

British Army Of Rhine “Out Of Date”

(Rec. 10 p.m.) LONDON, December 3.1 If war came today, the British infantryman would go on to the atomic battlefield with very little but the weapons he had in the last war, says the Bonn correspondent of the “News Chronicle" in discussing the state of Britain’s Army in Germany. Senior officers at N.A.T.O. headquarters, he says, are concerned about the Army's outdated equipment and battle readiness. No slur is cast on either the quality of the men or the morale and training of the units, but it is being questioned whether the economy axe in Britain is not depriving the soldier of the tools he needs to do the job. The British Army of the Rhine is crippled by a lack of armoured troop carriers. Tacticians say that in the gruelling conditions of atom war, carriers with tracks are essential to enable the infantry to co-operate closely with tanks. Both the Americans and the new German Army are using tracked vehicles on a large scale to carry their infantry. This is not the only shortage. In the next war this Army has a "trip wire” role. It will be fighting one of the most difficult operations—withdrawal—yet it has little heavy artillery and atom support. Apart from the Centurion tank and the -heavier Conqueror, of which very few have arrived, the Army has practically no new postwar weapons. It still has the old Lee-Enfield

rifle and does not know when it will get the new FN automatics, which are the standard N.A.T.O. weapon. Its medium machine-gun is still the Vickers—used in World War I—and it still has the 17-pounder anti-tank guns which officers, with a laugh, admit would only scratch the paint off the Russian tanks facing them in East Germany. Cost of Army

The “Daily Mail" says West Germany's contribution to the upkeep of the British Army of the Rhine will end next week. The Under-Secretary of State for the Foreign Office (Sir Paul GoreBooth) was told this last week when he went to Bonn to negotiate a new agreement with the West German Government, the paper said. The decision would be discussed in London during this week’s talks between the British Foreign Secretary (Mr Selwyn Lloyd) and the West German Foreign Minister (Dr. von Brentano).

A Foreign Office spokesman today confirmed that the question of the payment by Germany of support costs for the maintenance of the British troops in Germany would be discussed during Dr. von Brentano's visit.

But the spokesman would not comment on the report that Germany had told Britain that no support costs would be paid after March. 1058. He merely emphasised that British-German consultations were continuing. The West German Foreign Minister was originally due in London next Wednesday with Dr.

Konrad Adenauer, but the West German Chancellor had to postpone this official three-day visit because of a chill. It was reported from Bonn today that the Chancellor’s recovery is taking a normal course end he is expected to resume work later this week. Dr. Adenauer Is expected to take part in the N.A.T.O. summit conference at Paris on December 18. A Government spokesman said at Bonn that Britain had asked West Germany for a further £5O million in support costs for the British troops stationed in Germany. He said he would reveal the West German Government's position on the question after Dr. von Brentano's London visit.

Diplomatic observers at Bonn believe that when Dr. von Brentano visits London, Britain will propose leaving a strategic reserve of 5000 of the 13,500 troops she plans to withdraw in West Germany if the West Germans pay towards their upkeep. But unless West Germany shows some readiness to pay, Britain is expected to stick to her intention to withdraw all the troops. The withdrawal would still leave about 50.000 British troops tn West Germany. Total support costs, including the current contribution to Britain, are about £95 million.