FRONTIER DEFENCES

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 124, 18 February 1933, Page 18

FRONTIER DEFENCES

Eastern Part of France ® AN ELABORATE SYSTEM (Reuter—Letter to “Dominion.”) France’s new "mystery” defences on her eastern frontier are attracting attention in military circles. Nobody seems to know their real nature, but it is clear that they differ radically from the pre-war defences, which consisted of a chain of massive fortresses based on a rather mediaeval conception of warfare. Over £30.000,000 is understood to have been devoted to the new fortifications in the past few years. This is more than double what was spent in the forty years before 101-1. Instead of forts in the old sense of the term, the French appear to be creating a fortified belt of country of considerable depth. It is virtually an elaboration of the trench system, providing an area which can be made ready for defence at very’short notice. Within this area are chains of concrete machine-gun posts, or “pillboxes,” concrete field gun emplacements, and concrete shelters for troops. There are also underground casemates and galleries. Bridges, railways, and roads have been mined in readiness for an emergency.