THE CZECHS' MAGINOT LINE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 77, 28 September 1938, Page 9

THE CZECHS' MAGINOT LINE

The article that follows reveals the extent of Czechoslovakia's recent military preparations for the expected emergency. The author, Ladislas Farago, is an international reporter now in the United States. He gathered the material while in Czechoslovakia on a special assignment in the course of which he visited Germany, Russia, France, Spain, Palestine, Egypt, and Arabia. He has also represented the Associated Press and the "New York Times" abroad, securing the first interview with Haile Selassie in Ethiopia. He is the author of several books on these countries. *

When the news of the former Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg's visit to Hitler at Berchtesgaden reached the War Ministry at Prague, the Czech General Staff ordered more than 100,000 labourers to the 200-mile Austrian border, with instructions to complete the huge task within 90 days. Surrounded on four sides by. hostile

neighbours, Czechoslovakia has but one opening, scarcely 150 miles wide, in her 2200-miles frontier. This is the section bordering upon friendly Rumania, which leads to her ally, Russia. In this narrow strip, some 30,000 workers are feverishly working on the com- j pletion of the Northern Transylvania and Bukovina railroad, which is planned as the world's most modern strategic railroad. When I recently visited the work going on in the Carpathian Mountains, powerful lights had been set up to allow for three shifts of workers throughout the 24 hours of the day and night. TWO SETS OF TRACKS. The railway is being constructed with double sets of tracks, running in each direction. Czechoslovakia gave Rumania a credit ofK £3,000,000 to enable this member of the Little Entente. to build the continuation of the railway through Rumanian territory. It is estimated that 50,000 troops may be transported over this line daily from Russia to Czechoslovakia. ' • The railway runs through difficult country, high mountains, and impenetrable woods; the surroundings being cleverly used as natural camouflage against invading air forces; but this strategic railway is only one link in Czechoslovakia's immense system of fortifications. Along the 1000-mile German frontier and the 875 mile Polish frontier, the :epub!ic has built a system of forts, which is considered impregnable by impartial foreign observers. In building it, Czechoslovakia had the full support of all the French defence departments. The experience gained in building France's famed Maginot Line was placed at the disposal of the Czech General Staff. France actually sent her best military engineers and the ablest officers of her efficient "Genie" Department to Czechoslovakia. .A permanent French military mission, headed by a general of the French General Staff, is attached to Czechoslovakia's own General Staff, and all the plans for the defensive works were developed in the closest co-operation with Paris. ALONG TWO BORDERS. Under 'the personal guidance of Colonel Emil Morawetz, Chief of the Intelligence Section of Prague's War Ministry, I inspected the fortifications along the German and Polish borders. Here there has been built an improved French Maginot Line. Travelling by car from Prague, I reached the first outpost of these fortifications at Zinnwald, only a short distance from Dresden, the headquarters-to-be of any invading German army. From Zinnwald, an unbroken chain of fortifications stretches north and south, both underground and above. A five-fold line of barbed wire is stretched along the entire length of the frontier. The line is connected with the power stations at Teplitz-Schoenau and Kraslice. to load the wire with high-tension electricity in case of invasion. Another emergency station is situated underground, near Zilenza Ruda, where, at the turn of a switch, power will start if German planes should annihilate j the other two. 1 All roads leading.from Germany and Poland into Czechoslovakia are studded with massive cement blocks, about 12ft I high and equally wide. These blocks are placed on alternate sides of the road, spaced about 50 yards apart, for a distance of about 250 yards. Peacetime traffic must move slowly at less than four miles an hour, and the space left by the blocks is so narrow that only ordinary motor-cars can get through. No trucks or tanks can pass the frontier on these roads. At the border there are huge steel gates which can spring up out of the ground, to be closed in the face of an invading army. Camouflaged tank traps are built at 200-yard intervals on the line. These are deep ditches, with mines planted at the bottom to annihilate any tank that falls into them. The,complete system of surface fortifications is controlled from underground sentry boxes by means of an c ingenious wireless system. Pushing a r single button loads the barbed wire with high-tension electricity, closes the r gates, and opens the tank traps. Heavy r artillery and Flak (anti-aircraft) guns, *' placed on the surface, are also operated t from below the ground by efficient •* range-finding periscopes and wireless ° firing apparatus. Thus, the invaders would find not a single soldier on the surface, yet terrific activity would be carried on from under the ground. Beneath th*se protective fortifications, designed to stop an . invading force or to slow down its advance, runs Czechoslovakia's own Maginot Line. It consists of an unbroken chain of more. than 1000 little forts, built ;of

FRONTIER FORTIFICATIONS

PREAT WORK RUSHED FORWARD

steel and cement. They ax-e connected by a series of tunnels, but by the simple pushing of a button can be made into independent units, in case any part of the system should fall into enemy hands. THE LARGE GARRISON. The underground forts are garrisoned by about 70,000 soldiers, but this number crn be increased to 250.000 within 24 hours. Special railway lines run into the underground casemates, disappearing into tunnels from five to ten miles behind the frontier. These subterranean casemates are built for an extended war. Not only are provisions and war materials piled up in abundance, but great care has been taken to make the surroundings comfortable. It is the conviction of the Czech General Staff that extended warfare in unprotected trenches has a disastrous effect on the morale of the soldiers.

The casemates are air-conditioned;

special lamps have been installed to simulate daylight. There are cafes, theatres, and movie houses underground to provide relaxation for the troops. At four points there are underground hangars and aerodromes. There is a concealed and specially strongly fortified section behind the front line, to accommodate the high command. Sectional commands are at Zinnwald, Vejprty, Kraslice, Plan, and Zelezna Ruda, and with the extension of the line along the Austrian frontier, new positions are to be erected near Mikulov and Bijssi Brod. ■ There are other fortifications at the Hungarian frontier, but these are older. The high command is at Komarn, on the Danube, in underground casemates. OF CZECH NATIONALITY. The garrison of the fortifications is composed entirely of troops of Czech nationality, the commanding officers being the most relMble members of the former Czech Legion, and graduates of Czechoslovakia's famed Officers' School at Moravska. In the hinterland, behind the fortifications, other crack Czech regiments are garrisoned. Troops composed of minority naiionals are stationed in less vulnerable positions. Thus, German regiments are garrisoned in Slovakia, and Hungarian regiments around Prague. Thic measure was resorted to when re- J cently a company of Hungarians crossed into Hungary with complete equipment. On the sharp protest of the Prague Foreign Office, Hungary returned the equipment of the deserters, but the soldiers remained on Hungarian soil. To prevent espionage, all the workers building the new line of fortifications, and engaged on the strategic I'ailroad to Rumania and Russia, are Czechs. The War Ministry recently decreed that all orders of a military character must be placed with Czech firms, which, in turn, undertook to employ only Czech workers when manufacturing war material. THE? STANDING ARMY. At present Czechoslovakia has a standing army of 140,000 soldiers, with 10,100 reliable officers in command. This number could be increased to more than 1,000,000 soldiers within 48 hours following a general mobilisation, and to 3,500,000 within seven days. All the railroads have been rebuilt to conform to the mobilisation plans of the General Staff. "This is a great achievement,** Colonel Morawetz pointed out to me. "Austria-Hungary needed more than three months to complete mobilisation in 1914." The economic aspect of mobilisation was perfected several years ago. Today all the warehouses are filled with provisions, and the arsenals with war material sufficient for several years. Czech factories have been rebuilt, so that they can be turned into armament plants on a day's notice. The famous Bata shoe works at Zlin .were completely reconstructed for manufacturing war material. Today they manufacture not only gas masks —considered the best in the world— but also light machine-guns and light artillery.