AN ARMY ON WHEELS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 3, 4 July 1939, Page 9

AN ARMY ON WHEELS

IHI VICTOEY FARAPE

FRANCO SHOWS HIS MIGHT

One iiungrec! and fi^y thousand of th§ victorious veterans who won the Spanish civil war for him mesched past General Francisco Franco today iri a farewell review, cabled Sam Bjfewor trom Madrid to the '^Chicago Tribune" on May ifc; The sis-hour parade wa? watered by a crowd estimator at more than a minion, With this show ef power the Spanish war- period made a final bow and the nation entered wholeheartedly upon reconstruction. The troop? who parti§ipat§d in today's parade constitute onfsftlth 0* the men gtill under arms irj Seals, About 250,000 already hav§ b@§n 4emPbili§Q& The gay's mvvmQnim opened with ihe Br€§e&.aJiQ!V to Franco of the na* tioa's highlit swarg ftv valom?, tho Cress oi Sta fotna^do with tho hm?& Wseatb, St i§ s§M by only twenty* nine mm, aU el whom formed a guaM here tc^iy fo? Franep, * Standing high in a pulpit-like tribune and flawed on §aeh §ide by a tower with gUt l§tterg spelling hig name and topped by the word "Victory, 84 Franco saw a precession of an astonishing assortment oi troops who had backed his cause, They **- eluded more than 5000 Moors, 4QOQ Germans, 12,000 Italians, members of Ihe Spanish Foreign Legion, and abuut 100,600 Spaniards, The Germans were under command of General Baron yon Richthofen and the Italians of General Gastone Gambara. Every type of the most modern fight? ing units filed past, first under cloudy sides, then in showers, and finally in pelting rain, Before tbe rain set in, planes fi§W overhead. The spectators started tp run for cover, but were warned through the loud-speaker ostein that none would bo allowed to leavo the stands until the parade was finished, FRANCO STANDS FIRM. General Franco stood firm through, out the downpour that left his quests drenched and shivering, With him were General Andres C&iiquet. commander of the Amay of Central Sp4n, and General JarelaJn the procession were hundreds o| motor vehicle^ most of them of Ameri* can make; 400 cannons of more than thpee-inch calibre, JOO light anti-air* craft weapons, and 200- tanks. SPhe parade contained mobile units not shown before, such as a complete automobile repair shop in a dozen trucks. One unit was a workshop for the manufacture of seat cushion?, another to turn out any missing art, and still. another specialising in the repair of any part of an automobile body. There were even motorised bars. Anti-ga§ units, clad in fireproof and gasproof suits; German field kitchens with the soldiers' dinner bubbling and steaming, portable broadcast stations, and loudspeaker units for breaking down enemy morale, all these were displayed. The artillery shown ranged all the way from long, slim anti-aircraft quickfirers to squat Italian nine-inch howitzers. Bu* as far as the ?rowd and reporters were concerned, the honours went to the Germans with their long-range six-inch field guns and heavy anti-aircraft guns of just under fouHnch calibre. The Italian and German volunteers will soon go home. The 4000 Germans will have their own review in Leonon nest Monday before going to Vigo to embark for Germany on May 28. The Italians are scheduled to sail from Cadiz and Alicante on May 28, while the Moors will leave from Cadiz before 1 artroe 5. ■