NOTES ON THE WAR NEWS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 104, 30 October 1939, Page 8

NOTES ON THE WAR NEWS

A PUSH IN THE WEST?

THE INFLUENCE OF POLAND

NAZI PREPARATIONS

The continued news of German troop concentrations in positions which indicate that the Nazis may launch an offensive before winter really sets in points to two main areas. One of these is at the southern end of the Maginot Line, the other is where the frontiers of Belgium and the Netherlands meet. British information early this month was that troops had been moved westward from Poland and that the principal motorised forces were in these two regions, where they were supported by sizeable concentrations of the German A.j Force. Some quarters believe that the Polish campaign has resulted in a revolution in military thought and that the German High Command now holds that it is possible to achieve a "break-through" on .either flank of the Maginot Line; a "break-through" which would be' attempted, if at all, by the mechanised divisions and by the air fox*ce. #* In Poland the Germans followed the line of first sending over heavy bombers supported by fighter planes, then waves of tanks, and next the mechanised infantry., The repetition of similar tactics on the Western Front would mean attacks by planes, on focal -points such as aerodromes, railway junctions, and road junctions—all places through which supplies must pass—in an attempt to jam the organisation *bf the defence, long enough to allow the mechanised forces to do their work. In Poland the Nazis succeeded in paralysing the enemy air force. They then attacked the Polish forward positions with low-flying planes, and used tanks and infantry to dislodge the defenders, pushing their mechanical units and the motorised , columns through gaps to carry out a series of enveloping moves. It must be admitted that the staff work of the Germans in Poland appears to have greatly impressed the British. The co-operation between the varius arms. the. organisation of the thrusts, and the perfect timing which was revealed made it clear that the army of the Reich has lost nothing of its value as a military machine under Nazi rule. Whether there would have been similar success had the Poles been supported by an adequate air force is still debated. But it is with the lessons of the Polisji campaign, as the Germans see them", that the High Command 4s now reported to be dealing, and which are held to explain the troop concentrations in the West. To carry out such a plan will mean invasion of either Swiss or Netherlands-Belgian territory, but excuses can always be found for such an action.