FRONT IN FRANCE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 142, 13 December 1939, Page 4

FRONT IN FRANCE

OFFICIAL VISIT

BRITISH EMPIRE MINISTERS

UNITY OF PURPOSE

(By Air Mail, from "The Post's" London

Representative.)

LONDON, November 17,

Ministers from the Dominions were entertained by the Overseas League on their return from a visit to France. Mr. Anthony Eden, Dominions Secretary, was the guest of honour.

"We have been not only with the British Expeditionary Force, but also with the French army in the Maginot Line, and, thanks to the enthusiasm of Colonel Reitz (South Africa), even in advance of that line," he said.

"I can assure you that that visit was an inspiration to us all. No one who saw what we saw could have the least doubt, if they ever had any, of the ultimate outcome of this struggle. We found our own people in very good heart."

Mr. Eden added that there was still a good bit of mud. They were also immensely impressed by the efficiency of the French army, the excellent morale of officers and men, and the confident calm with which they were awaiting whatever the future might hold. He had no doubt that the Dominion Ministers would feel that the events of the past week had been very well worth while.

MR. EDEN APPRECIATED

The various Dominions' representatives spoke, including the Hon. P. Fraser. He said that, on many grounds, the people of New Zealand were pleased when Mr. Eden's very great qualities were once more enlisted. His stand on public questions had been appreciated in New Zealand, and they were glad when they learned that, the portfolio of the Dominions had been entrusted to his care.

New Zealanders, he added, come as far as they possibly could to stand by Britain —it was impossible for them to travel further —and they would go the who 12 distance to aid Britain with the best of their resources.

During their visit to France the Ministers had opportunities not only for close personal inspection of all that is going on in the British sector of the line and for conversations with the French Premier, Commander-in-Chief, and leading Ministers and liaison officers, but were taken by French army commanders on a tour of the Maginot Line. They were left with the strong conviction that this cannot be penetrated or broken by any attack. The tour v/as strenuous. The front-line inspection occupied an entire morning and was followed by iuncheon with the French command, after which the British visitors started back on their homeward journey. THOUSAND MILES IN SIX DAYS. In addition to maintaining a running discussion of military problems in all their aspects,- walking... considerable distances under adverse conditions and necessarily going short of sleep, this representative, British > Empire tour of ■the Western SAllied positions has life volved in six days' motoring little short of 1000 miles. _ * .

Perhaps the most striking impression was made in Viscount Gort's chateau when the Ministers of the Dominions and India; after' Hearing- the British Commander-in-Chief's appreciation of the military situation, one by one stated in simple terms the contributions which his country could and would make to the common cause.

Impromptu conferences and exchanges of view which proceeded automatically during the trip suggested that the Dominions are looking to the Mother Country to work out and announce to them plans by which the resources of each unit in the Commonwealth can best be employed. Various of the many problems which have confronted the British Expeditionary Force since it took up its sector of the French defences impressed themselves on the Dominions military experts. On their way from British to French General Headquarters a halt was called by the Dominions party to make contact with the Royal Air Force. In the absence of the commanding officer on duty elsewhere, the second-in-com-mand took the Dominion Ministers into the war room and explained to them the basis on which the R.A.F. has been carrying out its multifarious duties as a third and vital arm of the Allied war machine.

On the way through a famous French fortress town, the party paid a call on another R.A.F. unit. The men were at tea and the Dominions Secretary, who visited the mess, received a stentorian welcome.

Arrived at the headquarters of one of the French armies the Dominion Ministers were entertained to dinner by the army commander, who later gave them a masterly appreciation of the military situation, illustrating his points with maps. Setting off next morning the party

was enabled, thanks to ground mist, to approach close to the German defences, and an extensive tour was afterwards made of typical sectors of the Maginot Line.

An inescapable impression of gigantic strength and magnificent military efficiency was given by the defensive works themselves and by the brief lectures on their use and purpose.

Luncheon was served 175 ft below the ground in a fort whose mechanical equipment for repulsing all forms of attack was as fascinating as it was impressive. Nor was the cooking of the Army chefs, who turned out a meal of seemingly infinite courses, inferior in any way to the rest of the arrangements.

During the visit to the Maginot Line Mr. Eden and the Ministers were decorated with the medal which is worn by all defenders of the line. The decoration was made by a French general during the luncheon. The medallion bears the words "On ne passe pas" and a representation of one of the Maginot heavy guns.