UNDAUNTED CZECHS

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 98, 22 October 1940, Page 4

UNDAUNTED CZECHS

EQUIPMENT IN BRITAIN

The task of re-equipping several thousand officers and men of the Czech army who succeeded in reaching this country from France after the capitulation is progressing steadily, says "The Times." They arrived in this country with nothing but their old uniforms, many tattered and stained by weeks of fighting. They have now been fitted out in British khaki, and are eager for another chance to meet the enemy. They are still encamped in the grounds of a famous mansion in the North of England, and are keeping in trim by physical drill and parade exercises. Their leader, Major-Gene-ral Serge Ingr, Commander-in-Chief of the Czech Forces and Minister for War in the Czech Government set up in London, told a Press reporter recently that all his men were in the former Czecho-Slovak army, and once used to their new equipment they would be ready for active service anywhere. "They are smaller in number than we were in France, but their spirit is as indomitable as it always has been since they had to flee from Czecho-Slovakia when the invasion occurred in 1938," said Major-General Ingr. "Many of them fought in Poland against the Germans, and some were captured by the Russians. They were taken as prisoners into the heart of Russia, but later they were released —without their military arms, of course. "Some managed to make their way down through the Balkans to the Mediterranean, and eventually reached France. There we formed a whole division, including artillery, machinegunners, signals, and the rest. Two regiments, the first and second, took part in the fighting on the Loire, and fought a gallant rearguard action against heavy odds. With many casualties the survivors, managed to rejoin other units at the coast, and were embarked for England. When the opportunity comes they will prove themselves a-. very valuable fighting unit, a body of men ready, if necessary, to die to the last man in their cause." Recruiting for the Czech army in Britain is still proceeding. Men are expected to join from Canada and the United States. The Czechs will form self-contained units, but they will serve under the British High Command. The Czech airmen, too, are waiting almost impatiently to meet the Germans again, and squadrons of fighters and bombers have nearly completed their training ia this i country.