DISARMING GERMANY

Evening Star, Issue 18808, 5 December 1924, Page 12

DISARMING GERMANY

Speaking at the Royal United Service Institution in London, Major-general Sir Francis Bingham made an interesting revelation concerning the condition of the German army at the time of the Battle of the Aisne. Sir Francis, who was tec turning on the work of the Allied Com : mission of Control in Germany, mentioned that he met General Von Kluck, who said he had the greatest admiration for the way the retreat from Moris was conducted ; his utmost attempts to outflank the British completely failed. “ But why,” asked Sir Francis, “ didn’t you come back at us after the Battle of the Aisne?” Von Kluck replied : “ How could we, when you had ICO rounds a gun to our one?” "But we were told that you hud the ICO rounds, while we had the one,” said iSir Francis. “I only wish 1 had known it.” answered Von Kluck.

Huge piles of useless gnus, rifles, and carriages, stripped or demolished factories, and the ruined defences of Heligoland testify to the excellence of more than four years' work by the Allied Commission of Control. Under the Commission’s direction 33,000 guns, 23,0C0 carriages, 38.000. rounds of gun ammunition-, 115.000. fuses, 4.5C0.C00 rifles, and 456.000. OCX) rounds of small arm ammunition have been destroyed, in addition to 87,000 machine guns, and a wide variety of other war material, including 5,50 b tons of machinery at Krupps. Toward the end of the war Krupps were turning out one gun an hour for twenty-four hours a day, and one shell a press a minute in a house containing sixty presses. To-day the works are producing sewing machines and agricultural machinery. At first the Germans thought the Commission would deal only with material (hat was obviously military. When the production of range-finders was demanded they urged that these should not be destroyed 'because “ they will do so beautifully to measure the height of the clouds,” and when the flame-throwers came under sentence a German pleaded that this “ humane ” instrument could be used for burning insects off the trees. It was also seriously suggested that certain factories should not be blown up because the operation would interfere with the laying activities of the local chickens.