GRIM PREPARATIONS

Evening Star, Issue 23351, 22 August 1939, Page 10

GRIM PREPARATIONS

GERMANY BANKING ON QUICK DECISION THINKS ANGLO-FRENCH MOVE WOULD BE TOO LATE GREAT ACTIVITY ON FRONTIERS Press Association —By Telegraph—Copyright LONDON, August 21. (Received August 22, at 2 p.m.) The Berlin correspondent of ‘ The Times ’ says the final military preparations necessary if a decision in the Polish dispute is to be forced are now progressing. The concentration of troops is being increasingly expedited, so that all will be ready by August 23. Berlin is more heavily garrisoned by troops going eastward or in reserve than since the Great War. Germany’s reason for a sudden blow against Poland is based on the assumption that the Polish Army can be put out of action in the shortest time. Germany would rely on the slowness of the Western Powers to join ‘the action, due to diplomatic delays and unwillingness to face war until Poland’s effective resistance was ended, thus convincing England and France that she was beyond help. Then peace talks could follow.

The Prague representatives of ‘ The Times * says the German manoeuvres make demands on the principal roads where the emergency measures are being tested, and garages have been registered in order to accommodate 5,000 military vehicles. German officers are reported to be co-ordinating the hospital services. All Czechs up to 45 are mobilised for a compulsory labour service and the evacuation of the German civil population from Prague and other cities. The military police have been strengthened and bridges guarded. Bohemia is comparatively normal, but there is marked activity in. Moravia, where military equipment is going to Slovakia to zones where Germany obtained the right to operate. The Vienna correspondent of 1 The Times ’ says large contingents of motorised transport left the city throughout the day for the German-Slovak frontier, despite an announcement that manoeuvres would hot begin until September 10.