BOMB CELLARS

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 November 1938, Page 12

BOMB CELLARS

BUILT FOR HITLER. Heads that- bear a crown rest uneasily at times —but their worries are small compared to those of dictators, ! radioed John Dickson from Copenhagen to the ’’Chicago Tribune” reT cently. Occasionally one learns de- ! tails of the vast machinery being used to protect Mussolini and Josep Stalin. - Little is known, however, of the ! secret measures taken to protect ] Reichsfuhrer Hitler of Germaniy. ! though they rival in efficiency those taken for other dictators. | The newly-built Chancellery in Berlin can be described as a fortress. Its I bombproof cellars reach far down into the earth and are equipped with I all modern conveniences—including bathrooms and high-grade air conditioning unknown in other German buildings. There are special elevators connecting with the kitchen of the chancellery to provide food. In addition emergency rations are packed in vast pantries. The new festive halls, which Hitler added to the chancellery which fulfilled the needs of Germany’s Iron Chancellor, Prince von Bismarck, provide space for 300 guests. Under these halls are three bombproof cellars to shelter the Chief of State and his aides.

The new building has a hidden bombproof roof. The top layer of the roof is made of a new variety of glass—about three inches thick, which is supposed to be bombproof. Parts of this roof can be moved back—something like a horizontal shutter —allowing armoured turrets to emerge.'’ They are similar to the pill-boxes in fortification lines along the German border.

EQUIPPED WITH GUNS. These turrets are equipped with | machine-guns, anti-aircraft guns, and . a sound-detecting outfit. While the new chancellery was being built, observers could see a tremendous iron structure being incorporated into the facade on the Voss Street side of the building. The structure is topped by a crane which, in case of emergency, can be used to raise or lower artillery and ammunition to and from the roof of the chancellery. Nazis realise that the day may come when the Chief of State will want to leave his headquarters rapidly, without being seen by those surrounding the chancellery. A special; tunnel connects with the nearby subway. Workers are building an additional tunnel connecting the subway in the west end of Berlin with the

Avus, the automobile speedway leading out of Berlin. I .Hitler’s bodyguards are well-known figures in modern Germany. They appear in theii’ black uniforms with white belts and trimmings at gala

I festivities. In time of emergencies I they appear in field grey, very similar to that of the German soldiers. The G.S.P. (secret police) has an entire department responsible for the personal safety of the Fuhrer. What is more, there is an extra service supervising the telephone calls wherever Hitler goes. This is in addition to the G.S.P. wire-tappers. They report directly to the Fuhrer. Hitler does not want his guards to be visible. The Begleitmannschaft, or the accompanying crew, is the only group whose presence he accepts. He insists that members of his Sicherheitsdienst, oi’ safey service, be inconspicuous.

Besides the safety service, on duty wherever Hitler goes, is the national safety service, which, it is estimated, numbers about 5000 men. A former major of gendarmes, Battenhuber, commands this body. He ranks as Standartenfuhrer, or . the equivalent of a colonel in the Hitler Guards.

When Hitler is in Berghof, his residence on the Obersalzberg, in. Bavaria, many officials are stationed in the neighbourhood with their staffs. Wide areas of land near the Obersalzberg have been purchased to ensure the “privacy” of the Fuhrer and to provide sites for anti-aircraft guns. The Untersberg, a mountain near the Berghof, has been excavated and turned into a giant bombproof cellar, which will be a safe refuge should a ' conflict break out. The method used by the Germans to build their bombproof cellars can be watched in the various centres of Berlin, where new official and semiofficial buildings are being erected. The building of the General Dye Trust for instance, will have about four underground floors.

The layers between the floors are not closely packed, but are loose and somewhat’ elastic. Should an average bomb hit the floor, it would not do much damage, because its exploding parts would find space in the looselypacked layers.