STRONG POSITION

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20186, 2 March 1940, Page 5

STRONG POSITION

BRITISH IN FRANCE SECRET PILL-BOXES AMAZING CAMOUFLAGE LONDON, Feb. 21. Secret pill-boxes, known only to the highest Army authorities, have been constructed by British troops who occupy what is now known as the Gort Line on the Western Front. Varied in design and amazingly camouflaged, these pill-boxes have been built to supplement the blockhouses and tank traps made by the French. A number of them were inspected yesterday by the British Minister of War, Mr. Oliver Stanley, who is on a visit to the headquarters of the British Expeditionary Force in France. Only one-third of the 158,000 British troops sent to France immediately after the outbreak of the war were in fighting divisions. The remainder were in auxiliary and other services, sent to prepare the way for the greater army destined to follow. The British Army to-day numbers 1,250,000, which is double it's strength of a year ago. That figure does not include the Indian Army of 150,000 men; neither does it take into account the great increase in the Empire Army nor the recruitment to the colonial forces. The British Army in January, 1939, consisted of 600,000 men, serving in the regular, territorial and reserve forces.

Immense as are the supplies of manpower available under the compulsory service regulations, the increase in the year is due only in part to the classes called up, because 150,000 volunteers have joined and little difficulty has been experienced in completing the territorial establishments. The strength of the latter has risen by more than 289,000 since 1936. Britain is turning out tenfold the quantity of shells, compared with the corresponding period of the last war, and has already transported 500,000 tons of war materials and 100,000 motor vehicles to France.