“ATLANTIC WALL”

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21093, 13 May 1943, Page 3

“ATLANTIC WALL”

HITLER’S INSPECTION NAZI GENERAL SACKED ITALY FEARS INVASION (11 a.m.) NEW YORK, May 12. Herr Hitler, who has arrived in Paris after two days’ inspection tour of the Atlantic defences, ousted General Schaumburg, commander of the occupation forces, reports the New York Times correspondent at Berne. According to a well-informed Berlin source, Herr Hitler intends to extend (lie shake-up of the western command to all ranks, adds the correspondent. General von Arnim, commander of the Axis forces in Tunisia, is mentioned as a possible appointee, although it is doubted whether he will succeed in escaping from Tunisia. Competent observers say that an invasion of Italy is likely to reveal a situation which in a few months may lead to Italy’s defection from the Axis. Travellers from Italy tell of automobiles, with Rome license plates, laden with household baggage, mattresses, dogs and canaries, recalling the exodus from Paris in 1940. Furthermore, reports from private sources indicate that the Italians have done virtually nothing to fortify the peninsula. Despite German propaganda boasts that the Riviera is a coast of steel, it is known that very little has been done. Even the rudimentary block-houses which the French built in 1939 have been allowed to fall into decay.