DISARMING GERMANY.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 1 December 1924, Page 2

DISARMING GERMANY.

MUNITIONS DESTROYED. AISNE REVELATIONS. At the Royal United Service Institution, Major-General Sir Francis It. 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 lecturing on the work of the Allied Commission of Control in Germany, mentioned that he met General von Kluck, who repeated the praise already expressed in his hook of the first six British divisions who opposed him during the earliest weeks of the war. The former commander of the German right wing said he had had the greatest admiration for the way the retreat from Mons 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 100 rounds per gun to our one?” “But we were told that you had the 100 rounds whilst we had the one,” said Sir Francis. “I only wish I had known it,” answered von Kluck. In the course of his lecture Sir Francis Bingham described the numerous difficulties the commission encountered before it succeeded, even partially, in achieving the disarmament of Germany, as required by the Treaty of Versailles, but he was able to, support his account of the commission’s work by photographic records of its thoroughness. Huge piles, of useless guns, rifles, and carriages, stripped or demolished factories, and the ruined defences of Heligoland to-day testify to the excellence of more than four years’ work; Under the commission’s direction 33,000 guns., 23,000 carriages, 38,000,000 rounds of gun ammunition, 115,000,000 fuses, 4,5000,000 rifles, and 456,000,000 rounds of small arm ammunition have been destroyed, ! in addition to 87,000 machine-guns, and a wide variety of other war material, including 5500 tons of machinery at Krupp’s. It is interesting to learn that towards the end of the war Krupp’s were turningout one gun per hour for twenty-four hours a day, and one shell per press per minute in a house containing sixty presses. To-day, what was formerly the greatest arsenal in the world is making sewing machines and agricultural machinery. Two incidents referred to by Sir Francis are interesting as illustrations of the German mentality. At first the German thought the- commission would deal only with material that was obviously military, and they were greatly disgusted to discover how completely they were to be stripped. When the production of the range-finders was demanded they urged that these should not be destroyed because “they will do so beautifully to measure th© height of th© clouds,” and when the flamenwerfer (flame throwers) came under sentence a German pleaded that his. “humane” instrument could be used for burning insects off the tree. Asked why lie described the weapon as humane he replied that it was so beastly that no enemy would wait to meet it It was also seriously suggested that certain factories should not be blown up because the operation would interefere with the laying activities of the local chickens.