FRONTIER DEFENCE

Hokitika Guardian, 26 September 1939, Page 2

FRONTIER DEFENCE

MAGINOT AND SIEGFRIED LINES. Q.: What are the Maginot and Siegfried Lines? A.; They are enormouk frontier fortifications built by the French and mail military authorities in preparation for a European war. Q.: How do these lines differ? A. : The French Maginot Line is literally an underground city, extending as an unbroken line rignt along che Franco-German frontier. The Siegfried Line—now known as Germany’s vVost Wall—comprises armed and scattered fortifications, each designed to su.i iiie type ol' country in which it is pull t : When were these lines built? A.: The French fortifications were built between 1929 and 1936, calmly and coolly without haste. The rTouch euployed 15,660 men. Hitler’s West Wall was begun in 1936, The Gem,a t worn went slowly for two years, until last year when Hitler began to do'K.: nlnther Britain and France "'ouiJ allnw him to overrun Czechoslovakia, In conscripted hundreds of thou lo.u Is oi labourers and artisans, drove than lung hours until the job was com pie J d. Q.: Hoes the Siegfried Line consi.-t----of meiely a. single line of fortifications ? A.; No. It consists of four distinct lines. The first is chiefly barbed wire entanglements and tank traps.. Behind these are redoubts with supplies of food, water, and ammunition. The second line is made up of blockhouses, and is several miles behind the first, iho tiiivu consists largely of anti-aircraft machinery, and the fourth contains the moss important and strongest iortiucations of all. All are connected with roads, which were found more efficient than railways. Q.: How much did each line cost to I construct? : A. :_The cost ef Hitler’s line has not been disclosed. The Maginot Line cost about £80,000,000, or about £40',000 iOr every mile of its length. Q.: Who were the lines named after? A.: The French fortifications were named after General Maginot, the Minister of War who began them. Hitler lias changed the German line s name from Siegfried to AVest V all. Siegtried was the mythical hero of a German folk song. Perhaps the fact that Siegfried came to a bad end had something to do with the German Fuehrer’s chang. ing the name of his supposedly impregnable fortifications. Q.: Are these lines impregnable? A. ; The French line, carefully planned and slowly and steadily built over a number of years, is as near impregnability as can be planned or imagined. It is protected by about 15ft. of concrete It is 200 feet deep in places, and can shell every bit of country for 20 miles around. The German line will break before the French.