Training the German Nation

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 42, 20 February 1939, Page 9

Training the German Nation

EVERY MAN A SOLDIER LONDON, Feb. 2. The entire able-bodied population of Germany capable of bearing anns is now under the supreme personal direction of Herr Hitler. This is the effect of a recent decree issued by the Fuehrer which gives Germany the most extensive and most effective military organisation in the world, says the Berlin correspondent of the Manchester Guardian. The decree makes able-bodied Germans active soldiers from the age of 16 until they are too old to march, the correspondent continues. It goes much further than normal conscription, because the reserves will be permanently under training, whereas French military service terminates after a period under the colours. French reservists are not recalled unless in exceptional circumstances, and then only in small numbers. Germany now organises pre-army and post-army training under the Nazi Storm Troopers. Boys start in the Hitler Youth organisations, then serve in the Labour Corps, the Army and the Storm Troops. The new system was devised by General von Brauchitsch, Commander-in-Chief of the Reichswehr. It transforms the Nazi Storm Troopers into a permanent reserve army for national duty, marking a further stage in the concentration of the military forces under the personal leadership of Herr Hitler.