NOTES on the WAR NEWS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 9 January 1940, Page 3

NOTES on the WAR NEWS

Frozen German Asset TRAFFIC HALTED ON THE DANUBE Tlie freezing over of the Danube River and the interruption to traffic has given am unexpected setback to German trade at a moment when such an outlet and inlet is essential to the Reich as a counter to the British blockade. The river has been, since the outbreak of the war, the chief channel for Balkan exports to Germany, including 80 per cent, of Rumania’s oil and nearly all Rumania’s cereals. Stretching from the Black Forest to the Black Sear, the Danube passes through Germany, Austria, Hungary and Yugoslavia and thence through the “Iron Gates” (a rocky canyon) into Rumania. Herr Hitler desired to dominate the Danube from its source to its mouth, and for this purpose had built a flotilla of gunboats, which have been stationed at Vienna. But, in actual fact, such a route has proved far more costly to German trade in peace time than by sending her commerce from Hamburg and Bremen to the Black Sea ports by way of Gibraltar. But this desire to control the Danube also suggests that Herr Hitler long ago recognized the possibility of war with Great Britain and the application of the blockade in the North Sea. A channel for commerce such as the Danube provided was essential to the future of Germany, no matter how costly. The problem which has now arisen is that of expediting the transport of vital supplies from the Balkans into Germany. Rumania has always been the great user of the river, sending timber, wheat and oil into Hungary arnd Germany. As a result of the river becoming icebound, the Rumanian Government has suspended navigation permits. Thus Germany will be compelled to resort to her railways, which are already strained by military requirements. Mr. Hore-Belisha .. • In view of the resignation of Mr. Hore-Belisha and the promotion of Mr. Oliver Stanley, pen pictures of these men contained in the recently published book, “Right Honourable Gentlemen,” by “Watchman,” are of interest. “Whatever further distinctions lie ahead of him, Mr. Leslie Hore-Belish.i will be remembered as the Secretary of State for War who had ready in the autumn of 1939 an army, both in actual strength and 1 in its capacity for rapid expansion, far greater than General French’s contemptible little army,” wrote “Watchman.” “He will be celebrated as the man who, in disregard of the claims of seniority, promoted Lord Gort to the position of Chief of the Imperial General Staff. . . “At once he began rearranging the military furniture. New methods of attracting recruits were evolved, and life in the army was made more attractive. The medical test on enlistment was made less oedantic an I more realistic. .. .” Major HoreBelisha was to show his supreme authority in more serious ways. He shook up the general staff, removed some officers and promoted others. To some gallant gentlemen he gave notice as summary as it was sudden. Lord Gort’s standing and proved bravery fascinated the Major, who raised him to be Chief of the Imperial General Staff.”

. . . And Mr. Stanley Of Mr. Oliver Stanley, “Watchman” writes: “He is said to have been one of the more intransigent elements when Mr. Chamberlain’s original notions of conducting foreign policy were being put into practice. Indeed, at the time of Munich lively rumours were associating him with Mr. Duff Cooper. But he stayed on to see the policy which he publicly supported ruined and reversed. . . .

“He is not tough, he is not hearty, and there are doubts regarding his tenacity, and he certainly has not got the leathery hide required by all supremely successful politicians.” Fokker The Smuggler

The recent death of Mr. Anthony Fokker, the noted Dutch aeroplane designer and constructor, recalls one of the greatest smuggling plots of this century, whereby he managed to convey from Germany to Holland six trainloads of valuable Fokker material, despite the Allied order to destroy every Fokker plane in Germany. The story is told by Mr. Fokker in his own autobiography written in 1931, and is a typical incident in the life of a man who is credited with having had a more exciting and dramatic career than almost any man of contemporary times. “Tlie revolution which caught the German people as they were still dazed from defeat, destroyed general industry and commerce, but proved to be a life preserver for me,” wrote Mr. Fokker. Government was at a standstill and officialdom topsyturvy. “On the face of it our project seemed preposterous. The frontier was guarded not only by Dutch, but by German and Allies’ patrols. While it was possible to slip a man. or even a motor-car, secretly across the border, our design was to slip an entire trainload of supplies and materials over the regular right-of-way from Germany to Holland. Bribes And Friendships “Every detail of the plan bristled with difficulties. Had it not been that we had nothing to lose—Germany seemed drifting steadily toward a greater and greater chaos —we should not have dared to go on.” By bribes, by means of old friendships, in any and every way, the trucks were gathered. Then a special-ly-selected crew of old employees was entrusted with the secret and mobilized for quick action. So successful was the plot that altogether the six trainloads brought out of Germany more than 400 engines, 120 machines in a complete or nearly complete state, at least 60 of the two-seater observation planes which had never been released for the front, and a score or more of other types, as well as truckloads of brass and steel fittings, rubber tubing, aluminium plates, screws, propellers, upholstery materials, and thousands of other little gadgets which were necessary in aeroplane construction.