MORE ARMS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23574, 7 February 1940, Page 11

MORE ARMS

SPEED-UP IN BRITAIN UNIONS ASKED FOR AID IMPOSING PROGRAMME VAST LABOUR FORCE By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright LONDON, Feb. .'» The Minister of Labour and National Service, Mr. Ernest Brown, to-day met the executive of the Amalgamated Engineering Union and detailed the Government's latest plan for a tremendous new arms production effort. He asked the unions to assist in finding the necessary labour.

The executive is examining the proposals, and will meet the Minister again in 10 or 14 days. Mr. Fred Smith, general secretary of the union, described the proposals as constituting the most ambitious programme he had ever seen. The executive had undertaken to do all it possibly could to assist. This would mean that a vast new labour force would be wanted.

The conference included representatives of the Defence Department, the Ministry of Supply and the Ministry of Shipping, says a British official wireless message. A further talk will be held to-morrow week between the Labour Ministry and the Confederation of the Shipbuilding and Engineering Union.

LUXEMBURG UNEASY GERMANS ON FRONTIER MUCH RECENT ACTIVITY [inoil OUR OWN correspondent] LONDON, Jan. 12 Since the beginning of December the inhabitants of Luxemburg have seen thousands of Germans at work enlarging and improving all the roads leading from Germany to their borders. In addition to this work a new strategic road at right angles to the course of the Moselle and reaching that river at Ehnen, six miles north of Remich, has been begun. Many hundreds of men have been working on the road Soundings were made by Germans all along the Rivers Our and Sauer, which form a frontier line between Luxemburg and Germany. Luxemburgers have become convinced that the idea was to discover at what points the streams were fordable.

Recently many German staff officers were seen making observations on the frontier. Each time they halted on the middle of the bridges, of which there aro 21, over the frontier rivers Moselle, Sauer and Our. Two other bridges, Schengen and Bivels, have been blown up.

The existence of 21 bridges along the 60 miles of frontier makes the rivers valueless as a means of defence. The bridges are at Remich, Wormeldange, Grev enmacher, Wasserbillig (two), Langsur, Rosport, Echternach, Weilerbacli, Bollendorf, Dillingen, Wallendorf (two), Bettel, Vianden (two), Stolzembourg, Gemund, TJntereisenbach, Dasburg, and Ketzknop. They have been mined, but all the mines are on the German side.

Strong military forces been billeted on the German side of the border. Only a few Customs officials and gendarmes are posted on the Luxemburg side.

Still another factor has added to the uneasiness of the Luxemburgers. Some time ago German journalists paid a visit to the Duchy. They all wrote articles afterward in the same strain—that tho inhabitants wer«» more like French people than natives of an independent State. It was believed in Luxemburg that the articles were written to prepare German public opinion for the possible occupation of the Duchy as a precautionary measure.