BIG NEW ARMY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23718, 26 July 1940, Page 7

BIG NEW ARMY

DEFENCE OF AMERICA 4,500,000 MEN AVAILABLE PRODUCTION OF EQUIPMENT By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright "WASHINGTON, July 24 The Assistant Secretary for War, Mr. Louis Johnson, told journalists that the United States wanted full equipment for 1,000,000 men immediately.'He said: "We. expect to have productive capacity •to supply complete equipment for 1,000,000 men every three months, exclusive of aircraft, of which the programme is 18,000 annually."

Officials estimate that 4,500,000 men without dependants and not engaged in essential tasks will be available for the Army. General William Shedd, Assistant Chief of Staff, told Congress that no married men would be included in the proposed October draft of 400,000 men. He said the American Army would never draft men with dependants in peace time. It is understood that Army authorities told the Senate Military Committee that the Army's total defence programme, including compulsory registration starting within five weeks, would cost 6,000,000,000 dollars next year. This figure represents an increase of 2,200,000,00 dollars over the proposed appropriations. Colonel Frank Knox, Secretary of the Navy, announced that the Navy had acquired seven auxiliary vessels from private companies and intended getting 27 more. It was intended that mobile defence battalions should be organised from the Marine Corps for instant action in any part of the continent. Six such "fire brigade", battalions, consisting of 750 men each, would be organised "for action whenever required as quickly as they can be loaded into boats." LEAFLETS FOR FRANCE FACTS OF ARMISTICE TERMS OFFERED FLEET PRACTICE TO BE EXTENDED (Received July 25, 5.30 p.m.) 'British "Wireless LONDON, July 24 Leaflets containing information regarding the French armistice terms and the French Fleet had already been dropped over France, said the Minister of' Information, Mr. A. Duff Cooper, in reply to a question in the House of Commons. It was proposed to extend the practice of dropping leaflets to convey to the French people the real facts of the situation.. A translation of the. text of two of the leaflets is now available. In one the facts of the Oran engagement are given together with the terms the British commander made to the French commander, whose refusal to .accept them necessarily led to the engagement. The leaflet concludes with the reminder that the German Government had already broken the promise to the Petain Government ncrt to insist on the handing over of the French Fleet, for on July 1 a German broadcast stated that Hitler would not hesitate to use the French Fleet against Britain should the necessity arise. In the second leaflet the terms the German armistice imposed on the Bordeaux Government are made known to Frenchmen, who even now have been largely kept in the dark about the real extent of these terms. A translation has also been made available of a letter handed to each Frenchman returning to France containing a message of gratitude for all France has done in the past in the struggle against the common enemy, sympathy for the misfortune in which the French people now find themselves, and hope for the future.