COMING INVASION

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24832, 2 March 1944, Page 3

COMING INVASION

FRENCH ARMY'S PART

re-oreating confidence LONDON, Feb. 29 Negotiations are taking place in Allied military quarters to decide on the assignment to be given to the French army in the coming invasion of Europe, arid to determine what part the French Committee of Liberation is to play in the provisional administration of the country, says Air. 0. H. Brandon, a special correspondent of the Sunday Times.

An army of 200,000 Frenchmen, fully equipped, is ready to fight alongside the Allies for the liberation of France. Some of its officers have recently been attached to Allied Commands, practising liaison work and becoming acquainted with new methods of strategy. French officers are also assisting in military planning. This new French army is eager to establish ita good reputation, not only in the eyes of the world, but in the eves of its own people. A high French officer, recently returned from France, told mo: "Our army is no longer loved in France. We have a sacred mission to-day to re-create our people's confidence in our fighting men."

The Atlantic Wall This French officer, who has been back to France three times during the war, said that it will be»important to the French army a share in the fight for liberation largo enough to make the revitalisation of France a natural process, and to help the French in winning back their self-assurance. The so-called Atlantic Wall is known to be formidable, but by no means insurmountable. It extends from Zcebrugge to the Uav of Biscay. Most heavily fortified is the Cherbourg peninsula, with a triple chain of pill-boxes, tank-traps and powerful coastal artillery. The region from the Bay of Mont Saint Michel to the Loire estuary is only partly fortified. The defence behind the coast is said to be organised on the Russian hedgehog system, based on strong points. Ghent, Lille, Arras, Amiens, Rouen, Caon and Rennes are reputed to have been thus fortified to serve as bulwarks to the defence in depth. Buffer to Last Defence Some experts believe that the German army will fight only a delaying action along the Atlantic Wall and retire to newly-built positions inside France. It is known that they have built another well-fortified line well inside France to act as a buffer before the West Wall, their last defence line. The theory that retreat is more likely than a protracted battle along the Atlantic Wall is usually based on the argument that, whatever precautions the Germans take, they will not be able to prevent the sabotaging of their far-stretclied communication lines through France.

So far, the French troops have been concentrated in the Mediterranean area, hut the French High Command hopes that at least somo French divisions will be sent here to be employed with England as their base.

Civil Administration It is generally accepted that the pacification and rebuilding of France will probably be one of the most difficult problems in Europe. Co-ordination of the forces inside France with the liberating armies and the clearing out of French collaborationists demand a French authority. The French Committee of Liberation will soon discuss a detailed plan _ for taking over the provisional administration until a general election is possible. For this period, it is felt in French quarters, the committee will need the authority of a provisional government. This question is, so far, only at the stage oi negotiation; but the understanding with which these matters are viewed in London can be gauged from such signs as the appointment of a British Ambassador to the Committee of Liberation.

IDEAL MEMBER HOUSE OF COMMONS NO PLACE FOR THE SENILE LONDON, Feb. 29 A book that is being widely read in Britain is "Parliamentary Representation," by J. F. S. Ross. It is an interesting analysis of the personnel of the House of Commons —the occupations, education and age of M.P.'s. Mr. Ross, besides giving facts and figures concerning the members, deals with electoral reform, the cost of elections, etc. In his chapter on the "Ideal Member of Parliament," he writes:— "A man's vigour of mind and body is not to be measured solely by the date of his birth —one man will be more fully alive and active at 70 than another is at 50 —hut the House is no place for the senile. We need people as members who are mentally and spiritually in the prime of life, and physically at least reasonably fit. "But if the old and too elderly should drop out, we do not want them replaced by the juvenile. At 21. a youth is too immature, too inexperienced, to make a really competent member of Parliament, and even in the middle twenties this is still usually the case. . .

"In his early thirties a man lias ten years or so oi' acliilt life behind him, and if he has used the time well ho will not only have acquired an experience of men and affairs that will be invaluable to him in the House, but will also have developed those qualities of mind and temperament and personality that he needs for his political duties, lie will still be a young man full of vigour and energy, with 20 or .'iO or more years before him in which to serve the country. He will, indeed, still he some dozen years younger than the average npw member is at present: a remarkable and significant fact." (Eyre and Spottiswoode.) BRITAIN'S WARTIME DIET NATIONAL HEALTH IMPROVES LONDON, Feb. Q» One of the highest tributes to the feeding of Britain in this war was paid the other dav by Dr. J. R. Marrack, professor of chemical pathology at .London University, in an address to the Food Kdncation Society. He said ho wished that all the world could benefit by the lesson it. taught. "With an erj 11 nI distribution of food and with a much greater consumption of milk than ever oefore, the nation's health has improved remarkably. A Utopian dream lias become a reality," Dr. .Marrack declared. After the war, lie added, serious shortages of food in many parts of the world would have to be met. Very serious would be the immediate shortage of proteins obtained from meat and fish. Time would be required to increase the yield of milk and meat, but the supply of tisli could quickly be raised to provide a substantial part of the necessary protein, ]*ig supplies of fish could be obtained in a few weeks if fishing equipment became immediately available for distribution when the war ends. NEW NAZI GLIDER-TUG LONDON, Feb. 2!) A German glider-tug .shot down over central Franco last Saturday had five engines, two tails, and two crew compartments. "I just, couldn't believe my eyes, it was the biggest thing 1 had ever seen in the air," said the Canadian Mosquito pilot who helped an Australian pilot, Flight-Lieutenant Charles Scherf, to shoot it down. "In effect it was two Hcinkel Ill's joined together by a huge main plane and a fifth engine added, the pilot said. "It also had a large number of gun positions." Two gliders were brought down with the tug.