MODERN EQUIPMENT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23593, 1 September 1938, Page 2

MODERN EQUIPMENT

ARMS OF THE CZECHS GREAT ARMAMENT FIRMS FRONTIER DEFENCES Till recently, whenever one told anyone in England that, if invaded, the Czechs would fight the whole Reich, the statement caused surprise and sceptical smiles; now (wrote Jonathan Griffin in the Fortnightly of July) all that is changed. If Herr Hitler were led to think that an invasion of Czechoslovakia would be a quick triumph for him, so quick that neither France nor Russia would intervene, war might well blaze up and engulf us all. To some extent, then—perhaps to a decisive extent — the peace of the world depends on the Czechoslovak army.

Czechoslovakia, being 'long and slender in shape, has about 1750 miles of frontiers to defend. The army is organised in seven army corps, divided among four provincial commands. There is compulsory military service, now increased to three years, which will bring the neace time strength up to at least 300,000. Although up-to-date details are not disclosed, the reorganisation of the army into seven army corns—--14 divisions —is probably complete. In spite of the advantages of horse transport in a country where oil is hard to come by and provender plentiful, some of the divisional artillery, light as well as heavy, is being mechanised. Outside the divisions the Czech armv has many other units. Chief among them, perhaps, in these days of undeclared wars and intervention, are the 11 frontier defence battalions. They are always ready for action. Apart from the divisional artillery and that of two mountain brigades, there are four light, four heavy, and four extra heavy artillery regiments, four anti-aircraft regiments, four detachments of artillery attached to the cavalry, one artillery reconnaissance regiment, and four transport battalions —all are motorised. Air Forte and River Craft The air force has many morefighters and reconnaissance craft than bombers. It is thus clearly organised, not for an exchange of Guernicas, but for army co-opera-tion, in defence rather than in attack. A German estimate was that in 1937 the first-line strength was 650 and the second line strength 720, giving, with police aircraft, a total of about 1420. The personnel, in 1937, was about 10,000, but there is a big reserve of trained pilots. Recent figures have not been published. Already in 1937 there were 150 aerodromes, which means that an aggressor could not make much impression on the Czechoslovak air force by bombing its aerodromes. It means also that if Czechoslovakia, as a victim of aggression, were to receive assistance in the form of aircraft, such assistance could come into action without delay Since the greatest military danger is invasion by land, everything else is subordinated to what is required for helping the front on land to hold up attack, and yet, geographically, Czechoslovakia is exceptionally well placed for doing retaliatory damage if a nearby Power were to treat Prague like Barcelona. In Czechoslovakia the bulk of the people do not live in towns (indeed, it is the Germans who live most in towns, the Slovaks least); and the key industries have been decentralised and redesigned. To air attack, at least, Czechoslovakia is less vulnerable than Germany and incomparably less vulnerable than England.

Czechoslovakia has also a navy of about 25 river craft, which in the event of war might have a small but important part to play, for Germany has strengthened her Danube flotilla, the purpose of which would be to protect the right flank of an army attacking the narrow middle of Czechoslovakia from the eastern end of Austria. A Great Armament Industry To back up these forces, Czechoslovakia has the armaments industry of a Great Power. The firm of Skoda employs over 40,000 people in at least eight factories, and there are at least eight other factories making air-frames, five making aero engines, five making artillery, eight making machine guns and rifles, sixammunition, five explosives, five tanks, seven tractors, eight lorries, eight gas masks, and five making poison gas. The armaments industry has in the past few years not only covered home needs but has kept up a large export trade: it is said to produce more than a thousand aeroplanes a year. Vital industries that were near the frontiers now have substitutes, and many important factories have been specially built to limit the effect of bombs or shells, being divided into separate buildings with mounds or concrete walls between Raw Materials Imported But Czechoslovakia's armament industry has an Achilles' heel—its raw materials are largely imported. For food Czechoslovakia is largely self-sufficient, and there are only a few large towns that need depend on transported food on any large scale There are vas + supplies of we.) 1. and water powei is being developed, but much of the coal is near the German frontiei, and about twothirds of the iron ore and all the copyr.r cr.mes from abroad. Austrian manganese is now cut off As for liqu'd fuel, dilution with 20 per cent of spirit is compulsory f or ordinary uses; there is plenty of wood alcohol, benzine, and benzol. For the air force and a few other essential demands the army keeps in hand oil and petrol enough to last out three months of intense warfare. After that everything would depend upon the relations and communications with Rumania The Frontier Fortifications How strong are the much spoken of frontier fortifications? Their Austrian frontier is, it seems, already fortified, though less formidably than that towards pre-Anschluss Germany. This defect they are making good at top speed. Their frontier towards Hungary they have fortified strongly enough, ir their judgment, to resist the Hungarian army. Although they have not unlimited money to spend on those enormous frontiers, the Czechs have had full benefit from the experience which th French have gained in building the Maginot Line. They have not built simple, continuous lines, but zones of fortification subtly arranged in depth, using natural advantages and supplementing any lack of them. Though their frontiers are long and their numbers relatively small, the Czechoslovaks stand a good chance of gaining the full advantage which the defensive on land tends to have in modern warfare when

both sides are well equipped. Czech military circles reckon that they could hold out, even against a Great Power and even without effective aid. for three months, perhaps four That may well be true, and if aid were given promptly it might well keep the odds against them from being too great.