POLAND CALM

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23894, 23 August 1939, Page 9

POLAND CALM

♦. TROOPS STANDING TO ARMS GERMANS ON FRONTIER CRUCIAL DAYS AHEAD MAJOR CRISIS DEVELOPING (United Press Association) (By Electric Tele rraph—Copyright) LONDON, Aug. 21. The Times emphasises the calm with which the Poles are standing to arms in the face of 3,000,000 Germans on their frontier, and adds that most capitals consider that cruicial days are ahead and that a major crisis is about to develop, but this can only happen in defiance of the clearest warnings. The Warsaw correspondent of The Times says that eajjh day the German propaganda machine hammers out its claims makes it harder for Herr Hitler to change his course, but there are glimmers of hope that Italian diplomacy may render a conflict avoidable, though the possibility of Vatican intervention is fully excluded. The public considers war inevitable; and housewives are quickly accumulating foodstuffs. Citizens are attending first-aid courses. Britons with no special reason to remain are advised to leave within 48 hours. The British United Press correspondent at Berlin says, though no official advice is given, it has been hinted to Britons that they should not remain in Germany except on urgent business. A few families, including three journalists, therefore, are departing. A Paris message states that, following a conference between M. Daladier and Mr L. Hore-Belisha*, British Secretary for War, Cabinet met twice. President Le Brun will meet Cabinet later. GERMAN TROOPS CONCENTRATION EXPEDITED LONDON, Aug. 21. The Berlin correspondent of The Times says the final military preparations necessary if a decision in the Polish dispute is to be forced are now in progress. The concentration of troops is being increasingly expedited, so that all will be ready by August 23. Berlin is more heavily garrisoned by troops going eastward or in reserve than since the Great War.. Germany's reason for a sudden blow against Poland is based on the assumption that the Polish army can be put out of action in the shortest time. Germany would rely on the slowness of the Western Powers to join the action, due to diplomatic delays and unwillingness to face war until Poland's effective resistance was ended, thus convincing England and France that she was beyond help. Then peace talks could follow. The Prague representative of The Times say* the German manoeuvres make demands on the principal roads where the emergency measures are being tested, and garages have been registered in order to accommodate 5000 military vehicles. German officers are reported to be co-ordin-ating the hospital services. All Czechs up to 45 are mobilised for a compulsory labour service and the evacuation of the German civil population from Prague and other cities. The military police have been strengthened and bridges guarded. Bohemia is comparatively normal, but there is marked activity in Moravia, where military equipment is going to Slovakia to zones where Germany obtained the right \ to operate. The Vienna correspondent of The Times says large contingents of motorised transport left the city throughout the day for the GermanSlovak frontier, despite an announcement that manoeuvres would not be--1 gin until September 10.