CRACK NAZI CORPS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24221, 13 February 1940, Page 9

CRACK NAZI CORPS

REPLACED BY AUSTRIANS % BATTLE LINES FREEZING MISERY IN GERMANY (United Press Association) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright) f LONDON, Feb. 11. (Received Feb. 12, at 10.30 p.m.) The Brussels correspondent of the Daily Telegraph says two crack German corps, totalling six; divisions, which were concentrated at Aachen, departed last week and have been replaced by ' two newly formed corps of Austrian units of the same strength, which are rated as third-class. It has now been revealed that General von Brauchitsch personally inspected the frontier districts of southern Holland and northern Belgium by air on November 10 and decided that the flood conditions were unfavourable for an offensive. Despatches from the Western Front report that the battle lines are again freezing hard and all is quiet except for artillery activity west of the Vosges. A French night communique reports local activity by patrols and artillery. British regiments in the front lines are getting periodical relief. . A battalion of Cameron Highlanders arrived behind the lines for a short rest and excited great interest and enthusiasm in the villages. Kilted pipers headed the march from the railhead to the billets. A, cold wave throughout Germany has revived misery. The railways, despite a shortage of supplies, cannot distribute foodstuffs without recourse to canals and rivers, many of which are frozen. It will be a colossal wartime task to remedy the shortcomings of the railways, due to neglect of rolling stock while carrying out the fouryear plan. Consignees are liable to punishment unless by working on Sundays and holidays they clear trucks in a stipulated time. A shortage of coal and potatoes has resulted in the closing of factories and greengrocers’ shops. A message from Bucharest states that the Danube is again frozen, and heavy falls of snow have delayed transport. Hard frost for 26 consecutive days brought to a standstill all waters south of the Skaw and it is possible to walk from Jutland to Sweden across the icebound Kattegat. This is believed to be unprecedented. ,