WAR CLOUDS OVER EUROPE

Southland Times, Issue 23512, 19 May 1938, Page 12

WAR CLOUDS OVER EUROPE

Germany’s Fighting Machine PACE TOO FAST FOR HITLER? LONDON, April 13. After three visits to Germany, Mr G. Jackson, a former president of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, who has also travelled in France, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Holland, and Belgium, has formed the impression that war will come again to Europe. "The German people individually do not want war any more than the British, but the military machine in Germany is gaining such momentum that it will be impossible for Hitler or the nation to prevent Germany becoming embroiled in a European war,” he said on his return to London this week. “The whole military machine in Germany is heading for war and its momentum is so great that it will be impossible to arrest its progress. Germany, however, will find herself surrounded by a ring of armed nations which, sooner or later, for their own protection, must unite to defend their interests, either through a rejuvenated League of Nations, or bilateral oi' multilateral alliances. OTHER COUNTRIES CONCERNED “France, Holland, and Belgium also are concerned over Germany’s aggressive moves. Each country is using every possible endeavour to strengthen defences against possible aggression. Belgium has an extremely fine army and she has fortified the German border in a similar manner to the French Maginot line. The French army, without exception, Ih the finest in Europe, and her air force in also good. I imagine that the French would make the best pilots of Europe. Individually, they have more dash and fire than the Germans.

“The French possess more enthusiasm than the Gormans. It is not in their blood or nature to be regimented on a parade ground like the goose-

stepping Germans. Unfortunately, France is distraught, as usual, with political dissension. This should not be regarded too seriously; it is a French trait to fight within their family. If, however, a third party should interfere, the French will unite. “I saw a good deal of their Maginot line and fortifications, and with my military experience from the last war, I was able to appreciate their strength. I believe that their Maginot line is impassable. Unfortunately, should war come, the Germans would fly over it rather than pass through. “But I am convinced that no air force, however powerful, will be the deciding factor in a future war. The power to spread destruction by fire, gas, and bombs from the air, disastrous as it may be, will not prove the deciding factor in winning a war. It will still remain to infantry and man power to determine and to conquer territory. I feel that, as in the past, wars will still be fought to a standstill by contending armies in a battle field.”

Mr Jackson says that in Czechoslovakia he found everyone greatly upset as a result of the German action in Austria. He has no doubt that they will defend themselves if Germany attacks them. The Czechs army numbers nearly 2,000,000, with an air force numbering some 2000 aircraft. The frontier is strongly fortified. The agitation of the 3,000,000 Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia is causing a great deal of unrest.

“Denmark also has a large German population in Schleswig-Holstein and some expect that Germany will take similar action in Denmark to that which she took in Austria to redeem that portion of Denmark peopled with Germans,” said Mr Jackson. “She may go further in Denmark and absorb the whole lot of it, thus giving her complete control over the entrance to the Baltic. As a result, Denmark is rearming and spending an additional £5,000,000 this year on rearmaments. Sweden is also much disturbed over Germany’s action in Austria and likewise is spending a similar amount on rearmaments.”