SALUTE TO SERGEANT MAGINOT

Southland Times, Issue 23954, 21 October 1939, Page 11

SALUTE TO SERGEANT MAGINOT

Builder Of France’s Eastern

Fortifications

WHO was this Maginot, whose Line along the Western Front is causing Hitler such trouble just now?

It has been said that Maginot was a private who rose to become Minister of War in France. It would be more accurate to say that Maginot was an Under-Secretary for War who became a private and later Minister of War. Andre Maginot was an overwhelming personage. He was more than 6ft 2in tall. He was a tremendous eater, particularly of oysters. In French politics between 1910 and 1931 he was the Winston Churchill of France. He served under a dozen premiers and his peculiar gifts were acknowledged by all of them. He was a brilliant administrator, uninfluenced by party Originally Maginot’s family came from Lorraine on the Franco-German frontier, though he was actually born in Paris. This was in 1877. The fierce spirit of Lorraine could be seen in his piercing eyes. These eyes showed the determination of the frontiersman that his homeland should remain on the French side of the border. The Great War gave Lorraine back to France.

In the days of darkness for Lorraine, when the land groaned under the Prussian heel, men like Maginot gazed out over th£ conquered fields. To Maginpt came a vision. He saw his land freed of the oppressor. He saw more. He saw a mighty barrier dug in the very bosom of the soil which would stand for ever between Lorraine and Germany, and between France and war. Political Life

POR four years, from 1914 to 1918, Maginot beheld the soul of France tortured by war and desolation. Never again, he swore within sight of his native fields, should France be subjected to war within her boundaries. An immense line of fortifications must be built to stem the tide of war. French soil must be free of war for ever. Thus there came to Maginot in its final form the conception of the Maginot Line, in front of which the sons of France stand in determined ranks at this moment facing the hordes of Nazidom. •».

Maginot first made his mark in French public life as Under-Secretary of War in 1913. When the war began he insisted on joining up as a private, in spite of the protestations of his friend and colleague, M. Briand. Before long Private Maginot became Sergeant Maginot, and among his friends this rank stuck as long as he lived. He was from then on known as “The Sergeant.” His manner had, as a matter of fact, always been that of the French N.C.O. Before Verdun in 1916 he was severly wounded in the leg. This wound caused him to limp for the rest of his life, but “The Sergeant” was proud that his wound came in the defence of Verdun and his beloved Lorraine. Vauban IT is interesting to recall that the fortifications of Verdun were built by Vauban, who was probably the greatest military engineer of all time. He built fortresses for Louis the Fourteenth and did much to hold up the marches of the great Duke of Marlborough.

But Vauban learned his business as an offensive not a defensive fighter. He commanded at only one defence —that of the Siege of Oudenarde in 1674. He directed the successful siege of scores of fortresses. Among the great strong places which Vauban gave to his king were the fortresses of Ypres, Lille, Doullens and Quesnojh Vauban also brought the art of mining to a high point and developed ricochet fire. Maginot and his successors based their plans on the Vauban theory of “detached” forts.

After his bad wound in 1916 Maginot had to leave the army, but he did so with the Cross of the Legion of Honor and the Medaille Militaire pinned to his breast. In 1917 he became Minister for the Colonies under M. Ribot. They made him Minister of Pensions after the war, a very stiff task.

Then in 1924 under M. FrancoisMarsal he got his teeth in the job he really loved—the Ministry of War. This didn’t last very long as the Government fell after a few weeks. In 1928 and 1929 he served under Poincare and Briand, but he only had the Ministry for the Colonies.

At last in November 1929, M. Tardieu, the new Premier, offered him the War Office. Maginot grabbed it. The Maginot Line was born.

Costly Work

ANDRE Maginot was not the technical expert behind the Maginot Line. His conception was confined to broad principles. The execution of the plan fell to Generals Weygand and Debeney and a host of nameless tech-, nicians.

Maginot did not live to see the completion of his Line. Between 1929 and 1935 more than £60,000,000 was poured into the building of it. Since then at least another £10,000,000 has been spent on it. For the people of France caught Maginot’s fervour and determined that the Line should always be up to date, capable of blocking the fiercest onslaughts of modern weapons. As a result the work on the Maginot Line never stops. It will never be finished. Every month new developments are incorporated in the fortifications and new ideas are woven into the fabric of defence. Thus the vision of Maginot lives on. Andre Maginot, who conceived it all, died from typhoid fever contracted from eating his favourite oysters, in January 1932. He was only 54, and if he lived today he would probably still be Minister of War at the age of 61, three years younger than Mr Churchill. Now the fields of Lorraine are in danger. The old forts of France stand resolute, but the new line, “La Ligne Maginot,” conceived by one of Lorraine’s own sons, guarantees the liberty and security of the whole democratic world.