POLISH UNITS RE-FORMED

Southland Times, Issue 24005, 21 December 1939, Page 5

POLISH UNITS RE-FORMED

Navy, Army And Air Force TRAINING BASES IN FULL SWING (British Official Wireless) (Received December 20, 6.30 pm.) RUGBY, December 19. Speaking to the Press on Tuesday in London, Major Ilinsky, of the Polish Military Mission, outlined the Polish efforts being made to reorganize the republic’s fighting forces. “Poles who were able to escape from Poland and make their Way towards the friendly borders of France and Britain form the first nucleus of our army, the reorganization of which in both countries is in progress, according to agreements concluded with the British and French Governments,” said Major Ilinsky. “The army, navy and air force of Poland exist again.” Speaking of naval activities, he recalled that Polish ships now constitute part of the Allied forces, operating under the Polish flag under the command of Polish officers and manned by Polish crews. A special naval depot would be established with the purpose of training further personnel and the formation of reserves. “As to our land forces, which are being trained somewhere in France, it is intended to form four or five infantry divisions, as well as armoured and mechanized units, taking into account the possibilities now available,” he said. “The Polish Army will be under the Polish High Command and will remain to the end of hostilities as one of the Allied armies under the InterAllied Supreme Command.” Training centres, he said, for officers and men of the Polish Army already were in full swing. “The average duration of such training centres is three months and as the first of these courses started early in the autumn we may calculate how soon the first large Polish units, fully trained, will be ready to leave their camps and face again the enemy,” he said. “The organization of the Polish Air Force units is divided into two equal groups, one in Britain and the other in

France. We were lucky to get out of Poland a fairly large number of our Air Force personnel.” Major Hinsky said that he could not give the correct figures, but they were sufficiently large to enable the organization of several squadrons for a start. Machines for the Polish squadrons would be British in Britain and French in France. FRENCH MILITARY WAR BILL TOTAL OF £1,428,000,000 FOR 1940 PARIS, December 19. The French Minister of Finance (M. Paul Reynaud) announced that the estimated military war bill for 1940 will be £1,428,000,000. War credits for the first quarter will be £357,000,000.