BRITISH DEFENCES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 October 1938, Page 7

BRITISH DEFENCES

REPORTED DEFICIENCIES ANTICIPATION OF SEARCHING INQUIRY. FORTY MILLION GAS MASKS ISSUED. By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright. LONDON, October 6. With Mr Chamberlain’s departure for Berwickshire, where he intends to rest as long as possible, no important political activity is expected for several weeks, but when the House of Commons meets again on November 1 there are certain to be lively debates, with a searching inquiry into deficiencies of the defence programme and the future foreign policy. In the meantime, the Minister for the Co-ordination of Defence, Sir Thomas Inskip, the Minister of War, Mr L. Hore Belisha, and the Minister of Air, Sir Kingsley Wood, are taking stringent steps to strengthen the country’s defences. Simultaneously, consultations will be held between the high commands of the English and French air forces. Sir Cyril Newall, Chief of Air Staff, and other British officers will arrive in Paris on October 9. The Under-Secretary of the Home Office stated in the House of Commons that 40,000,000 gas masks had been issued, and further large deliveries were being received each week. Precautions for the civil population must be carried out thoroughly and must be extended. Business firms who had begun schemes for the protection of their employees should press on steadily with them. The Admiralty is unlikely to remain long without a chief, and the early appointment of a First Lord of the Admiralty is expected. Lord Runciman has been among the names mentioned.