SECRET GERMAN ARMY.

Waikato Times, Volume 100, Issue 16816, 7 June 1926, Page 6

SECRET GERMAN ARMY.

FACTS GIVEN TO REICHSTAG. MEN TRAINED BY REGULARS. (From a Correspondent.) LONDON, April 21. It lias been known for some time tliat Dr. Quiddc had drawn on on behalf of the peace societies of Germany a confidential memorandum on German Secret Military Organisations for the members of the Reichstag. There have been mysterious references lo Hits document in tiie German Press, but the secret of its contents has been well guarded, says the Berlin correspondent of the London Daily Mail. A kind wind lias blown this confidential memorandum on to rny desk. It begins with a preface in which it is explained that the peace societies appointed a committee io observe the activities of the sccrel military organisations which arc acknowledged on all sides. Request to Reichstag. The statements and documents contained in tiie memorandum i.avc been received frArn persons whom the committee considers worthy of confidence, and it adroitly requests the Reichstag: (1) To appoint a special commission to ascertain wucthcr the statements are true; (2) If this be the case, to require the Government to proceed against I lie secret organisations with due severity: (3) To take means to prevent the recurrence of such abuses under new forms.

Up to the present the Reichstag has done nothing, although some time lias elapsed since the memorandum was handed “personally and confidentially, to use Dr. Quickie's phrase, lo every member of the Reichstag. The memorandum shows that a vast military organisation lias spread over every part of Germany, except that occupied by Alllied troops, that it works in close co-operation with the army, is financed by tiie industrialists and landowners, and has a (Infinite plan of mobilisation in the event ol' war. This military force is composed nl members of tiie Nationalist societies, led by the most powerful and influential, tiie Steel Helms, and is known throughout Germany as the lleimschulz, or Home Defence. Splendidly Trained. “This Home Defence,” states the memorandum, “is a secret organisation of the pre-war army, splendidly trained and spread throughout Germany, but specially strong in the frontier provinces. Its purpose is to bo the reserve of the regular army in case of war."

The memorandum gives an account of the organisation of tiie Brandenburg district, which, it states, is the type of tiie organisation in otiicr parts of Germany. The commander is Count von Ilardenburg, whose headquarters arc at Frankfurt-on-the-Oder. His adjutant is Captain von Morosowicz. The province is divided into three districts: Potsdam, Frankfurt, and the. Ostmark. Berlin lias an independent organisation. Each of the three districts includes the recruiting ground for two regiments. They are divided into sub-dis-tricts corresponding lo the pre-war district commands. “In eacli of these sub-districts there is an officer whose business it is to bet recruits and train them to look after arms. They keep in close touch with the garrison of the district.” •

The training of the men is conducted by tiie sub-district officers, by noncommissioned officers of tiie old army, and by non-commissioned ofliccrs of the regular army who arc specially told off for the purpose. The Home Defence officers and the best of tiie non-commissioned officers are admitted into tiie ranks of the regular army once a year for eight weeks in order to have special training. The men arc provided with uniforms by the army and paid by tiie Home Defence.

The arms ot' the Home Defence are stored on ground belonging to the army. The arms include:

(1) Artillery: light and heavy artillery, heavy mine-throwers. (2) Infantry: middle and light mine-throwers, heavy and light machine guns, rifles, carbines. (3) Technical; requirements for pioneer, train and information services.