GERMANY AND RUSSIA

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 3, Issue 260, 20 January 1941, Page 8

GERMANY AND RUSSIA

WAR CONSIDERED INEVITABLE CHRISTCHURCH MAN BACK ' FROM BUCHAREST

That war between Germany and Russia will be the inevitable outcome and that the Germans have made up their minds on this point is the statement made by Mr John McLaughlin, of Christchurch, who has returned after an absence from New Zealand of just on two years, 14 months of which he spent in Bucharest, the capital of Rumania. Stranded in a foreign country almost from the inception of the war until he was eventually evacuated with other English residents, Mr McLaughlin, who managed to make a meagre living teaching English gained a good insight into the politics of the country and the moves made by the various contending parties. He was there, for instance, when the Iron Guards assassinated the Prime Minister, M. Calinescu, towards the end of 1939 and lately when some 300 of the Guards were rounded up and shot, saw some of the bodies left lying in a street as a warning to traitors. "There are two main classes of people in Rumania," he told a reporter of The Press. "There are the intelligentsia, who are entirely delightful in their courtesy, hospitality and appreciation of the finer things of life; and there are the peasants, who are a solid, likeable section. "The Iron Guards belong to neither. They are the scum of the cities who care for nothing but the loot they can get. The}'' are entirely unscrupulous ant' will go to any lengths to get money. To-day they are having everj'tliing their own way, for, although Germany is prae tically in full control of the country, the Guards are not. interfered with to any great extent. They are a law unto themselves and anyone who speaks against them will be caught off guard some time or the other and battered up." German Troops in Rumatiila. There were 45,000 German troops in Rumania when Mr McLaughlin .left. They wero, he said, in virtual control of the country, and were showing no signs of shortage in so far as their uniforms and general equipment was concerned. "It appeared to me," he added, "that they had all been freshly equipped and they certainly looked a workmanlike lot.

During the earlier period of his enforced stay in the country, Mr McLaughlin /was at Galantz, where forced Dutch labourers were assembling machinery. It eventually turned out that the "'machines" were submarines which had been brought in sections from Germany with the idea of eventually slipping them down the Danube.

Unfortunately for the Germans their plans were upset by the loyalty of the Dutch workmen who sabotaged so many parts that it is believed that only three submarines were ever put into commission. "It was funny to see the Germans at this stage," said Mr McLaughlin. "There were some 5000 of them altogether who, ostensibly, were brought to help the Rumanians. As a matter of fact, they were there to keep an eye on the Russians. I saw numbers of them with red crosses on their arms and big revolvers in their hip pockets. "All manner ol schemes have been worked in connection with the Danube. One English plan that went wrong was the sinking of long barges laden with concrete right in tlie channel. I "don't know what happened, but instead of being .sunk where they would effectually block the river-way they were sunk to one side, where they did not im-

pede anything."

Before the coming of the German military forces the Rumanian army, was more or less a joke, said Mr McLaughlin. 'Th-} officers were paid at the rate of about £4 a month, and they had to use graft to get enough money to live on. Conscripts called to the colours could get off provided they paid enough. Army stores Avere stolen by the officers, and sold, as was even the food of the men. Wherever you go into Rumania there is graft and corruption, but the greatest joke of the lot is the navy, which comprises five vessels that would be useless in an engagement. (Continued fit foot of no-;'., eo'.;®.;