A BACKGROUND OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 188, 6 May 1940, Page 8

A BACKGROUND OF THE WAR

New United States Army STRONGER & BETTER EQUIPPED Just a week ago the United States Assistant Secretary for War, Mr. Johnson, disclosed how carefully the American army has planned for “M. day” (mobilization day) if the. nation becomes involved in war. lie showed that steps had been taken to avoid the mistakes of the -last war and concluded by observing that “in a world in which reckless leaders stretch out greedy hands for conquest, we should be criminally negligent if we did not defend our heritage.” Mr. Johnson’s remarks may have arisen in part out of what has been described as the completion of a revolution in the American Army. In other words, the United States now has, in effect, a new army, a result of the carrying out of an extensive reorganization. In the phrase of “Time,” the army is new in dress, drill, organization, fighting methods, and newest of all in its peacetime fighting strength. Greatest importance probably attaches to the last qualification. , When the United States entered the Great War, it was some time before she could make her presence fully felt and General Pershing arrived in France with 59 officers, 67 enlisted men, 36 field clerks and five civilian interpreters. But if the country became Involved in the present or some other war, it would have some 60,000 men ready to be embarked at the earliest possible moment. They would include five motorized infantry divisions, two cavalry divisions —one motorized and one partially s& — a force of fighter aircraft, plus artillery, engineers and supplementary troops for one Regular Army corps and part of a second. For the first time, to quote “Time” again, if the war were a little war, the Regular Army- 7 could do its own fighting without calling out even the National Guard. New Uniforms And Weapons Some of the changes involved in this army’s transformation are that the uniform of the soldiers has been changed to a looser tunic and straight trousers, ■with canvas leggings for use in rough going; also, the old column-of-four type of drill has been discarded. The army’s weapons, too, are new. Its men carry the Garrard semi-auto-matic shoulder rifle, able to Are 25 rounds a minute. An'order for 65,000 of these rifles has recently -been placed to supplement present supplies. Other new weapons adopted are various kinds of trench mortars, field guns, anti-tank guns and anti-aircraft guns. Smaller Divisions Divisions in this army are now of smaller and handier size. They used to comprise 22,000 men at war strength. Now they have a peacetime strength of 8500, which would be augmented to 13,000 by former regular troops in time of war. Side by side with army reorganization has gone air force expansion. The Air Corps, as it is described, is said to have been made into an effective and offensive fighting arm with fast new planes of the types the Allies are buying. The complete Regular Army now numbers 227,000 men and the Chief of Staff, General Marshall, wants another 15,000, but above all is concentrating on securing equipment. Funds for 92 per cent, of his requirements are in sight.

Designed For Overseas “Any foreign attache looking at the new United States Army this spring (on manoeuvres), will recognize it for what it is: a standing expeditionary force, designed for prompt, conscript -expansion into an- expeditionary army of 750.000 active troops and 250,000 reserves,” says the journal already quoted. “When Congressmen, scared by the present war, scream for underground bombing shelters in the interior of the United States . . - the General Staff in Washington shudders. Remembering that the United States Army has fought in China, Siberia, Central America and France, the General Staff has planned 'an outfit ready to be packed up and eent anywhere. The hist place the Army expects to fight is on the United States mainland.”

The nearest potential fighting zone is regarded as the Panama Canal.

Iron From Sand Late last month, Signor Mussolini tried out a new invention designed to extract iron ore from sea sand. He turned the crank of the machine which swallows sand and separates any ironbearing particles by it system of magnets The machine’s Inventor, Giovanni Liguorl, said he hoped it would contribute to reducing Italy’s dependence on foreign iron ore by extracting the heavy iron content of black sands which form the beach along the coast'near Rome. He said he expected the extraction of more than a ton of magnetite in one hour with the invention. Shall we one day hear of some such system being tried out on New Zealand’s ironsand? Germany’s Plans

On April 9, the Germans invaded Norway. Since then they have said they did it only to forestall the Allies. Another proof that they were preparing well ahead is a report from Bergen, dated .March 30, which appeared in the American Press. It is said that a large part of Southern Norway, including areas over 50 miles inland, was surveyed from the air on that day by planes believed to be German. One plane was thought to be ti Heinkel 111. The planes—flying fft something like 18,000 feet when observed —were at different times in the afternoon over Oslo on the south-eastern coast, Bergen on the western coast and Kristiansand on the southern coast. This was not the first time that belligerent planes violated Norwegian neutrality over coastal waters and land, but, so far as was known, it was the most extensive inland flight made till then. A Chilean View

“The Panama declaration (seeking to establish a vast safety zone, round the American coast) is anti-juridicial, anti-political, and is a capricious violation of the natural evolution of International law, placing the American continent in sterile opposition to the great European Powers from whom she has received the benefits of culture and commerce,” said “El Mercurio,” Santiago, recently. “If the futile pretext to remove the naval war 300 miles, farther from the American coasts was the basis of this declaration, it should go farther in its absurd logic and remove the war from he earth to the spirits.”