FRENCH DEFENCES

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 132, 5 June 1937, Page 11

FRENCH DEFENCES

TANK TRAPS CREATED

FILLING UP THE HOLES

Railroad "irons," or rails, upended in the earth, and other obstacles, mine traps and special concealed anti-tank guns 'now plug the gaps between the steel and concrete casements of the Maginot Line, writes Hanson Baldwin from Paris to the "New York Times." The special tank defences are a relatively new addition to the Maginot Line, which reaches its" maximum strength between the Rhine, and the Moselle and which is particularly strong north of the industrial district around Briey. They were laid out as an answer to the threat of the German mechanised divisions, as it was the theory some months ago that German tanks and armoured cars, operating perhaps at night with great speed, might plunge through one of the gaps between the great forts of the famous French defence line, take the forts in the rear, and strike a devastating blow at France. When the, gaps between the casements were closed the French tried them out by sending their own tanks against them. In all cases it was found that the line was impenetrable 'or that the tanks were forced to follow certain prepared routes that led them into cul-de-sacs or pladed them over ground mines, or exposed them to the point-blank fire of anti-tank guns. As a consequence of these tests the French are pretty well satisfied with the strength of that part of their frontier line of defences extending from near Basle on the Swiss border to the' Belgian bord_er. ■ ■'■-.■■•■' However, the French efforts to block German mechanised divisions have not been left to fixed defences'alone. One light; arid highly mobile mechanised division has been, formed in the French Army; another is in the process of formation, and still.a third is planned, and there is also a tentative plan to form one or more heavy mechanised divisions, equipped with heavy' tanks. NEW TYPES OF TANKS, Two of the modern French tanks now in service that have replaced and are replacing the old war-time Renault models are the 1935 Renault and what is known as "Char D." The former is a light tank, the latter a medium one. The new Renault is about a ten-ton tank, ' mounts one 37-millimetre and two machine-guns, and has a maximum speed variously estimated as from -, twelve to twenty-five miles an' hour. | This tank is said to be so well protected ' that when the French tried their own 25-millimetre anti-tank gun against it at 200 metres, its armour was j not penetrated in any vital spot, j though its treads, like those of other I tanks, could be put out of commission with a well-directed shot.

The D tank weighs between thirteen and fourteen tons, mounts a 47rmilli-metr-e gun and two machine-guns, and is said to have a battle speed of about five miles an; hour.

A still heavier tank, about which thei'e is no official information, is in process of testing. One of the heavier models weighs from twenty to twentytwo tons, it was said, while another report, describes the heavy tank as a ; thirty-seven-ton type mounting a 75----millimetre gun, a 47-millimetre gun, and several machine-guns. It is not believed many of these tanks are planned, however, even if pilot models actually are being tested, because few bridges would bear their weight and they woiild have to be transported from place to place by rail.

The French actually hava a number of "land battleships" ci seventy to ninety tons—lumbering, ponderous things, which were n?vcr successful, because they were never manoeuvrable. It was found that these monsters were almost impossible to steer pnd could do little but run in a straight line. They have been abandoned as a military implement and are now but a curiosity.