NAZIS PREPARING

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20023, 23 August 1939, Page 7

NAZIS PREPARING

MASSING OF TROOPS MENACE TO POLAND SWIFT CRUSHING BLOW OUTSTRIPPING ASSISTANCE (Elec. Tel Copyright.—United Tress Assn.) (Reed. Aug. 22, 2.50 p.m.) LONDON, Aug. 21. Thc Berlin correspondent of The Times says that the final military preparations necessary if the decision, in the Polish dispute is to be forced are now progressing.

The concentration of troops has been increasingly expedited, so that all will be ready by Wednesday. Berlin is more heavily garrisoned by troops going eastward or in reserve than since the Great War.

The German reason for a sudden blow against 'Poland is based on the assumption that the Polish Army can be put out of action in 'the shortest time. Germany would rely on the slowness of the western Powers to join in action, due to diplomatic delays and unwillingness to face a war, until Poland’s effective resistance ended, thus convincing England and France that she was beyond help and that peace talks could follow'. Effects of Manoeuvres The Prague representative oif The Times says that the German manoeuvres make demands on the principal roads, where emergency measures are being tested and garages registered in order to accommodate 5000 military vehicles. German officers are reported to be co-ordinating the hospital services. All Czechs up to 45 years of age have been mobilised for compulsory labour service and the evacuation of the German civil population from Prague and other cities. The military police have been strengthened and bridges are guarded. Emergency railway schedules have been distributed and the air precautions overhauled. Bohemia is .comparatively normal, but there is marked activity in Moravia, where military equipment is going ; to Slovakia to zones where Germany obtained the right to operate. The Vienna correspondent of The Times says that large contingents of motorised transport left the city throughout the day for the GermanSlovak frontier, despite the announcement that the manoeuvres will not begin until September 10.