Fighting Machine

Opotiki News, Volume II, Issue 260, 17 November 1939, Page 2 (Supplement)

Fighting Machine

' not take part in. its on the General he only subject of [is tjiat he looks abso[nspicuous. He is a [ype. He is not tall lort, not thin and not Lee is neither exciting [ant: He is correct, tly grey hair is cordon the side. His stache is correctly |The upright wrinkles I light-coloured eyes pet gravity. He wears I not as a costume but [try business suit., f disguised nevertheinysterious plans and h behind the mask of litizen ? In the army |a the “ Sphinx.” bur persists that by fcted paladin devotion learn his place in the ie in Adolf Hitler’s |y rate Keitel has sue-,, holding the place at Iht hand on every pion. I Wilhelm Goering is Iccessful man in Ger|Lt the same time the I disappointed. True Is Nazi No. 2, inferior Ihrer in rank only, [actual powers. He bre titles, offices and bn any other mortal, [entally he has only |g desires. Neither Ifilled. In both, he fctisfied with cotnproIpassionately wanted ■ when after several larriage (his second, I a child was born, it Iter. Then he wanted Iter of War, to hold |y over the army, and lake do with the title rshal, but which conImmand. In power pny, Goering is subI Brauchitsch. Inthe heads only the air ials do not let GoerIm. fcrust the overdone liner by which Nazi lied in certain circles p abroad to win the [honest old war-dog. iering’s uniforms are bo loud for the genef He talks too much lily. And his air force [rove itself, while the [antry has a few censt renown behind it. try authorities do ade thing about this air as creator, Goering; be Value. ars ago, Nazi No. 2 bnt for some German ptories, notably the lotor Works, taking pg commissions and rders' from the Lufttommercial organisapan civil aviation, ces. of the Lufthansa g man who answered r non-Aryan name of p. (“ Milch ” means Sew business in GoeI and when success ng did not forget the [of gratitude. | man developed into lister-mind. As State [the Air Ministry, he Marshal’s right hand, lip to a few years ago |r worn a uniform, If “ General of the [specially created for [he has even been I dignity of GeneralKo the Field Marshal, jervative Excellencies louthful, ever-smiling It is a fantastic file generals of the force are aristocratic [here is Chief of the [Reich Air Ministry, Bel, a man with an I the furrowed brow I and an iron smile. Ire is Commanding I Commander of the Defence Group, KcsImarkably characterghter type with pro1, pronounced chin teeth. Inander of the Air bnich, on the other |al of the .;hhers k Bav- : 1 oi l k-ir Arm on the Staff idle Commander of lid is the connecting I land and air forces. Iy the only man who Bsely within how

many minutes after the war machine starts moving, the German bombers may be expected over London. Occult knowledge of that sort automatically excludes a man frpm any popularity or gay society. General Kleppke is a lone wolf, and he looks it: lean, naked skull, deep, unseeing eyes, unsmiling, bloodless lips. The German air arm, together with the aircraft • defence, includes 110,000 men. The world has got the habit of referring to Goering’s 10,000 battle planes. Actually the Field Marshal has at his disposal only a third of that number of first-line planes. So these figures place the German air arm above the combined Anglo-French force, at least so long as the American munition potential is not at the Western Powers’ disposal. To offset this, Germany is far more vulnerable from the air than is any other country. Twothirds of Germany’s population live in big cities, all of which can be reached within an hour—most within a few minutes—by enemy planes. If the Louvre and Westminster Abbe}'- are in danger, a hundred German mass settlements* and industrial centres are much more so. The Berlin General Staff experts realise fully that Goering may win a dreadful first round, but that the Reich is far indeed from ruling the air. Gas warfare is the bugaboo of the future. Here, too, German armaments are supposed to hold undisputed first place. But here, too, a quite natural mass hysteria exaggerates the actual danger. Experts do not believe there has been any real advance in the chemistry of poison gas since “Yperite,” a gas first used in the Battle of Ypres. On the other hand, methods of defence against gas were decisively improved even during the last war. While thirty-five out of a hundred gassed men in the first attack died, the mortality among gassed men at the end of the World War was but 3 per cent. From 1914 to 1918 there was practically no gas protection for the civilian population. To-day this department is elaborately organised in all countries. It is headed in Germany by Lieutenant General von Roquer. Each regiment of the German Army has its own motorised gas unit, charged with the duty of gassing and smoke-screening the field of battle. Each army corps has motorised companies of the chemical warfare division, armed with heavy mortars for gas shells and gas bottles. Gas and smoke shells will prepare for the frontal attack of the future; its fate they will not decide.

A mass of tanks rush forward with a supporting fire of gas and smoke shells. At the same time air forces break through into the enemy’s country, attacking airports, railway junctions,, military centres, spraying large cities with explosive and incendiary bombs. This prelude to major warfare must be carried out with extreme speed. The attacker has the advantage. He knows what he wants. He will prepare his thrust carefully down to the smallest details, and will put it through with the utmost rapidity.

Does that sound like Wellsian prophecy ? Well, those sentences are taken verbatim from a study by General of Infantry von Tschitschwitz, a leading German strategist.

The study appeared in the official organ of the German General Staff, the Militarwissenchaftliche Rundschau. Countless similar passages from the strategical literature now published in the Reich prove that the Berlin General Staff intends to begin the next war with a vehement offensive.

The lay public is much inclined to think such an offensive imposThe Maginot Line on the French side and the Siegfried the German side are popularly supposed to face each other iVhpregnably. As a matter of facL meithjer line is impregnable. all its display of technical, the Siegfried Dr. Fritz Todt, a Hitler and the creator ofpthe; strategical motor roads—is stillft an improvisation, and .will fong remain so. The 0 ! Lin M% Aif f 1a ,, long ■- BM ft®®} gyttct the||j|§£ nqf^itttarahte*', a long-drap|f ou£ irerfcfy 'war/dnd in fact'-sucli a f go dire - ctl ? of a motorised army., ■ Tne'German army now moves on wheels; not on foot. “By

motor, the attacker can quickly bring his forces to bear,” says the organ of the General Staff. “ Motorisation will displace rigid trench warfare in favour of mobility. “ The rhythm of battles will thus grow quicker. This rapidity will make it possible to threaten many points with attack in order to conceal the decisive operation. It will be not an attack along a broad front, but an irruption at one tactically favourable point. Quick manoeuvring of the attacking force and lightning .shifts of the centre of gravity will make possible the decisive victory.” The Supreme Command of the German Army has set ’ up a Psychological Laboratory under Dr. Simoneit. He is the author of the statement: “ The spirit of civilisation hinders the spirit of infantry attack. It must be overcome.”

A Central Office .of the Defence Force for Psychology and Race Study has also been created. Both institutions teach the soldier how to live and to die.

Dying is more important, naturally. It is' undoubtedly a hazard, but properly handled it is also a temptation. “ Flight from the enemy is a reflex action for the preservation of one’s own life, a wholly animal urge which can be eliminated,” says “ Soldatentum,” the magazine of the Central Office for Psychology and Race Study.

How can this animal urge be eliminated? A high officer reports that a proper song at the right moment may work spiritual wonders. For storming attacks he particularly recommends the song, “We consecrate ourselves to death. Hurrah for the man who may die !”

The possibility that the soldier would prefer to remain alive cannot quite be excluded. Here superstition may do good service. The Psychological Laboratory recommends mascots for every fighting division. Dogs, cats, white horses, even worn-out playing cards can be develojied as luck-bringers. Superiors and fellow-soldiers “ with a charmed life against bullets ” will stimulate the imagination and heighten the courage of the troops. But the consolation of religion must not be despised either. The army has never tolerated, in its own ranks, the anti-church propaganda of the Nazi Party. The military chaplains are the only clergymen exempt from the interference and supervision of the Gestapo in the Third Reich.

The army has its own special attitude towards the sacrament of baptism. “ The baptism of fire at the front is the real baptism of German youths,” says the Central Office for Psychology. Only that experience makes the boy into a man.”

Until the recruits have enjoyed this experience, they must be treated somewhat more gently than the old soldierly tradition required. The new training stresses humanisation of the barracks.

And, in fact, the German barracks are the best arranged in the world. There are no mere halls with forty men sleeping on straw ticks. Now four to six men have a comfortably furnished room with central heating and bathroom, and decorated with flowers.

In this world they are met with exactly prescribed understanding. At morning roll call, the chief of the company is ordered to look each man straight in the eye for a measured fraction of a second, row by row. “ This look is a uniting force, without destroying respect for superiors,” the Psychological Central Office declares. The Captain must also ask once a month how each of his men feels. He may also send his regards to the folks at home —though only if the soldier’s ability justifies such an individual distinction.

Every job done, even v the simplest, is to be discussed. Praise and blame are to be handed out in rich measure: The soldier must never for a moment feel neglected.