IN THE NEXT WAR.

Shannon News, 14 March 1924, Page 4

IN THE NEXT WAR.

NEW HORRORS OF CONFLICT.

WAVES OF ELECTRICITY,

General Debeney. newly-appointed > chief of staff of the'French army, has ) outlined his ideas of the next war. in case of a new conflict General Debeney, who at the end of the last war was commanding the group of "armies of the north;"' may* supersede any of the ' Marshals of France as generalissimo ) of the French forces. Electricity, tanks, aeroplanes, and ! gas are the elements which Debeney 'considers will outrank infantry and * even artillery in the super-war* which he believes is an entirely possible event of the present epoch. "In the next war," he says, the unfortunate infantryman may be obliged to remain cloaked in an impermeable Gape with insulated shoes on his. feet, if not a whole insulated costume, in order to protect himself against the effects. Of electricity. "Both petroleum and gas may soon be child's play in comparison with electricity as an important factor in war, and it may be expected that science! will soon capture" electric waves, and so group them and multiply their power as to render useless all previous inventions. "In the next war the fate of the civilian:population will be very pre. carious and it is now necessary to organise the construction of collective shelters,* where civilians may remain throughout the military operations. "The mentality prevailing in Germany forces us now to consider the possibility of a.new struggle. "The development of tanks now is such that in the new battle, where they will play an important part, they will be able to advance x with equal ease over roads or ploughed land at an average'speed of at least fifteen miles an hour. They will be wind and watertight, ■ and so will be able •to pass through, gas cloubs and to cross rivers. ' , -ti ' "They will be grouped m units wren command tanks, revictualling ma- ! chines, wireless tanks, and tanks for guns of different sizes and different ! apparatus for throwing flames and gas., . , '.' "The larger tanks will be capable of crushing huge edifices, and the smaller ones will be entrusted with clearing up the battlefields. Much smaller types I will be used far individuals, covering a modern soldier as did armour of our ancestors. "Aeroplanes will dispute with the » tanks for prior importance. Even the i rapid development of aircraft does ! not bring popular realisation Of ItS.IUI ture importance. Experiments now are progressing to free aeroplanes from the difficulty of landing, and soon we may expect to see .a machine able to leave the ground vertically. "Special apparatus will enable the aeroplane to fly in complete darkness. Powerful engines will permit them to carry important contingents preceded by small scout, machines, and followed by rearguard airships. In other words, aeroplanes will fly in huge squadrons, endowed with similar power to that of the British high seas fleet. "Gas was hardly used in the last conflict yet it proved superior to explosives'. Research work is now opening up boundless possibilities, and it is entirely/ probable that the next war, instead' ! .of being known as a war of explosives, will be labelled a war of gas." ■ ■ 'UIfILUIM--