POLISH STRENGTH

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 September 1939, Page 5

POLISH STRENGTH

FIFTH MILITARY POWER YOUNG, VIGOROUS NATION. REMARKABLE MANPOWER. Poland’s greatest military strength lies in her remarkable man-power. During the war, apart from ordinary casualties, over 1,000,000 Poles died oi privation. Naturally, most of these • were old people, so that the normal ■ age balance of population was disturb- ’ ed. Thus today 50 per cent of the ’ people of Poland are under 25 years oi ■ age—66 per cent under 30! > These are remarkable figures. They ’ mean that Poland, with a . population J of only 34,000,000, can mobilise an army J larger than France with 41,000,000. ’ They are even more significant when ■ considered in detail. The conscrip. classes called up are nearly as large • in Poland as in Germany. ’ Consider the situation in the immediate post-war years —a defeated Ger ’ many in the trough of despair, bank- • rupt and without hope, and a resurrec ted Poland charged with enthusiastic ’ and optimistic virility. Thus in the years 1920-25 the average number oi boys born in Poland was 515,000. In ’ Germany', with double the population, ’ it was only 675,000. • More recent figures are even more striking. Although free from Government stimulus, the Poles are naturally 1 more prolific than, the Germans, ana in the last 10 years the average number » of boys born in Poland was 511,000 ' while in Germany it was 595,000. In • young man-power, therefore, Poland is 1 only slightly inferior to Germany. Well-equipped divisions. J The Polish army is thus a factor oi ’ great importance. Poland is actually - the fifth military power in the world. The standing army exceeds 300,000, in- : eluding 45,000 regular officers and } n.c.o.s, while trained reserves exceed J 2,000,000 men. In war Poland can mob--1 ilise an army of 4,000,000 soldiers without crippling the essential economic life of the country. The standing army includes 30 divi1 sions of infantry’’, with two of mountain troops. These divisions are well equip- , ped, and are trained to fight as indeL pendent units. Poland’s frontiers are ’ so vast —3,438 miles —that it is imposp sible to visualise warfare based on continuous Lines of trenches; a Polish Maginot Line is not a practicable pro- ’ position. According to its station, each division has its allotment of mechan- • ised and armopred vehicles. Polish ’ tanks are of excellent quality and per- ; formance, and have been produced in ' large numbers. ; Supporting troops include 30 regiments of'field artillery attached to thcdivisions, independent brigades for general reserve, 10 regiments of heavy ■ artillery, mechanised units, and anti- • aircraft sections and armoured trains.' Yet the outstanding feature of the : Polish army is its cavalry. This is the ■ best in Europe. It is certainly the ■ quietest. More than once as the writer i attended manoeuvres in Eastern Galii cia he found himself surrounded by ■ cavalary who had given no hint of : their-“approach. Observers,'' admired, i their equipment and the fashion in . which it is mounted —so that a man may ride at a canter without the slight- ■ est jingle. [ Cavalry may be discredited in the . West, but in the wide expanses of ; Eastern Europe its role is very impor- ; tant. Jn a war of poor'communications, 1 the activities of mechanised forces are . limited by considerations of supply, : .but in any part of Poland cavalry can i live on the country. ; Mounted troops consist of three regi- ; ments of light cavalry, 27 of Uhlans, ; 10 of mounted chasseurs and 10 squad rons of scouts. The' divisions of the [ cavalry who had given no hint of . ped alike, witir-the machine-gun as the ■ dominant weapon. The troops are of excellent quality; trained to fight in . small groups, their initiative was keen ’ and their eye for cover remarkable. The Poles have developed the offen- [ sive as well as the defensive powen ; of the machine-gun. An observer saw i one remarkable advance by machine . gunners alone, without the support of infantry, artillery or tanks. While one line kept up a fierce barrage of bullets a second line advanced ahead. This in turn sent, out a venomous fire, and the process was repeated. OWN PLANES MADE. Polish arms are as good as any in Europe: some are of native invention, others made in Poland under licence. For example, Poland now manufactures her own planes from British Fury and Blenheim prototypes. At the recen aircraft exhibition in Paris, Polish ex-, ' hibits attracted wide attention. Froir. ! the other point of view it is interesting • to note that the quick-firing gun now > being installed in many British planes ; is a Polish invention. Polish first-line aircraft number 1256 ' with a similar number in reserve. There is an ample proportion of bom I bers —neighbouring countries offer far ' better targets than does Poland. The - Los (Elk) with a load of a little under • 3,8801 b, and a speed of 260 miles an I hour. The Wilk bomber has a range of ! over 1,200 miles. The Wolf all-metal • fighter carries two machine-guns anc • one gun, has a range of nearly 800 1 miles and a speed of 290 miles per J hour. 1 Most interesting, perhaps, is the 1 Mewa (Sea-gull) observation plane • akin to the British Lysander type, but ' lighter and more easily manoeuvred. 1 All these planes are produced com- ’ pletely in Poland, and are exported in considerable quantities to the countries ’ of south-eastern Europe. > GREAT'INDUSTRY CREATED. j With a large, well-trained and wellequipped army, Poland’s only potenj tial difficulty is that of supplies in wartime. Her Baltic coastline might easily j be over-run in the first few days, and ! the alternative route via the Rumanian Black Sea ports is ( lengthy and precari- ; cus. Yet Poland can be self-supporting to a considerable extent. Her difficul- ’ ties are based on the fact that her native supplies of metals and coal are largely drawn from Upper Silesia, which is adjacent to the German frontier. (This area has already been occupied by German troops.) The problem has been tackled with . foresight and energy. The French loan : of £25,000,000 two years ago has achI ieved remarkable results. While other 1 countries talk of five-year plans, the 1 Polish Press and Polish conversation I re-echo with the continual mention of ■ “C.0.P.” The initials stand for “Centraln.v • Okreg Przemyslowy,” or the Central ■ Industrial Area. In a triangle within ■ the confluence of the rivers Vistula and I San, about the town of Sandomierz, has

been created a new industrial development. Existing' towns and villages have increased their population by thousands per cent. One new town of 30,000 inhabitants sprang up within ,a year! Already cozens ui' giant factories are in production. Considerable reserve stocks of essential commodities have been accumulated. The mountain streams of the Carpathians to the south yield abundant power. There is even a direct supply of “earth gas” from the Polish oilfields. Thus the overwhelming bogy of the Polish high cojnmand has been laid. Even if the factories and mines of Upper Silesia are overrun or destroyed in the first days of war, Poland will no longer be crippled. She can carry on under her own resources until outside help comes by roundabout routes. It would be a fatal mistake on the part of a potential enemy to underestimate the strength of Poland. The people have a natural courage, like all the Slav races; unlike some, they have an adequate self-confidence, not easily dimmed by their geography—with two strong frontiers and sandwiched between two powerful nations. Their patriotism is intense, and can only be compared with that of the Irish.