DOMINION MINISTERS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 November 1939, Page 6

DOMINION MINISTERS

VISIT TO EXPEDITIONARY FORCE TALK WITH VISCOUNT GORT & OTHERS. DAY OF AIR RAID WARNINGS. L’e'egi'aoh—Press Association —Copyright. (Received This Dav. 10.5 a.tn.) LONDON. November 12. A correspondent of the Australian Associated Press with the British Expeditionary Force in France says Messrs Fraser and Casey and other Dominion Ministers explained to Vis_.,Ltnt Gort yesterday the steps the Do..niiicn Governments were taking to strengthen the British forces on the Western Front. Viscount Gort and his chief of staff, General Pownall. and Air Vice-Mar-shal Blount described the strategical situation as seen through British eyes. The five Ministers left Paris early in the morning, driving through the heaviest rain since the British Expeditionary Force arrived in France, for a tour across the old British battlefields. Their sleep was interrupted in the early hours of the morning by the wailing of an air raid warning. The, Dominion Ministers decided that the chances of the Hotel Crillon being hit were remote; nevertheless they went into a shelter. The convoy of cars proceeding to British headquarters did not stop during the air raid alarm. Viscount Gort was waiting on the steps and Mr Anthony Eden (Dominions Secretary) introduced the visitors. Il cannot be disclosed what the Dominion ministers revealed to Viscount Gort. the Duke of Gloucester and members of the staff during an informal armchair talk. Mr Fraser spoke of the importance of the Singapore defence of the Pacific. General Pownall lucidly explained the possibilities of an attack on the Allied lino, leaving no doubt that the Allies are well able to deal with it. The Dominion delegates today vis : t the first and Second Army Corps front line. Mr Fraser on Friday had a long conversation with, the leader of the French Labour movement, also with M Blum. They decided that the trade union movement must stand behind the Allied cause. “The trade unions arc always ready to declare for peace at any suitable time, but Hitlerism stands in the way.” said Mr Fraser.