AMENDED STORY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 January 1942, Page 3

AMENDED STORY

TOLD BY THE GERMANS TALK OF WINTER LINES DROPPED. HUNT FOR WARM CLOTHING. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, January 13. In the face of Soviet successes, the Germans have dropped their story of withdrawing to winter lines, and the German people are now being told that the Russian winter makes the construction of trenches impossible, the ground being so hard as to necessitate use of dynamite to clear it.

Incessant efforts are being made to make civilians part with warm clothing in Germany. The Berlin newspaper “Der Angriff” points out how certain exclusively female articles of clothing can be used for soldiers in Russia. It adds: “There is no reason why people should not part with an under blanket. These can be used for lining coats and greatcoats.” ■ Evidence of Germany’s plight in this respect also comes from Holland, where it had first been announced officially that all stocks of woollen and fur goods belonging to manufacturers, wholesalers or retailers must be put at the disposal of the Reich textile bureau at The Hague. Referring to the shortage of winter clothing for the German army, the Berlin correspondent of the Stockholm “Tidningen” reports that when the collection of textiles and furs comes to an end, party officials visit peoples’ homes to check up on what is left. The slogan is “Give everything, 'even the last reserves,” and newspapers no longer call the collection voluntary.

Another Swedish correspondent reports that even in Germany nothing has ever been done so thoroughly as the z collection of textiles and furs. The Soviet agency Tass reports that on the demand of of the Germans the Rumanian authorities are now forcibly imposing “voluntary - ’ collections of warm clothing and in some cases it has become sheer plundering. As Rumanians are unwilling to surrender their warm clothing to the Germans, mass searches have been taking place in houses, and all warm underwear, shoes and coats have been removed. “Bad patriots” who resent this action have been arrested and sent to labour camps.