GERMAN ARMY

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20912, 18 September 1939, Page 14

GERMAN ARMY

STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS PRODUCT OF HASTY TRAINING The Herman armies are The spearhead of a brand new weapon of war fashioned by Hiller in the space of six years, out of the iron and steel of German furnaces and the flower of German youth (writes a comment* tor in an oversea journal). Tht* great war machine has been designed, built, and made ready for use at the cost of colossal sacrifice. Nevertheless, in many respects the German forces lack the finish of the military machine which Germany had ready 25 years ago. Foreign observers estimate the total strength of the German armies at 2,800,000 men, comprising 800,000 members of the regular army and 2,000,000 organised reserves. These figures take no account of the air force personnel, whose numbers the German High Command has been at pains to keep secret, but. if French and British military experts ore correct in estimating the number at 130,000 (including the 40.000 men trained in the anti-aircraft division), the total strength of Germany’s land forces cannot be less than 2,900.000. Add the navy personnel of 55.000 and the thousands of specialists who have been trained secretly, and a grand total emerges of 3,000,000 men trained for arms to varying degrees of efficiency. In some divisions the high efficiency is undoubted. Claim Doubted Military observers, however, doubt the claims which Hiller has made about the exhaustive training and equipping of his whole war machine. The German as a soldier has won respect, but in a modern war- bravery and discipline may count for little if there are faults in leadership, organisation and equipment. The march into Czechoslovakia showed that the German war machine was creaking badly, and though all the efforts of the Army staff have since ben directed to removing the weaknesses which were then apparent, it is doubtful whether disabilities due to haste and economic isolation have been entirely overcome. There is. too. a serious shortage of trained staff officers. It is estimated that a mobilised German army of iOO divisions would need at least 5000 such officers, whereas the present figure is about 3850 —of whom, it is admitted, many have had little real training. The German Air Force, for long the spectre of Europe, is the proud possession of Field-Marshal Gocring. Close secrecy has been maintained since rearmament began in i 935. The effective strength of the force has been estimated variously at from 5000 to 10,000 fighting planes. Although probably not equal to the very latest British types, the majority of the German v»irplanes is highly efficient, and the system of standardisation introduced has permitted concentration on a few types, with consequent advantages in rapid production end replacement.