POLISH FORCES

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20993, 21 December 1939, Page 7

POLISH FORCES

TO FIGHT WITH ALLIES REORGANISING ARMY i LAND, SEA AND AIR

I (United Press assu. —Elec. Tel. Copyrigut) LONDON, Dec. 19 i In an interview’ with journalists in London Major Ilinsky, of the Polish military mission, outlined Poland’s efforts to reorganise her fighting 1 forces. j He said: “ Poles w’ho were able to escape from Poland and make their w T ay toward the friendly borders of I France and Britain form the first ; nucleus of our Army, the reorganisaj tion of which in both countries is in progress, according to the agreements concluded with the British and j French Governments, i “ The Army, Navy and Air Force of Poland exist again,” said Major • Ilinsky. Speaking of naval activities he re--1 called the fact that Polish ships now j constitute part of the Allied forces. They were, he said, operating under the Polish flag, under the command 1 of the Polish officers and manned by i Polish crews. A special naval depot would be established for the purpose of training further personnel and the formation of reserves. “ Somewhere in France ” “ As to our land forces, which are being trained somewhere in France,” said Major Ilinsky, “ it is intended to form four or five infantry divisions as well as armoured and mechanised | units. “The Polish Army will be under the Polish High Command and will remain at the end of the hostilities as one of the Allied armies under the inter-Allied supreme command. Training centres for our officers and men are already in full swing. “ The average duration of such training centres is three months, and, as the first of these courses was started in the autumn, we may calculate how soon the first large Polish units, fully trained, will be ready to leave their camps and again face the enemy. “ The organisation of Polish Air Force units is divided into two equal groups. One is in Britain and the ; other in France. We were lucky to 1 get out of Poland a fairly large num- | ber of our Air Force personnel and ! we shall be able to organise several squadrons for a start. The machines for our squadrons will be British in Britain and French in France.”

RELENTLESS PRESSURE CONTROL OF CONTRABAND i United rrcss /tssn. —Elec. Tel. CopyrlfrM) LONDON, Dec. 19 The relentless pressure which the Allied contraband control is exercising upon the economic resources behind the Nazi war machine is indicated in figures—based on statistics ot world production in 1937—which have been compiled by economic experts in London. From these it is apparent that 100 per cent of world production of molybdenite, vanadium, rubber, copra, palm oil, and ground nuts is no longer available to Germany. The same is true of 99.9 per cent of world production of tin, 99 per cent of tungsten, 96.5 per cent of nickel, and approximately 96 per cent of copper. It is shown also that 88.75 per cent of world cotton supplies and 86.3 per cent of wool supplies are also beyond Germany’s reach. Even if the Nazi claims that Russia will be able to provide her with iron ore, manganese, asbestos, phosphates and fodder, and that she can draw from other neighbouring countries whale oil, petroleum and antimony, were substantiated the deficiencies already mentioned are likely, in view of the British experts, to prove decisive. Their importance in relation to the W’ar effort which the Nazi Government is imposing on economy is obvious.

Copper, tin, nickel, molybdenite and vanadium are vital alloys used in hardening steel for various purposes in manufacture. Cotton is important in the manufacture of explosives. Rubber plays a bigger and bigger part, as the war is mechanised and the German substitute, buna, is known to be only satisfactory for certain purposes, besides being uneconomic to produce. The ultimate effectiveness of the Allied contraband control is therefore not affected by the possibility of trade with her immediate neighbours through the Balkans, which remain open to Germany. ONE CARGO SEIZED EXPEDITING EXAMINATIONS (onisiai WireJers) (Received December 21, 11 a.m.) RUGBY, Dec. 20 On December 19 there were 62 neutral ships in three contraband control bases in the United Kingdom, of which 28 had been there for five days or less. During the week-end the Contraband Committee considered the cargoes of 104 ships which had arrived since December 9, and 62 outstanding cargoes from the previous week. In one case the entire cargo was seized while in 91 cases the entire cargoes were released either on first consideration or after enquiries. The system under which advance copies of manifests are received and considered before the ships’ arrival resulted during the week in 19 cases being so dealt with and in 15 cases of the ships concerned being released by the committee, subject merely to a formal checking of the original manifests on their arrival at the contraband bases.

HERR HITLER

DEPARTS FROM BERLIN (United Press A*«r.— Flee. Tel Copyright) (Received Dec. 21. 12.30 a.m.) BERLIN. Dec. 20 Herr Hitler has left Berlin, presumably for the Christmas holidays at Berchtesgaden.