"In this fortress I had the particular opportunity to study their defence against modern artillery and bombs, which, in intensity, can sur-Pass any destructive weapons man ever before conceived. So little of these enormous works are on or near the surface that months and years of shelling could not destroy all their turrets and cupolas or hope to drive these defence forces out of their anthill"
"The Maginot forces have unshaken able faith in the impregnability of their line, but even if the Germans, in a surprise attack, or by sheer weight of their forces—taking at least 1% million losses in the process succeed in breaking through and getting into the interior of France, their problem would be to get out again. These fortresses are so planned that they can operate in any direction.
"In case the Germans succeeded ju breaking through, these fortresses could be hermetically sealed and closed and life could go on normally for six months to a year. The guns within this fortress and those within sight -to the right and left would swing round to establish another curtain of fire behind the Germans and prevent them from retreating, while the main French army on the surface drove the enemy back into the range of these furious guns.
Mobile Artillery Reinforcements "France has tremendous faith in the Maginot Line, but at best these fort-rosses are immovable, so the French General Staff has kept up its tradition of keeping the best mobile artillery in Europe, excellent infantry, and a remarkable, although small, air force. The French' with elation now claim tank superiority over the Germans and point to accomplishments attained so far on the Western Front and Poland.
"A tank corps commander, showing off the qualities of the French tanks, declared that these same swift 'Chars' were used by the Polish Army and had whipped many times their number of German tanks during the brief war in the East. He recited in particular the accomplishment of one battalion of French tanks manned by Polish troops, some of whom had been sent to France and put through the French Army's tank school at Versailles They operated ju Poland under three French officers using French equipment.—United Press.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.