The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-03-26
LONDON IS WEAK LINK IN ENGLISH LINE OF DEFENSE
Britain Spends $3S Per Person Every Year on
 Armaments

NuhVRC~M 4VWCASsl
 BY JOSEPH GREGG, JR.
 United Press Staff Correspondent)
 Copyright, 1898, by United Press
 London, March 26.-(UP)-Great Britain, preparing for the next war at . record peace-time rate, is spending .$38 on armaments this year for every person in the British Isles.
 Stanley Baldwin had only half the story when he said "our from tier no longer is at the cliffs Of Dover but at the Rhine" With wars raging near Gibraltar and Hong Kong, Great Britain now knows that the frontier of empire is as wide as the world itself.
 She is determined to spend and spend until that frontier is protec- ted. ,,,
 As usual, most of the money will 20 to the British navy which guards the empires lifeline. There are 547.0OO tons of warships under construction now, including i've 35,oOO-ton battleships, five aircraft carriers, 10 large cruisers, five cru isers of 5000 tons each, 30 destroy ers and 18 submarines. It IS eX- pected that 60 vessels will be put into service between April, 1858, and March, 1889.
 Afloat, Great Britain will be the worlds strongest power. But there are two other vital matters that will worry her when war comes - how to get food and how to protect London, the worlds most vulner- able target, against air raids. She intends to solve the food problem the same way she solved the U- boat problem in the World war. She will rely on an elaborate convoy system and will arm her merchant men.
 Protection of London is not so easy, but out of her tragic world war experience, Great Britain IS making progress. Any air fleet that starts against London will run in- to a balloon barrage"-a protecting line of anchored blimps from which heavy steel cables will dangle. The danger to raiding air men will be more psychological than physical. The balloon barrage" may force them to fly higher than they nor lnally would and detract from the accuracy of the bombing. Thirty million gas masks are in storage for the civilian population and 10,00O,- GOO more will be manufactured. Two anti-gas schools are training volun- teers while general training school for lair raid precaution of- ficers" opens soon. ;.
 Great Britain takes it for granted that civilians will be bombed in the next war, and believes retalia- ton against enemy cities is one of the best defenses for her home folk. For that reason the royal air force, which has about 4,500 effective ma chimes, has twice as many bombing suuadrons as it has fighting Squad- ronS.
 The home office has just issued an "air raid precaution" handbook which eventually will be used to instruct the public what to do in case of air raids. The head of each household is to consider himself "the captain of the ship" and see that the following instructions are followed:
 Prepare and equip a refuge room. Have everything ready for darken- ing the house at night; windows, skylights, fan-lights and glass doors must be obscured. Clear the attic of inflammable material to lessen risk of fire from incendiary bombs. As semble fire-fighting equipment. In large towns send invalids, children and aged people to the country. Don't smoke, don't light fires, don't eat food that has come in contact with gas. Pass the time reading. writing, sewing, playing cards or quiet games, or listening to the wireless or gramophone. Fit gas masks for all members of the fam ily--there are three sizes for adults, a "baby's bag and an intermediate size for children from two to five years of age.
 The government is studying the question of communicating all forms of transportation for possible evacuation of large cities, but act- ual plans have not been perfected. Fire fighting patrols have been or ganized, nearly 5000 fire pumps are being built and civilians receive free instruction in constructing bomb-proof shelters and gas-proof rooms. Subways probably will be closed during air raids because of the danger of bursting gas or water mains.
 Great Britain could produce only 25 to 35 per cent of the food she needs in wartime, but she would rely on her control of the seas to bring in supplies. It is understood plans already have been made for rationing of food on the outbreak of war as well as countrywide dis tribution to prevent local shortages.
 Younger men are in control of the British army, and 1t is being turned into a mechanical, mobile fighting force. Counting reserves and territorials, the nation has about 449.0O0 effectives, 30,000 of whom are stationed abroad. In ad- dition, there is permanent estab- lishment of 55,000 British troops in India and Burma.
 There is little doube that Great Britain would resort to conscription within a week after the outbreak of a major war. She probably could put 100000 men in the field within six months and ultimately 8,000,000. ....