Evening star., 1940-08-08
Poles Force Experts
To Revise Opinion
OF Their Army
Brewery and Discipline
In French Campaign
Win High Regard
BY the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
BERN, Switzerland, Aug. ga lot
Of high power military experts, at
tached to Swiss legations as the
military attaches of foreign powers
and some of the Swiss, too, have
revised their opinion of Poland's S
Army.
Three things contributed to the
new turn of opinion.
First was the new realization of
the power of Germany's war ma
chine and it's strength in the air.
Second was the way France
cracked up along with Belgium, Hol-
land and the Low Countries in SO
days of warfare. Poland alone lasted
four weeks.
Third were the Poles themselves
even in internment.
On the night from the 10Th to
the goth of last June alone some
$4,000 troops crossed into Switzer-
land in the region of the branches
Montagnes in the Jura.
IlChCh ThSt W STOSS.
First to cross were about 10000
French troops of various branches
of the army. Some had their rifles
Some didn't. Many had never even
seen a German. Few had par
ticipated in active fighting. All came
because the Germans cut off their
retreat to the south.
Later came the main units of
$4,000 Poles. They too had been cut
off in their retreat, but they came
across with all their arms and even
most of their motorized equipment
They were disciplined. They had
not only almost all seen Germans
but their units were all heavily
carved up by casualties.
One Polish unit, about 1000 strong
dashed up to the frontier with sew
eral batteries of 75s and lois. A
group Of commanding officers con-
ferred briefly with the Swiss COM
mand and were told that they would
have to surrender both arms and
ammunition.
Iney Gave IL 10 Germans.
The whole unit turned around
and dashed off again. The COM
manding officer explained that they
"still had some ammunition left"
and were going to give it to the
Germans"
They gave it to the Germans and
the Germans gave them the same
back again. They couldn't get
through. They came into Switzer-
land with all their guns and rifles
but with not a shell, not a cart
ridge and with many casualties.
Poles, in little groups of three and
four, have been drifting into Swift
Zerland ever since the armistice
Some have come from Channel ports
all the way through German occu-
pied territory. They hide IN farm
houses or deserted town houses dur
ing the day and travel by night.
They escape from internment
camps.
Some of them no sooner crossed
the border and were disarmed than
Iney Irled 10 escape again. swiss
police stopped four recently headed
back into occupied France. Yes
they knew it was occupied, but they
wanted to get to England-some-
how. They didn't know how.
Disciplined Troops.
In the internment camps they
soon won the admiration of many
Swiss by their discipline. In the
beginning Swiss civilians took a
special fancy to the French because
French was one of Switzerland's S
three national languages and was
far nearer than distant Poland.
Since then the Poles discipline,
cleanliness, morale and comradeship
have won them many friends. Some
Swiss, including Swiss visitor to
internment camps quoted in the
Baseler Nachrichten, found that
the French brought along some
of the decaying smell of social and
political disintegration." Those
French were not peacetime soldiers
The Poles, a proud lot, range in