Evening star., 1940-06-04


Inc German air attacks in the
Rhone Valley are also directed al
the French tank and airplane in
dustrles. st. Etienne is one of the
most important arms centers ir
France and, according to dispatches
the German bombers were tryins
to head in that direction. St
Etlenne is not far from Lyon.
How much battering the German
motorized divisions and the all
force have taken will be seen in the
course Of this week. According to
reports from France and Britain
1t appears that the Germans have
taken as much, If not more, punish.
ment than the Allies.
This Is natural The armies which
are on the offensive must neces.
sarlly lose more than the onei
which are being attacked. if the
latter show some fight. And there
is no doubt that the French and
British have taken it on the chin
unfllnchingly. Hence the opinion
OF military observers that the Ger.
mans are losing breath because OF
heavy losses among the specialized
personnel.
Training Problem.
In this war the loss of man power
is considered of secondary impor.
tance. 1t is similar to the situa-
ton in some of the countries in the
middle east, or in Russia. where the
loss OF a COW is much more la
mented than that of the wife. But
when it comes to flyers. parachut-
lists and tank crews the situation
becomes different. Infantrynen
and gunners can be trained in a
few months. They can be placed
amidst old soldiers with experience
and the new men can do all right.
But there is great difference be-
tween this type of soldier and the
crews Of dive bombers or the pilots
Of pursuit planes or the crews OF
the tanks. These men have to un-
dergo tremendous training and
cannot be formed in a few months.
It appears. according to the re-
ports received from the Flanders
battlefelds that the Germans have
suffered important casualties among
this type of soldiers. The French
and British nave suffered serious
losses, too. But the position Of an
army on the defensive is different
from that of striking force.
After having given up all attempts
to rescue the army OF Flanders by
direct action. Generalissimo Wey-
gand has applied all the energy to
the preparation of powerful line Of
Notifications on the Somme and
Aisne Rivers. There he is prepared
to meet the German onslaught,
These Notifications are, of course,
OF a totally different type from those
on the Albert Canal and the Maginot
line. But they are efficient support
for fighting army.
French Army Purge.
Ever since Weygand took over
from Gen. Gamelin he was busy re-
organizing the forces which needed
reorganizing BADLY. The dispatches
from Paris indicated that Is com.
manding officers had been dismissed.
The purge, according tc reports from
Paris. has been much more thorough
and some 200 officers from army
corps commanders to regimentaI
commanders have been removed by
Weygand
The French Army was and is ex-
cellent. But its chief ailment was
that in time OF peace politics played
a great role in the promotion and the
assignment of command to senior
officers.
The French leaders-and Daladier
was one of them-were so anxious to
keep the republican form of govern
ment that they were scared of men
who could be suspected of anti-re-
publican affiliation.
Thus many an excellent officer
was left in the background because,
for instance, he was too ardent
Catholic or was friendly with people
suspected of leaning toward a differ
ent form of government.
In most instances these fears Of
the overzealous democrats we're
without foundation. But that pre-
vented the promotion or assign
ment to responsible job of a num-
Der OF excellent officers, while those
with sound" political connections
got the cream of everything.
This Weygand has endeavored to
change, and while month is not
enough to make radical purge, he
has managed to overhaul what was
faulty in the machinery at the front.