Evening star., 1941-10-03
Army Shows Its New Weapons
In Ft. BeIvoir Demonstration
Members Of Congress, Latin American
Observers See Mechonized and Air Action

IuSlleu 10 Iile QlSdDleO ndCnlne, Dut
the men inside called out they were
"all right" The visitors cheered
when the announcer made it known
they were uninjured.
Tank Hurdles Obstacle.
The tank operators were described
by the announcer as comparable in
their profession to test pilots in the
Air Corps"
One operator without Slackening
speed, sent his tank hurtling over
heavy barrier of earth built up with
! clap boards, and the announcer OBJ
served: THAT crib is designed to
stop tanks but not many drivers
take the jump as that one did"
Repeated reference was made over
the public address system to German
methods of mechanical attack. This
is what the Germans used so effec-
lively in the Lowlands advance" or
what you see there is a version of
German pincers movement"
During one slight hull in the dem
onstration, the score of the world
series game was announced, and at
the close of the battle the final New
York. Brooklyn score was proclaimed
for the benefit of the visitors. 1t
evoked one of the loudest cheers of
the afternoon.
To demonstrate the use of re-
corded battle sounds to steel troops
against the shock of the din of
modern warfare. sound trucks sur
rounding the bleachers turned on
sample records for five minutes at
one point in the proceedings.
Screaming shells, booming artillery
fire, the shrieks of dive bombers
with open sirens and the split
second rat-a-tat of machine-guns
were only few of the sounds roar
ing from the amplifiers.
Various Bridges Exhibited.
/ A tour of the training courses used
for construction Of fixed and float
ing bridges occupied more than an
hour of the visit earlier in the day.
| Officers stressed the fact that
trainees at the Engineer Replace
ment Training Center spend one day
learning the various tasks. Bridges
of all types, and in all degrees of
completion, were displayed on the
tour. Included in the observation
areas were treStle bridges, portable
steel spans, light and heavy pontoon
bridges, foot bridges, assault boats
and 5-ton bridge and tank ferry.
! In addition, the visitors were taken
| k, construction
where recruits are trained in rapid
construction of barracks and mess
quarters. TWo-headed nails are
used to allow hurried dissembly of
| the structures. The buildings are
put up and torn down by each group
of trainees in less than a day.
| Shortly before reaching the con-
/ struction area, the buses were driven
past the latest type of Army railroad
eouipment-an engine, tank car and
box car, each weighing 20 tons and
rolling on regular gauge track, in
contrast to the narrow gauge equip
ment used in World War days.
Fort Belvoir's rugged cross-coun-
try conditioning course attracted the
visitors for nearly half an hour,
This physical builder-upper for the
trainees, now copied at number of
posts elsewhere in the country, puts
troops over, though and under all
! types of obstacles. The water Jump,
negotiated Tarzan-fashion by means
of dangling ropes, drew particular
interest, and several Representatives
amused themselves with practice
swings after the soldiers had COM
pleted their routine.
Variety Of Equipment Displayed.
The program of events opened
with 81 exhibits of the Arny's lat
est mechanical and motorized
equipment, ranging from the small
est augmentation bomb to the
brand new tand highly secreD ra-
dio range finder.
Weapons from the sub-machine
gun to the 155 nm. cannon were
lined across the field. The last
word in anti-aircraft equipment, in
cluding the dual purpose 81 nm.
guns, searchlights and sound de-
tectors, pointed skyward as Army
bombers and pursuit interceptors
roared overhead. The guns gave
the guests a quiet closeup of the
type of equipment that was to be
put to use in the mock battle later.
Vice President Wallace and Un-
dersecretary Patterson examined
each item closely. stopping fire.
quently to sight the guns or ask
questions about this or that intri-
cate mechanism. Mr.. Wallace
showed particular interest in the
rs nm. gun mounted with dual 30
caliber machine guns on a half
tractor truck This is the heavy
weapon of the tank destroyer bat
talon.
In charge Of the days program
at the post were Brig. Gen. Edwin M.
Marks, commanding general; Col.
w. H. Hoge, executive officer of the
replacement training center: Maj
w. c. Bennett, supervisor of gen.
eral arrangements; Maj. L. w.
Prentiss, in charge of the exhibits.
Maj. Howard Johnson. supervisor of
the field demonstration. and Mai. S.
M. Albrecht, in charge of the lunch
con served the guests near the float
ing bridge area.
War Department arrangements for
the event were in charge of the
Public Relations Bureau, headed by
Brig. Gen. Alexander D. Surles. The
bus convoy from the Capitol was
escorted to Fort Belvoir by seven
park policemen in personal COM
mand of Capt. M. H. Raspberry.
n