Evening star., 1950-07-25

This is the seventh Of O series of articles
on Germony's new Wehmocht.
getting from Soviet factories he
said: Pamphlets"
All other government issues to-
day are dusty products of such
NaZi assembly lines as the Her.
mann Goering Works, Krupps,
Skoda. -.
zone wonders: If there be a
World War III will the initial
European phase be fought with
hand-me-down weapons? For the
United States today ships prima-
rily surplus stuff to it's continental
allies.)
Old Wehrmacht Barracks Used.
If the average German enlists
he might be posted to the Panzer
units in training at town called
simply Burg. He'll be housed in
an old Wehrmacht barracks where
he'll note that attempts to purge
the walls have not yet erased
carved swastikas, Hell Hitlers"
and violent comments about Jews
and Stain.
He will be hardened inside
Tiger tank-the mechanical mon
ster that helped Field Marshal
Gerd Won RundStedt push a bulge
into the American lines those ter
rible days around Christmas of
1914.
However, I have learned that
considerable numbers Of the 80
ton T-34 Russian tank have been
brought into East Germany for
distribution to the Bereitschaften.
Several are already on display
at BereitSchaften installations.
The T-34 mounts 76 nm g.
inch) gun. 1t has given our GIs
In North Korea much trouble. The
T-34 is exceptionally rapid and
has a low silhouette which makes
it a difficult target. Its armor
slopes and has shrugged off our
anti-tank missiles in Korea, as
one eyewitness there reported,
'1ike ping pong balls"
Russians Tank Masters.
The Soviets, no man today de-
nies, are the worlds tank masters.
If they choose to flood the new
Wehrmacht with this new weapon,
an even more ominous urgent
note quickly will be injected.
The Germans o. D. uniform is
the same old brisk Wehrmacht
black-not a stitch switched. He's
issued two pairs of the soft
leather old Wehrmacht boots, two
pairs of long socks, two blue
shirts, two hats and a wide belt
called a girdle-and for that pur-
pose.
To his skin clinges long woolen
underwear-June and January.
Long years back a Prussian genius
figured that longies absorb pres
piration during the steaming sum-
mer, as well as checking chills in
winter.
In all things the recruits car
bon copy the old Wehrmacht. The
physical training never forgets
that war is still a personal ad-
venture.
First Lesson Is Rough.
In Jiu-Jitsu training the in
structor does not give long series
of "how to do it, lectures. His
first lesson for the rockies is an
assault.
Not until the recruit can make
o reasonable defense and per-
sonally whip newer rookies-is he
passed.
If he proves himself a capable
stranger, panther-fast and steely-
nerved, he might win appoint
ment to the elite Einzatsfaehige
Kommandos - Commands Fit
for Commitment" Here is a re-
vival of the razor sharp personal
blitzmen who created such havoc
behind Allied lines in World War
n. It was they who crash-landed
atop a mountain in gliders and
rescued Benito Mussolini from pro-
Allied Italians.
If artillery is his lot, the rookie
will work with the still potent.
88 mm's-a good all purpose can
non and field guns of cal. 105, 1855
nm and 210 nm, all out of old
Wehrmacht surplus.
One new Wehrmacht innova-
ton: instead of being sliced into
division the Bereitschaften is COM
posed of units of roughly 1000
men each. Units are recarved into
'Kommandos," with 200 men each.
Presses Sheet With Toothbrush.
For centuries admirers have be-
1ieved German armies super clean
To give his sheet the required
snappy edge, the German soldier
presses" it with a wet toothbrush.
And when Oberlieutentant
Schultz inSpects he'll run a white
handkerchief under shelves and
bedsprings. A pepper of dust
might cost the soldier his week.
end leave.
If a trooper cares to kill idle
hours in camp he can witness
movies not produced by Twenti-
eth Century-Fox or MGM. Re
cent f1ickers screend at Burg in
cluded such four star Communist
hits as "Stalingrad," Song of
Siberia" and Flower of the
Steppes."