Evening star., 1951-11-11
ernoon Pootinote Becomes Arsenal for Allies
By Daniel De Luce

frenzied armament boom is under
way in once sleepy. pastoral region
of Germany on the west bank of
the Rhine.
The green hills of the Palatinate,
seat of the Holy Roman Empire in
the Middle Ages, are being trans
formed into an Allied arsenal.
A multimillion dollar defense pro-
gram-paid for by American and
German taxpayers-is going full
speed in this strategic area, which
straddles old invasion routes to Lor-
raine and Luxembourg.
In a triangle roughly marked by
the bomb-scarred cities of Kaiser
slautern. Mainz and Trier, Gen.
Dwight D. Eisenhower's Atlantic COM
mand is toughening its protective
grip on Western Europe.
More than 10000 new American
troops have poured in here in the
last few months. Hundreds of United
States tanks have arrived. They
have come into what is still the
French occupation zone. But under
cold-war pressure, the Allies have
agreed to disregard zonal barriers
for the sake of military effectiveness.
Bose for Control
If the generals calculations prove
right, this base will secure Allied con-
troll over the middle stretches OF the
Rhine River in case of sudden Rus
sian onslaught. It can function as
the springboard for quick, powerful
counterattack.
In maneuvers by more than 100000
Allied soldiers in Germany this
wear. Eisenhower's field commanders
stressed two tactical points: Roll with
the Red Army's first punch. but keep
your armored fist cooked to strike
back.
Until recently the Palatinate was
backwoods and dormant. Controlled
by France since the war, its economy
Jagged far behind the bustling re-
covery which the United States and
Britain promoted elsewhere. When
American forces began moving in this
year it was like q mammoth electric
shock.
Country Wokes Up
Now the countryside echoes the
roar of bulldozers, steam shovels and
heavy trucks. Almost overnight big
American military post has sprung up
in Kaiserslautern. New military in
stallations dot the map.
At Baumholder, once Wehrmacht
training ground, the United States
I'd Armored Divisions tanks charge
almost daily in mimic battle.
German contractors who helped
build Hitler's west wall are back on
the job. They are rushing to COM
pletion-on American order-new
barracks, depots, warehouses, air
fields and strategic roads. "West Wall
fever" is the name Germans give the
startling boom.
It has attracted thousands OF
skilled and unskilled workers from all
over West Germany and temporarily
wiped out the Palatinate's chronic
unemployment problem. With bonus
for overtime, night shifts and spe-
cial Sunday work, Germans here earn
nearly double their normal wage.
Some average IL hours day, seven
days a week.
Big Boom Under Woy
Even little contractors are thriv-
ing. One started last spring with q
single truck, hauling sand for the
American Army. Now he has eight
big vehicles in his trucking fleet.
Handcart peddlers are building stores
out of profits. Wayside shacks sell
ing soft drinks have become gaudy
bars. Pickup girls have flocked here
from larger cities. Lonely males far
outnumber women in this boom area.
Hotels and boarding houses are
jampacked. Private householders
gouge itinerant workers with sky high
prices for a room. regardless OF Of
ficial rent control. Many have to
sleep in tents.
When payday arrives. it's Klon-
dixie gold rush in European setting.
Beer, wine and schnapps flow faster
than the Rhine. On the outskirts Of
construction camps, gypsy caravans
edge closer for q share OF the get
r1ch-quick spoils.
Some Germans shake their heads
over the "West Wall fever" They say
1t adds up to nothing but hard work
and cheap pleasure"
They recall the savings that many
German workmen carefully put away
when they built the original West
Wall, and how this money became
worthless paper in 1945.
And they don't like the location Of
this new base-west Of the Rhine. It
suggests too strongly to them that
most of Germany lies outside the Al
lies real defense line.
ASSOCIATED Press.)