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Show HITH IMB BISi PBME MM 153.0a3QlTO. AID OFFIOt Chamberlain Gets Huge 'Build-up' for Reply to Hitler By CHARLES A. SMITH ! LONDON, Oct 11 (INS) Indicating full British prepar- . edness for possible soviet thrust southward to the Persian Per-sian gulf, the British government govern-ment hat "strongly reinforced" its garrisons in the middle east ' coincident with dispatch of an . expeditionary force of 158,000 men to France, "War Secretary Leslie Hore-Belisha told the house of commons today. "British soldiers have not only been transported to France," Hore-Bellsha Hore-Bellsha said. "The middle oast has been strongly reinforced, also our garrisons elsewhere, both la material ma-terial and men... . , I - "At this moment troops of the ' expeditionary force In France are busy fortifying their positions in the line. Mlllioa la Kassrvs "And we still have In Britain alone the best part of a mlllioa men on whom we can can. ' "It Is dear that great calls will be made upoa eur manpower. At present our army consists of 32 divisions, but this Is not the limit of our effort. A total of 50.000 .' have volunteered for army service since the war." Bellsha announced plans to form special home defense battalions composed of men over and under enlistment age and those unfit for overseas service. -Britain." the secretary said, "has more than fulfilled the undertaking un-dertaking recently given to France to dispatch to France in event of war a British expeditionary force of a specified dimension within a specified time. Mere to Be Seat "We also have created our base and lines of communication so as to assure a regular flow of supplies sup-plies and munitions of every kind. "Nor are these contingents at present across the channel the last which will arrive." Convoys bearing British troops have averaged three nightly, Hore-Bellaha Hore-Bellaha said. "The British expeditionary force," he continued, "has been transported to France Intact and without a single casualty to personnel. per-sonnel. "We have transported to France (OcsKluuoS oa Pa Twal ' I Column Sul BRITAIN SPEEDS ARMY TOFRAHCE CtaMl Frees fast Oee 25,000 mechanised units. Including U"1", tome of enormous dimensions dimen-sions weighing 15 tons and upward, requiring special ships and special handling. "As a precaution against air and other attacks, most devious routes were selected. The men were dispersed dis-persed Into small groups,' halted in concealed areas In daylight and moved on at nighttime. "We have completed great reserves re-serves of airplane fuel In France." Effectiveness Increased Hore-Bellsha quoted figures showing how the present B. E. F. Is more effective than that of 1914. The personnel as a whole has a "fine spirit," he said. British government quarters praised the declaration of French Premier Edouard Daladier that France would not consider making peace with Germany until a certain cer-tain guarantee of security was obtained. ob-tained. Well-informed circles regarded Daladier's remarks not only as the most effective Interim reply to Chancellor Hitler's "peace" address ad-dress to the relchstag, but also toCortaaa statements that the al. Ilea are wavering or that Anglo-French Anglo-French political harmony la Incomplete. In-complete. The reception accorded Daladier's Da-ladier's radio address Indicated Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain Chamber-lain will adopt a similar tone when he addresses the house of commons com-mons tomorrow in a full reply to Hitler. Offer Termed Boss In his address, Daladier termed Hitler's offer of peace a "ruse" based on "force and violence" and said Britain and France would keep fighting "until the world has been restored to a "peace of Justice, and security . . . freed from the menace of conquests and surprises every six months." Meanwhile, the British press Is giving Chamberlain's address a wide and obviously government-inspired government-inspired build-up. It Is being called probably the most momentous "British empire statement" since the World war. Speculation in London la now centering upon whether Chancellor Chancel-lor Hitler will let loose his threatened threat-ened "blitzkrieg" (lightning war) momentarily or mark time tor further fur-ther political maneuvers. Bound to Fall British sources Insist that If Hitler attempU "blitzkrieg, he is bound to fall, because the Anglo-French Anglo-French allies are ready for anything any-thing Including a German mass offensive, from whatever direction it may come. - . - In addition, London circles asserted, as-serted, further political maneuvers by Hitler are "foredoomed to failure," fail-ure," particularly If they are designed de-signed to split the Anglo-French alliance. France and Britain stand together to-gether solidly, it waa emphasized. In their determination to wage war until "Hitlerlsra" is wiped out Whitehall circles, apparently on the basis of latest reports from Sir William Seeds, British ambassador ambas-sador to Moscow, predicted a Rus-so-Turkish pact eventually will be signed. Te Harmonise Pacta The protracted visit to Moscow of Sukru Saracoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, was explained as necessitated by the task of harmonizing har-monizing the texts of the Russo-Turkish Russo-Turkish and Anglo-Turkish treaties. trea-ties. British quarters claimed these accords will not conflict at any fundamental point The same circles scoffed at a Riga report that Russia Is sending 17 tons of gold to Germany, but admitted that Britain now Is resigned re-signed to the prospect of Russia giving Hitler strong diplomatic and some material support Nevertheless, London officials still refuse to believe that the Soviets will go to war to aid Hitler. |
