1940-02-26 — Page 23

Monday

HONGKONG TELEGRAPH

February 26, 1940.

BY SOMERSET MAUGHAM

By

WHAT are the rene-

tions of the French soldier to the war with Germany? We know that Hitler has attempt- ed to separate Britain and France. He hurls propaganda at the French soldiers in the front lines with this object in view. Has he succeeded?

Somerset Maugham, the famous English novellat, visited the Maginot Lines to find out.

In this, the second of a vivid series of articles from his pen, he tells of what he found there.

T-SPENT a week with the French Armies in Alsace 2nd Lorraine. The case mate I visited was well in front of the Maginot Line.

The Commandant who showed me over it had the look of a well-fed Burgher in an old Dutch picture; he was a thick-set, rubicund, jovial man with a red mous- tache.

He took the same pride in his fortress as the commander of a man-of-war takes in his ship.

I asked him how long ho could hold out against an attacking force.

"If necessary I could stand a siege of six months," he said, and with his eyes twinkling added: "But I should hope they'd come and rescue us be fore then."

1

When he showed me one of his big machine-guns and de- monstrated how it could be brought into action, ho remark- ed his eyes twinkling again: "The one thing a gunner dreams of at night is that he will sight an enemy tank passing within range when there's no superior officer by and he can have a shot at it on his own."

The Peace Conference At Versailles-1919

They Fight

GENERAL GAMELIN

They've

Made

A New Home

Night falls early and there are limits to the number of hours you can play belotte.

Boredom is one of the enemies that the General Staff has to deal with.

Books are needed, books by the thousand, and radios, with program- mes that will cheer and amuse, and without too many patriotle haran- gues; they do not want their patrio- tism aroused, these men, it is

for France

thero deep in their bones; they want

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POLISH TROOPS REVIEWED

Paris, Feb. 23.

to know what is General Sikorsky Polish Prime going on, of Minister, has made his first review of

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CONSIGNEES' NOTICE.

SERVICES CONTRACTUELS DES

MESSAGELIES MARITIMES

Bringing Cargo from Marseilles via Saigon.

Consignees are hereby informed that their goods with the exception of Opium, Treasure and Valuables are being landed and stored into the Godowns of the Hongkong Kowloon Whart and Godown Co., Ltd., Kow- toon, whence delivery may be ob tained immediately after landing.

All claims must be sent in to me on or before 1st March, 1040, or they will not be recognized.

Damaged Packages will be examin

and good humour to help them

As course, but they want to laugh and the Polish Army now in training in Discipline is maintained they were finding life good well as in any other army, but sigh at songs, comic and sent-France. They consist chiefly of Folished by the Company's Surveyor enough. They knew how much there is in the French army a mental; and they want entertai-miners and labourers led by officers Messrs:-Goddard and Donveyor

and non commissioned officers who the

presence of

the Consignees at 10 better off they were than the feeling of solidarity between the

escaped from Poland. He was greatly a.m. on Monday 26th February, 1040. Consigners must have à Revenue men in the cold and mud of the various ranks which is truly de-

pressed by the one physique of

Omeer in attendance when any duti

mocratic.

With the whole nation in arms, men in every rank of society are together, bearing the same dis- comforts and exposed to the same

risks.

ments.

The Poilu Sticks

To His Rifle

THE French soldier is above all an infantry man. He heard with sincere distress of

the men.

A correspondent who visited the able goods are examined by the Com- training camp saw the great progress pany's Surveyors.

No Fire Insurance will be effected made in the training of the men who

have been taught the use of the by us in any case whatever. most modern weapons in accordance with French methods.

advanced posts.

They had a neat little canteen where they could buy cigarettes, beor, chocolates and toilet neces- saries; they could even buy hair- wash and scent. There were tables in the canteen where they

After the inspection General Sikor- A French reporter told me that could sit in their leisure hours, he and a number of his colleagues the loss of the British ships sky said."I am proud of my troops who will give a good account of drink a glass of beer, listen to had been taken along the front for Courageous and Royal Oak,

That hurd upon two thousand themselves when the time comes," rudio and almost think a trip that lasted several days and themselves back in the estaminet at the end of it a suggestion was officers and men should have lost American Ambassador received eight made that the drivers of their cars their lives had a pecullar effect on vehicles presented by the Polish- of their native village.

should be tipped.

him. Even though these were la-American Ambulance Society to the mentable catastrophes they hearten- Polish Army for use as ambulances. "Watch your ziep," said the officered him, for they brought it home-Reuter Bulletin. who had charge of them, "some of to him that he was being really sup- your drivers could buy you all upported by the British Navy.

the

Pour

Patrie

la

TRIED to find out what the French soldier thinks, about

the war.

An

a dozen times over."

I made it my business to ask a number uf men how they ate add found none who had a complaint to make.

14

copious;

But the activities of Great Bri- tain on the sen and in the sir do not really menn very much to him, any more than do those of his own navy and air force. The arm in which he puts his confidence is the infantry

I will finish this sketch by a story

I was told by a doctor. Three Eng- ish planes, flying over the German

With respect to this, a general I lunched with told me

They begin the morning with n I saw the men's quarters.

cup of black coffee and hunk of There is not much room and the

anecdote. He had been review-bread; at ten they have a snack beds are close together, one row

ing some troops and on the way they call the casse-croute and thus above another; some were lying

back to his car passed a bugler. consists of sardines or suusages lines, were attacked and two were The bugler saluted smartly, but with another cup of coffee. on their beds reading, others

The brought down in flames; the pilot hora of the third, though badly wounded, wore clustered at the further THEY had made themselves at in the agitation of the moment midday ment end of the dormitory playing home in their narrow space, smiling, the general stopped, follow, and a quarter of a litre of to him they found that he was un- forgot to bring his feel together; d'oeuvres, meat-with-rice, potatoes managed to bring it down in France; or lentils, cheese or atewed fruit to but when the French troops got up cards or chatting.

land you felt that with youth asked him his name, where he

wine. The evening meal is the came from and what his occupa- same except that sup replaces the

conscious. Ition was in civil life.

They took him to the hospital at hors d'ochures. The ratlon of wine Nancy. When he recovered consci- has now been increased to a litre a ousness his first question was about the two men in the planes that had gone up with him. The doctor told him they were dead.

Crossword Puzzle

ACROSS

-Stupid one (alang)

-Spaces

nction

10-First Hits of zodiac 21-Que o mortiñas 13-Davies for fru

seeds out of

15-Possessed

16hort sleep

is-Eighteenth letter of

Hebrew Alphabet

10-Nental age

R-WBI

21-Light brown

2bird homes

36-Person spoken to

2T-Terminalen

10-volted States at

Amarten (abbr.)

17-Hop light

-Misund

37-nurned out remains

41-Entire

12-stesistance

44-End of magnet

45-Char

11-Largs birds

-hort poets

60-Musical composition

15

20

By LARS MORRIS

ANSWER TO TARVIOUS PUZZLE

84-Lukewarı

B3-Frugal person

BI Mal uni

DOWN

1-Clearings Joreat

-Uncle 100. Africani -Unelmas -WHO & nature 5-Aeriform nuld

-Clenus of orchida -kind of pastry (piJ

11-Closed cat 12-1'art of test jerene spart 17-Trift mones to 30~$erdured

Particles

divided rock İtende pyn kenda 31-Peipotioun serpent

22-

33-Asign by lot 34-Hatellite of atte 3-Bold back water 38-Made Berullat, nois 39-2ead of it

40-Plant embryo 43-Durmi

46-Buck of neck

48-lit with dial of nand

61-Vatumble metal

Pareneli aalutado

5

7

B

10

13

18

20

32. 33

134

BS

HE

1082

45

The 1

52

50

154

55

bb

6T

ام

39

39 40

When, with some embarrassment, he had answered these questions, las the general said: "Wel, my hoy, But of course the days are long, and why are you fighting this war?" Except for the men who are in the "Pour la Patrie; for my country,” [front line there are interminable The general laughed. "Yes Toura in which there is nothing Įknow all about that. That's what much to do but to kill time.

they taught you to say at school But why are you fighting this war?”

A smile broke on the bugler's honest face and he said: “Eh, bicu, a cause dea Boches, j'en ai marre. (Well, because I'm fed to the teeth with the Germans.")

I thought the anecdote signi- fleant for the insight it gave one into the soldiers' frame of mind.

There is no hatred there, no desire to hurt, no irreconcillable antagon-. Ism; but impatience, impatience with those Teutons who will not let their neighbours live in the place they love no well, impatience and the feeling that things have gone too far.

It seemed to me that the French officers I came across were men of unusual intolligence. They БУСТО keen soldiers, and they gave me the impression of knowing their business with extreme thoroughness. Modern war is a science and these wern | scientists.

But what particularly struck me was their solicitudo for their men, thair humanity and their reasonable. 1085.

I was told a little story, which, trivial as it may be, seemed to me rather touching,

Half a dozen men, sent out to do some job, had been splashing about all day in the mud and wet and when they got back to their quar-| ters were nonked to the skin; their captain knew they had no change of ancks and so distributed his own among them till thairs were dry.

Nazis Stare Would Make

I IMAGINE that such a story would make a German of- ficer stare.

The French auffer from the lacki able the British soldier to occupy his of the organised games which en-

leisure.

The pilot was just a boy, He raised himself up in bed and brought his hand up to his ban- daged head in a wilute.

"Never mind," he said. "it's for England."

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