Turning out old junk a day or two ago, I
came on the admir- able booklet, authorised by the French War Office, describing, and demonstrating the impregnability of, the Maginot Line. It was published in December, 1939, and I well remember the impression it made. Its chance re-emergence tempts to no cynical reflections—but it may provoke some salutary ones. No more can we be lulled into a sense of security by defensive works, or the certainty of American help, or even the present predominance of our Air Force and our Navy. For all these we may be thankful, but if we have not realised that we are fighting an enemy against whom no effort can ever be remitted and no vigilance for a moment relaxed, our fate will inevitably be the fate of the men whom M. Maginot's incalculably costly structure was designed to protect.
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