MORE ARRESTS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 60, Issue 194, 25 May 1940, Page 5

MORE ARRESTS

MANY SUSPECTS IN BRITAIN. VON RINTELEN DETAINED. SIMILAR, ACTION IN IRELAND;

(United Press Association—Copyright.) (Received This Day, 11.0 a.m.) LONDON, May 24.

The authorities have detained Captain von Rintelen, who during the last war was one of the chiefs of the German secret agents. He claimed that ho gave up his German nationality in 1934 after the Nazis offered him the Ambassadorship to London. Ho declared, shortly after the outbreak of tlie war that Hitler,. juist be a madman and that the Nazis will bo defeated.

Arrests in London to-day comprised 21 men and four women, most of whofn, it is understood, are connected. with the British Union of Fascisms. Detectives were busily engaged today visiting houses in various parts of London. ' ''>

At Manchester the police arrested two members of the Union of Fascists. Four of eight persons arrested at a -Fascist meeting on May 15 were today imprisoned, one to thrdfe months imprisonment. ' .

. At Belfast police swooped down on Irish Republican Army suspects. It is officially stated that 76 arrested in Northern Ireland arc being detained for the duration of the war. "• "

A Dublin message says that a number of the Republican Army have been arrested. The Government has issued a decree possessors of firearms must comply to directions given by tho defence officers.

In London arrests of Sir Oswald Mosley’s followers include three mentioned as possible British Union of Fascists candidates for Parliament in recent years, also Edward Urdley Elam, husband of Mrs Dacre-Fox, whose proper name is Norman Glam. '

Plain-clotlies police arrested Sir Oswald Mosley and 34 other Fascists shortly after 50 officers from a special branch of Scotland Yard made a lightning raid on tho headquarters of the British Union.

The officers mingled with passersby in the streets surrounding the Fascists’ neirve centre. Then, at a given signal, they converged. Guards took up posts at the entrances of the building, while the remainder swarmed up to the offices above street level. All rooms were entered simultaneously to preventcommunication between the occupants. People buying Fascist literature were questioned and asked to produce identity cards. Within 30 minutes a fleet of taxi-cabs were conveying a number : of men and women under, escort •■ to Cannon Street Police Station. ' t - Then the remainder of the police be> gan a systematic search of tho buildings. Sir Oswald Mosley’s eoiuitry home' and town house were searched in addition to his Dolphin square flat, where .lie was arrested.

It is revealed that there are 70,000 Austrians and Germans in' Britain,, of whom between 78 and 80 per cent, are refugees, More than 7000 have been interned, and the police have carefully “taped” the remainder.