FRANCO'S FORCES ENTERING LERIDA.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 79, 4 April 1938, Page 7

FRANCO'S FORCES ENTERING LERIDA.

CITY CAPTURED

Catalonian Centre Now in Rebel Hands. DRIVING TO THE COAST. ■rn'.tcl rrrss Association.— Copyright. (Received 1.30 p.m.) LONDON, April 3. An official announcement from Karagossa, the relic! headquarters states that entering Lerida. the Catalonian city, by throe routes the rebels captured the city at 7 n.m to-dny. ' " "The Times- Saragossa correspondent fays rebel divisions captured Batca and vanquished four international brigadekilling ;,0i) and taking 2500 prisoner. An additional detachment of English volunteers surrendered to the Italians." General Franco's, advance column is now IS miles from the seaboard. Fortv thousand rebel troops attacked Lerida and the defenders numbered i! 0,000. Earlier dispatches from Saragussa stated that the Loyalist rcsi.-tancc at Lerida. had been strengthened bv brigades from tlit Madrid front and international unit>. Artillery now supplements the heavy rifle and machine-gun fire, houses have been converted into fortresses, and the streets criss-crossed with redoubts and trenches, from which the defenders fire unceasingly, but General Franco's war 'planes are causing heavy carnage. Rebel infantry charged and gained a footing in the first houses, and the Government position appears hopeless, as powerful rebel columns approaching from the north-west are likely to end the resistance. An official statement from Salamanca announces the occupation of outlying houses at Lerida, and says that Moori«S troops took the first houses. A Barcelona report admits that the Loyalists were forced to retreat from the 'outskirts of Lerida, but resistance is continuing. General Franco's forces, says a further message from Saragossa, have captured Gandesa, an important junction commanding the roads to Tarragona and Tortosa, only 25 miles from the coast, where they are attempting to drive a wedge between the Loyalist forces in Catalonia and those in the south. The insurgents claim to have defeated the International Brigade's violent counter-attacks at Lerida and also to have captured Benabarre, to the north near the Catalan border, says a message from Saragossa. The Loyalists claim to have continued their advance at Guadalajara, gays a message from Madrid. Loyalist aeroplanes bombed Toledo, killing 11 persons and injuring 34.

A MOTLEY CROWD. Franco's British Prisoners At Saragossa. "JUST CANNON-FODDER." (Received 12 noom.) SARAGOSSA, April 3. Ninety-six British prisoners, part of the battalion of the International Brigade captured during the Catalonia advance, have arrived. They appear a motley crowd, with cropped heads, unehaven faces and nondescript clothing. A Londoner, John Myers, said they were supposed to be advancing in a new position east of Alcaniz when they were ordered to fall out and told that a mechanised column was coming. Suddenly rebel tanks appeared round the bend of the road. "We had no alternative but to surrender," he said. "I don't believe any more volunteers would come to Spain if we could return home and tell of our experiences. We were regarded just ae cannon-fodder." The majority of the Britons had preriously been out of work. SPECIAL COURTS. TREASON TRIALS IN MADRID. (Received 1.30 p.m.) MADRID, April 3. Special courts have been established to deal with cases of spying, treason and defeatism. They have condemned eight men and two women to from six to 30 years' imprisonment. H.M.S. HOOD. ARRIVAL AT BARCELONA. (Received 1.30 p.m.) LONDON, April 3. H.M.S. Hood has arrived at Barcelona. REFUGEES RETURN. MILITIAMEN PROM TRANCE. PARIS, April 3. Six thousand refugee militiamen held a referendum at Luchon under the auspices of the French authorities to decide whether to return to Republican Spain. The majority of the men apparently affirmed their readiness to continue fighting, but signatures to a confirmatory document are necessary. One thousand troops subsequently went back to Spain by train. A dispatch from Barcelona states that 4200 of the militiamen who escaped to France have expressed a desire to return to Republican Spain.