DELIBERATE RAIDS ON CIVIL POPULATION.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 207, 2 September 1938, Page 7

DELIBERATE RAIDS ON CIVIL POPULATION.

OPEN TOWNS BOMBED. Findings of Commission on Rebel Attacks. SEQUEL TO BRITISH INQUIRY. British Official Wireless. (Received 12.30 p.m.) r RUGBY, September 1. v i f epo fts of the commission to indelih ? u the u- alle & ed ca ses of ■ i- r ? ® bombing of open towns or discriminate bombing in Spain have been issued. They refer to investigations carried out at the request of Jlti , pani ® h Government into recent Barcelona! ° n AliC<mte H

In 41 cases out of 46 attacks investif ' , *^' can te Coniniission cannot state other than that the raids were deliberate attempts to hit the port area or the railway stations.

In the course of the report the comand 8 !?" Sta - teS that H i,,s I >ecte <l Alicante and its environs in detail, and is satisfied that no factory in the city is engaged the manufacture of war material and no stocks of war material are held in le crt > r - No troops are stationed there other than about CO or 100 soldiers for internal security purposes.

1 he three stations of the citv arc devoid °t stocks of war material. The suburb of Vista Hermosa, which was attacked in one raid, consists mainly of detached houses and is an entirely residential district. There is no evidence to prove that the importations and exportations through the port at the time of their visit were other than coal or food supplies.

Regarding the bombing of Barcelona on August 19, the report states the raid was either a deliberate attack on a ci\ ilian area of the city or a verv badlv aimed attack on the port area, conducted by an unskilled squadron.

On Sitges, on August 8, the report says, that bombs were dropped in the civilian area and if the intention of the pilots was to attack the railwaj' line they should have chosen another point on the line well away from a town such as Sitges.

The raid of Torrevie.ja on August 25 is characterised as a deliberate attack on a defenceless civil population.

The report makes it clear that in every case the commission had had no opportunity of examining the rebel intelligence reports, orders issued to pilots or pilots' reports on the raids.

FATE OF PRISONERS. Evidence of Many Executions Revealed. COMMISSION'S INQUIRY. (Received 2 p.m.) LONDON, September 1. Evidence of 84 executions in Government gaols last month and 66 in rebel gaols last week confronted the British commission on the exchange of prisoners, presided over by Field-Marshal Sir Philip Chetwode at the opening session at Toulouse. "The Times" Burgos representative says it is officially reported that the rebels have taken 210,000 prisoners during the war, of whom 134,000 were freed. Some are now fighting with the rebel army and others are employed in the rear. Nearly 60,000 are in concentration camps. It was decided to appeal to Government authorities and to General Franco to temporarily suspend all death sen- • tences. j The "Daily Telegraph" Barcelona cor- , respondent disclosed that the Government sent a Note to Sir Philip Chetwode, proposing as a basis of negotiations for the exchange of prisoners, the suspension of death sentences during September, provided that the insurgents reciprocate. Sir Philip guarantees the fulfilment of the promise, but death sentences passed after September 1 are unaffected.

ARMS FOR SPAIN. Britain Cannot Allow Loyalist Purchases. MR. CHAMBERLAIN'S REPLY. British Official Wireless. (Received 1 p.m.) RUGBY, September 1. The Prime Minister, Mr. Neville . Chamberlain, has replied to a petition organised by the Arts Peace Campaign, asking for the restoration to the Spanish Government, on humanitarian grounds, of the right to purchase defensive weapons, especially anti-aircraft guns. Mr. Chamberlain says: "Careful consideration lias already been given to the proposal, but it is not one which Britain felt it wise to adopt in dealing with the question of aerial bombardment. Taking all relevant factors into consideration, the Government is of opinion that the general effort to prevent the arrival of all war material in Spain on the lines of the Non-intervention Committee's plan of July 5, which provides, inter alia, for more effective and complete observation of the Spanish frontiers by land and sea, represents the best means of attaining its aims in this matter." HEAVILY BOMBED. Catalan Coast Towns Suffer. 74 DEAD AND INJURED. (Received 2 p.m.) LONDON, September 1. The Catalan coast was heavily bombed. Tarragona and Quixols were damaged. Sixteen people were killed and 34 injured at Polamos. Six were killed and 12 injured in a hospital train at St. Vincent de Caiders.