REBELS' HOPES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 21, 26 January 1939, Page 11

REBELS' HOPES.

PREVENT RETREAT. Franco Aims to Cut T)ff Road To France. CITY'S TALL IMMINENT. Independent Cable Service. (Received 10 a.m.) LONDON, January 25. The Moors, who yesterday captured Gava d the Prat del afr Uvo' of R , lme f t0 haVe entered nlnr ° f ,, Barcelonas outer suburbs coast - Sabadell, an own -, teitile m ®nufacturing • J" ? north-west of Barceit alread y un der artillery fire, 5 the . spearhead of the rebel mii , *r.wiy. Claime<i be With the fall of Sabadell, the rebels ope to cut off the main coast road to retrelt Barcelona, thus preventing Minister Stays at Poat. r J. h ® cr ' ,iser Devonshire, lying off sen? a" 9 , r take ° ff Britißh objects, sent a radio message to London early this morning that the fall of Barcelona was imminent. It added that the British ilinister, Mr. R. Stevenson, has been repeatedly urged to leave, but so far lias refused. General Franco is hoping that the Government will evacuate the town, leaving the authority to the Citizens' Committee, who will invite the rebels to occupy the city, thus avoiding street and house fighting. A large concentration of civil guards and. special police are waiting just behind the front lines. Organised squads of engineers, doctors, nurses, 8< ?l * workers and lorries loaded with food are also ready to rush the city while foodships are reported to be waiting to sail from CasteUon, Tarragona and the Balearic Islands. The Basque Government delegation in Paris states that 40 batteries of German 6.5 centimetre guns were unloaded recently at Pasajes, on the north coast of Spain, and are still being tested in the San Sebastian area, near the French frontier. Kecalled for Training. The statement adds that during December 30,000 tons of German war material were unloaded at Vigo and concentrated at Vitioria. A report from Oran, North Africa, says that five military aviators picked up by a British freighter from a wrecked tri-motor seaplane were brought to Oran. When questioned by the French naval authorities, the officers replied: "We are Spanish." They said they ran out of fuel. The French noticed that they spoke Spanish with a peculiar accent, and all were detained. It is believed the machine was an Italian one returning after bombing Valencia and forced down by antiaircraft guns en route to its base.