SUB 'DROMES RAIDED BY BRITISH BOMBERS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 115, 17 May 1941, Page 9

SUB 'DROMES RAIDED BY BRITISH BOMBERS

NAZI TANKS SEEN

Germans Pushing Forces To

Iraq United Press Association.—Copyright. Rec. noon. LONDON, May 16. According to the Cairo correspondent of the British United Press the « A.F. has begun operations against German planes on aerodromes in Syria. p a Til e dependent French Agency's uuro correspondent says German z® 311(1 light war material are Syria in the direction of Twent y big bombers have «naea at Damascus and transport Planes are at Rayak aerodrome, 30 niles from Beirut. of the Free French Air f°L ce have dropped pamphlets r£p*W the French in Syria to throw off the Vichy yoke. least eight German freighters oh.v S r or five Italian or Rumanian f"'P s tove entered the Aegean Sea amfl. ® lack Sea laden with troops iinu?£, materials > states the British united Press correspondent at Istan-

r n spokesman refused to nunent on the Luftwaffe's use of Pp fcy" an aerodromes, but said if man*-P errn 'tted the passage of Gersh» ilT**?? 8 anc * Planes across Syria UnitKl m P be aPP'ying the lend ® tates principle of lease or

a^ Wl Pe reports of the recent Viphv between Berlin and savo +V 3* r s essa ge from Washington Pr esident Roosevelt, in a „ wment, said: "it is inconceivable acconf ~ French people should witK collaboration and agreement Wrmw ? en ? an y, which in reality jMly alliance with a Power -iibet+tr * . titter destruction of tiono free dom and popular instituStotL everywhere." The United to nut ° as tguard has been ordered Fremiti armed guards on board 10 Thev L in United States ports. f, ®clude the Normandie. arttoi e J* mes /' London, in a leading and the German officers *>ren»tS!J Nic , in Ir aq are probably f° r . the advent of much i n Syria as a pivot for cannftt in the Levant. France UnfrwS? o3l36 responsibility for this "" endl y action against Britain. •if Darlan cannot complain our in Syria suffer from «£ * adds " The Times," "or of further facilities to , i>orp , iS ians . compels us to take §l»hoIi S? en^ lve Precautions. The ®ideraHJ? lSo^ e ca^s for careful recon■Polfev the basis on which our lc .hy hitherto has rested Vichy that the people of de«GM. . n °t actively assisi, the of. the Axis."

Axis Domination „ Vichy correspondent of the British United Press says Petain's agreement with Hitler means that henceforth the whole of the French political, economic, financial and • colonial policy will conform with Axis desires. This includes the placing of the French African empire at the disposal of the Axis for common development. All messages from Vichy relating to Franco-German relationships are henceforth to be censored, although they have been free of censorship for the past five months. The German news agency says the first group of Syrian volunteers has gone to Iraq. The Germans also say that preparations are under way by the British to land more troops and materials at Basra. It is learned in Cairo that the Emir Abdullah of Transjordan has gone to Basra from Amman. A message from Ankara says the Turkish President received the German Ambassador, von Papen. who bore a friendly letter from Hitler. According to the Ankara radio. 40,000 French troops are garrisoned in Syria. The French troops are said to be pro-British. The Bagdad radio says that Russia is allowing her pilots to volunteer to fight in Iraq. This is a "personal reprisal" for British help to Finland. A British officer from Iraq Interviewed in Cairo said:—"With the arrival of reinforcements from India tbe situation is easing. We are confident that we can handle it. "In the past few days I have seen several unidentified aeroplanes, probably German, flyingr over Iraq. They sheered off quickly on the approach of British aeroplanes. Iraqi Troops Unreliable "The Iraqis are tough soldiers, but are easily influenced. The Royal Air Force and the Imperial forces put the Iraqi Air Force out of action without having to employ very devastating methods. The Iraqi Army, in isolated sections, took the offensive spiritedly, but generally were not prepared for major engagements. They surrendered in large numbers when up against il. "The rising is entirely a product of German propaganda. The Germans, through Rashid Ali, paid four Iraqi generals £100 each in cash to lead the revolt." The French Commissioner in Syria. General Dentz, asked Vichy on Monday what attitude he should take in the event of German aeroplanes landing at Syrian air bases, but it is not known whether he received a reply. Certainly he has taken no action to prevent landings. British sources said that most of the aeroplanes were landed at Aleppo, after which they were distributed to other airfields throughout the country. They were mostly bombers, not troop carriers. . The machines bore French markings.