THE TAKING OF HUELVA

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21954, 1 December 1936, Page 11

THE TAKING OF HUELVA

BRITISH STEAMER’S j ADVENTURES j INVOLVED IN FIERCE ACTION (PRKS3 ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) AUCKLAND. November 30. Fighting in the Spanish civil war. the ruthless destruction of life and property practised by both sides, i and the manner in which the British steamer Polzella became involved in a fierce action between a battle' cruiser and two rebel aeroplanes, _ were described by the chief officer ' of the Polzella, Mr F. W.»Burn. The ! vessel is at present discharging raw : sugar at Chelsea, and is under charter to load iron for the United Stales. 1 The Polzella arrived at Huelva on j the Spanish Atlantic coast early last | July. Fierce fighting was in pro- j gress on the ship's arrival at the I port, and she lay there for nearly I two weeks awaiting instructions. It j was during her stay that the ship’s | complement had the unique if not j alarming experience of watching j the fighting from not more than a ; mile distant. - 1 The Polzella also acted as a depot ship for the housing of refugees, who i were being transported from Huelva to | Gibraltar by two British destroyers. | There were 25 refugees, including men. j women, and children, of various na- j tionalities on board the ship at one j lime. The officers surrendered their | cabins, and everything was done to: make the unfortunate people as com-; forlable as possible. At one time the j ship was threatened with invasion from j the fighting forces, and an armed naval j guard was placed on board for addi-1 tional protection. j Departure an Adventure “It was our departure that proved! most interesting.” said Burn with a i wry smile. "Under charier to load in i Russia, we left Huelva with a Span- 1 i. hj pilot. The captain, the pilot, and; myself were on the bridge and all went : well as we went down the river to! the open sea. until, swinging round a bend, we came in sight of a Spanish i battle cruiser lying across the en-1 trance. The pilot immediately became I panic-stricken, and, in spite of en-1 treaties and threats, he hailed his cut- I ter t;nd deserted us. The navigation [ of the river was particularly tricky,” | continued Mr Burn. “There were nu- j merous banks and shoals, and the 1 channel offered no room to turn. We j managed to keep the ship in deep j water and we were manoeuvring close I to the warship, which was practically blocking the fairway, when two Span- j ish rebel aeroplanes arrived. j "Climbing and then diving, the ma-1 chines commenced to bomb the war- j ship. Entire disregard was shown for j the Polzella, and most of the bombs | dropped nearer to the British vessel j than to the warship. To add to the | confusion the cruiser commenced to rhoot with every weapon which could ] bo trained into the air. | I Dangers from the Air I "Everything which went up had to! come down,” continued Mr Burn, “so I in addition to the bombs which were | exploding with terrific concussion, the | sea was peppered-with spent shells and! splinters. Amid this distraction the ship had to be navigated through the chani nel—not an easy task without a pilot I under the best conditions. "Firing tracer bullets and shells which threw out white puffs of smoke, the cruiser effectively defended herself, and one of the aeroplanes was driven off. It returned a short lime later, however, and in a final desperate dive dropped a particularly potent bemb. As it dropped it could be seen to be much larger than the others, j Most of the bombs were some little distance away, but this big one nearly hit us. The old ship shuddered and heaved with the concussion. As it was nearly dark, the aeroplanes flew back over land, and along with the cruiser we put out to sea. * Merciless Warfare “In port by night the view from the decks of the vessel was magniUcent, but terrible. The crack of rifle lire, and the insistent chatter ' of machine-guns concentrated all attention to the Huelva shore. Each night flames shooting high into the air would proclaim the destruction of yet I another building. Churches, memorials, warehouses, and private houses, all suffered the same fate. One night the spire of a large church was silhouetted against leaping flames. Next morning it was learned 'that priests and nuns had also perished in the fire. Apart from rifles and machine-guns, the only weapons employed were; aerial bombs. Rebel aeroplanes appeared over the town one afternoon, and from the Polzella it appeared that they met with little or no resistance. They cruised about and bombed at will. That night fighting was intensified, and was continuous j until dawn. The rebels had captured; the town. Those of the civilian popu- | latioij who escaped. immediately! changed their red armbands of the] Government for white bands of the! rebels. To change sides and fighi for the enemy was their only escape from certain death. No prisoners were taken in the fighting at Huelva.” i