GERMAN FORCES IN SPAIN

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21972, 22 December 1936, Page 11

GERMAN FORCES IN SPAIN

K EINFORCEMENTS MAY ISE SENT j-RANCO TOO UNPOPULAR TO WIN UNAIDED HITLEU VRCEiy TO AHAXDON ADVENTIKE ( i;X |TKI' HIKSS ASMm IATIoN .■OI'VKUiHT.) (Received December 21, 10.5 p.m.) LONDON, December 20. ■ The '"News-Chronicle" quotes a well-informed source as authority for the statement that Germans in Spain are contemptuous of General Mola and are most disappointed with General Franco, but openly declare that the Government proposes, if necessary, to send five divisions, aggregating 62 500 men, to assist the rebels. This j s because the German diplomatic mission unanimously reported that General Franco was too unpopular to win without heavy foreign reinforcements, who, in the event of victory, must remain in Spain, otherwise the Franco Government will fall. ' General von Blombcrg (Minister {or War) and the German General Staff have urged that the adventure should be abandoned because of the danger of trouble with western powers when Germany is not ready for war. It is believed that Herr Hitler replied, pointing out that previous breaches of international agreements had succeeded when he acted against the advice of the General Staff, which he again proposed to do. The Berlin correspondent of the "'Daily Telegraph" says it is apparently certain that German leaders 'cannot much longer be satisfied with the German force in Spain, which is ' damaging German prestige by not making its presence sufficiently felt. [Undoubtedly, if Germany fully intervened, she could easily win the war for General Franco. If the present force were multiplied fivefold a wide margin would be left, and some type of permanent control in Spain secured. IRISH VOLUNTEERS j FOR REBELS CONTINGENT LEAVES h- LISIiON MADRID, December v 20. The only echo of the Christmas truce suggestions is the thunder of rebel shells falling in the capital, while the defenders' famous repeating gun retaliates by shelling the rebel positions amid a burst of machine-gun and rifle fire. Both sides are better organised than ever. The general military position is unchanged, although there have been sporadic successes on cither side. A column of Irish volunteers for General Franco has left Lisbon for the front. The loyalists have dubbed them the "Irish Moors," in contradistinction of the term "Blonde Moors," which is applied to the insurgents' German auxiliaries. BRITISH POLICY OF] NEUTRALITY "ONLY RATIONAL COURSE" 's (BRITISH OFFICIAL WIRELESS.) RUGBY, December 20. Jommenting on Mr R. A. Eden's Speech in the House of Commons the ['Daily Telegraph" says, "Nonintervention remains the keystone of the British policy on the Spanish civil war. No other rational course is open to us. The British Government's aim' has been, and is, to make the non-intervention plan as effective as possible. . "If the principal powers were M earnest they could make it effective by a quite simple system of control. If they do not jyish it to be effective, it is beyond the wit of man to devise a really effective system. That is the plain truth of the position. "Meanwhile, the British and trench Governments are not inactive in their efforts for mediation. If the military stalemate continues, weariness will assert itself the sooner, but the tempo of this murderous conflict cannot be regulated from London or from Paris. It depends on the combatants themselves and on those who persist in adding lu el to the flames."

SOVIET VESSEL SUNK

"OUTRAGEOUS ACT OF PIRACY"

MOSCOW, December 20. The Soviet confirms the report of ( a Spanish re*bcl warship setting fire '° a nd sinking the Russian Shipping ■fust's steamed Komsomol, which Was due at Gibraltar on December 13 with 6209 tons of manganese iron J r e consigned to a Belgian firm at J»nent. The sinking occurred beOran and Cartagena on December 14. The fate of the crew ct 30 is unknown. Ihe newspaper "Izvestia," in deling that the fascist rebels are Paying with fire, threatens reprisals lor 'this outrageous act of piracy."

: EXAMINATION SUCCESSES *n« -,? ents working under pressure get considerable benefit from Marshall's Before or after any un""e strain, "Marshall's" acts as a mar*m ■ tonic on the nervous system. Marshall's" assists the appetite, incases digestibilit and prevents that la gged-out" feeling. —4

fc fcueh of the cable news in this issue Tim . so ''faded lias appeared in "The cifli ' an(l is scil t t f > tliis paper by spetht* Ifmission. It should be understood ti»! the opinions arc not those of "The »«nes unless expressly stated to be so.