SPANISH NOTE TO BRITAIN

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22414, 30 May 1938, Page 9

SPANISH NOTE TO BRITAIN

■ « BOMBING OF OPEN TOWNS FAILURE TO CONDEMN REBEL RAIDS . • . (UNITED PEE3B ASSOCIATION—£OPTEIGHT.) (Received May 29, 9.40 p.m.) LONDON, May 29. The Spanish Government has sent a Note to Britain stating that, in conformity with the British and French request, Government aeroplanes had not bombed open towhs. Nevertheless, the bombardment ..of Alicante had elicited not a single public word of condemnation. The Spanish Government therefore was obliged to request from Britain, “a concrete statement on the- negotiations that Britain and France initiated in February to prevent the bombing of open cities from the air; and also on whether Britain intends to initiate measures to prevent the repetition of such crimes.” A similar Note has been delivered to France. BOMBARDMENT OF FRENCH TOWN FRONTIER FORCES TO BE STRENGTHENED PARIS, May 27. The Prime Minister (M. Edouard Daladier) has ordered a high military officer to report on the bombardment of Cerbere, on the French side of the Spanish frontier, and to take all necessary measures, including the dispatch of anti- aircraft batteries, to prevent further raids. He has also ordered several French warships to strengthen the land^batteries. The Paris correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” says that the Government has ordered an inquiry to, establish responsibility for the Cerbere bombardment, after which most energetic representations' are proposed. The bombardment occurred when most of the population was dancing in the main square at a local festival. Spanish insurgent aeroplanes were reported to have been responsible fpr the bombardment, in which several coaches of a passenger train were hit and two houses near the railway station destroyed. Three persons wtre slightly injured. MORE BOMBINGS BY REBELS . RAIDS ON BARCELONA AND VALENCIA (Received May 29, 9.5 p.m.) VALENCIA, May 29. German aeroplanes ;bombed Valencia. Twelve persons were killed and 30 wounded. A Barcelona message says that eight insurgent aeroplanes dropped two lots of bombs in six minutes in an early morning raid.; They were driven off by anti-aircraft batteries. The number of casualties is not known. LOYALISTS ATTACK . DESPERATELY REBELS WORKING TOWARDS VALENCIA BURGOS, May 27. Six days of frenzied fighting in the Noguera Pallaresa and Segre Valley districts, through the Loyal-, ists’ desperate efforts to recover the sources of Barcelona’s electricity supply in western Catalonia, achieved meagre results, in spite of wave after wave of attacks involving enormous quantities of men and iridtcrisl The rebels claim that they inflicted 25,000 casualties, but they also must have lost heavily. The rebels’ immediate objective is Valencia, to which two army corps, totalling 100,000 men, are working their Way from Teruel and Castellon. General Franco’s Aragon armies have halted on the Segre. Italian divisions have been withdrawn from the Lower Ebro sector for recuperation after losing 729 killed and 2512 wounded. * p ARREST OP OBSERVER BY LOYALISTS BRITAIN DEMANDS RELEASE AND INQUIRY (BBITISH OFFICIAt WIRBUBSS.Jf RUGBY, May 28. In accordance with the Non-Inter-vention Committee’s request to the British Government, Mr J. H. Leche, British Charge d’Affaires at Valencia , has asked the Spanish Government for an inquiry into the arrest of an Italian non-intervention observer, Signor Mezzo Capa. Signor Capa was an observer on the steamer Greatend, which, on arrival at Valencia, was bombed and sunk, Signor Capa being arrested and imprisoned. ; . Mr Leche has demanded his immediate release. The Spanish Embassy in London denies that the Italian observer was imprisoned. It says: “After landing at Valencia he was lodged in a leading hotel under the care of the authorities. He was then transferred to a Barcelona hotel, from where he was escorted to-day to Perpignan by the police. He was treated throughout with the utmost consideration.”