HESS’S FLIGHT TO BRITAIN

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23350, 9 June 1941, Page 7

HESS’S FLIGHT TO BRITAIN

DUKE ISSUES WRITS FOR LIBEL LEAFLET PUBLISHED BY COMMUNISTS (Received June 8, 8 p.m.) (U.P.A.) LONDON, June 7. The Duke of Hamiltc.i has issued a writ for libel against two members of the Communist Party, Messrs Harry Pollitt and Ted Bramley. and the Marston Printing Company in connexion with a leaflet, “Why Is Hess Here?” issued by the London Committee of the Communist Party. A similar writ has been served on the Hon. Ivor Montagu. Mr Pollitt declares that he will call Herr Hess as a witness. The Hon. Ivor Montagu, who is a brother of Lord Swaythling, was a regular contributor to the “Daily Worker.”

THE LOSS OF CRETE

ME HOBEBELISHA’S CHARGES CAUSES OF BRITAIN'S DEFEAT LONDON, June 8. Urging the nation not to tolerate soporific propaganda aiming to cover the loss oi Crete, Mr L. Hore-Belisha, a former Secretary' of State for War, in a speech at Edinburgh, declared: “A bare description of what the Imperial Forces have undergone in Crete arouses not only the deepest emotion, but serious foreboding.; “We suffer defeat after defeat, always for the same reasons—lack of appreciation, lack of preparation, and imperfect execution of the project. Each reverse is glossed over by the same series of incompatible explanations. Surely it is improvident to allow the Empire’s best fighting material to be immolated through lack of foresight, precaution, and constant misjudgment. “The Germans launched the most formidable air invasion ever from aerodromes in Greece, which the British authorities had previously claimed Were inadequate for the Royal Air Force to support the fighting m Greece. An Air Ministry spokesman scouted the idea of a successful airborne invasion of Crete, but we were ousted after an attack lasting 12 days. Our naval losses in this campaign were considerably greater than the Italians', at Cape Matapan." , , . Mr Hore-Belisha urged the formation of a single Allied council, to direct the British and American industrial effort He said that the most hopeful assurance of the democracies’ determination to establish a new order would be recognition now of common citizenship by the British Empire and the United States. DEBATE IN COMMONS ON CRETE (Received June 8, 9 p.m.) LONDON, June 7. parliament’s first business when it resumes will be a debate on Crete. Mr Churchill will reply after the critics have* expressed their views, If tne debate is concluded in one day. the House of Commons this week will give two days to a discussion on civil defence on which many members are keen to speak. U.S. FLEET IN PACIFIC NAVY SECRETARY’S BROADCAST “MOST POWERFUL ARMADA AFLOAT” WASHINGTON, June 6. ‘T want to thank New Zealanders and Australians for the splendid reception accorded by thousands of cheering people to the officers and men of the United States Fleet, and for their lavish entertainment,’’ said the Secretary of the United States Navy (Colonel Frank Knox) in a special broadcast. "Your kindness has won the gratitude of Americans everywhere. Like you we cherish the priceless heritage and blessings of freedom. We are keenly aware of the great sacrifices you have made and we are inspired by tne dauntless courage of your troops, who have so distinguished themselves in combat. “Our Pacific Fleet is the most powerful armada afloat, and it is fully capable of protecting the interests of democracy in the Pacific. “It is not in our nature to stand idly by and watch the quick decay of everything worthwhile. When this country determines its course it becomes toe most co-ordinated power on earth. The American people have appropriated billions of dollars to arm democracy. They are even willing to assume sacrifices and give their lives just as you hAve to preserve the free institutions under which we have both grown great."

Workers for Monitions Industry.— An output of 40,000 skilled tradesmen a year for the munitions industry and fighting services is expected to result frorh the extension of the existing technical school facilities in Australia by which the Federal technical training scheme will be doubled. About 50 to 60 new units will be provided. The cost of the scheme will be met by the Federal Government. Melbourne, June 7. '

of Alsace and insurance companies in Holland, to cite only a lew examples, have either been taken over by the German conqueror or brought under effective German control.

“These are not signs of a temporary occupation. Even when the armies are withdrawn it is intended that German banks and German industrialists and managers shall remain and carry on. a system of exploitation for which there is no parallel in history. “It does not follow, however, that industry in these conquered lands will be permitted to continue to anything like the same extent as before the war. Where factories compete, with German concerns and their products are not needed for the German war effort, they are ruthlessly closed down. Workers, especially in occupied France, are told they must return to the land. But this is not a natural or healthy process of gradual settlement It is t form of feudalism, a return to a system under which the Serf was tied to the soil.

“The chief economic consequence of Nazi rule was impoverishment, and though a man might hope, by keeping quiet, to avoid .the physical and mental brutality which distinguished Nazi rule, he would not be able to avoid the economic consequince of Impoverishment,

“Subject peoples are reduced to a bare subsistence ration. The whole of their surplus production must go to the Herrenvolk—the master race, At present, a Pole-receives little more than half the food allowance of a German, even if the German is living in Poland. This again is not a temporary symptom. It fulfils the proclaimed policy of the Nazi leaders. “Finally,” Mr Dingle Fopt said, "when one studies the economics of Nazism, one feature is inescapable. This system does not create. It devours, It feeds itself and for a time feeds the German people by eating up' the resources of one conquered territory alter another. That process must go on if the system is to survive. That is why there can be no compromise between Nazi world domination and the final destruction of Nazi power."

DAIRY HERDS TO BE J REDUCED SHORTAGE OF FEEDING STUFFS LONDON, June 6. Britain’s beef and dairy herds will be reduced before the autumn by 300,000 animals. Farmers will be asked to reduce their herds voluntarily, but they can be compelled to do so under the defence regulations. The Minister for Agriculture (Mr R. S. Hudson) in a statement said; "I have always warned farmers that feeding stuffs would be short, but they will be shorter than I thought. We ploughed about 4,000,000 additional acres, but the extra crops are nowhere near sufficient to make up the loss of feeding stuffs from abroad." A reduction of 5 per cent, in the nation’s dairy herds 'will be effected by culling 170,000 dairy cows. EGYPTIAN GENERAL CAPTURED ATTEMPT TO LEAVE COUNTRY CAIRO, June 6, The British' deputy-chief of police in Cairo captured General Aziz El Masri, the former chief of the Egyptian General Staff, and two flying officers with whom he had fled. The police found them hiding in a boat on the Nile near Cairo. The general, who was known to hav* strong Axis sympathies, recently attempted to flee the country. The aeroplane which he was using was chaeed end forced down, but the general go I away in a motor-car. The Government had offered a reward of £IOOO for bit capture.