IN OCCUPIED EUROPE

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23803, 24 November 1942, Page 5

IN OCCUPIED EUROPE

NORWEGIAN TOWNS BEING FORTIFIED (8.0. W.) RUGBY. Nov. 22. The Germans are preparing for street warfare in Norway, according to a report received in London. This stated that signs of their increasing nervousness were shown in their feverish activities in building defensive pillboxes. Pillboxes were being erected not only in west coast towns but also inland, and the command of all strategic positions such as cross-roads and the entrances to towns. In Oslo alone 50 of these pillboxes are in course of construction.

EIGHT MERCHANTMEN SUNK

U-BOATS IN WESTERN ATLANTIC (Rec. 10 p.m.) NEW YORK. Nov. 22. ■ The United States Navy reports that Axis submarines operating in the western Atlantic have sunk four United States, two British, and two Norwegian merchantmen during the last week. Six of these were sunk off the northern coast of South America, where submarine activity has been increasing in recent weeks. Eighteen persons were killed in these attacks, and at least 363 were rescued. Unofficial figures compiled by the Associated Press of America show that 532 ships have been sunk in United States Atlantic waters since Pearl Harbour.

GERMAN TREATMENT OF PRISONERS

NO WASHING OR SHAVING MATERIALS (Rec. 10,30 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 22. "New forms of German reprisals against prisoners of war are revealed in delayed letters reaching Britain," says the “Daily Mail.” "These appear to apply only in one or two camps. There is no suggestion of physical brutality, but merely of the infliction of considerable discomfort. One private wrote to his mother that he had just received his first letter from her for three months. “We have another reprisal now—no shaving kit, no towels, or fresh clothes for a fortnight. I have a lovely beard,” he wrote. A major of a Ross-shire unit, writing to his wife, said that everything had been taken from them except the clothes they were wearing. He said: “Not being able to shave or wash properly or to clean one’s teeth has its humorous side. I have heard more jokes