AN INDEPENDENT POLAND

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23941, 7 May 1943, Page 5

AN INDEPENDENT POLAND

RUSSIA’S ATTITUDE REAFFIRMED BASIS OP POST-WAR RELATIONS (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 11.30 p.m.) LONDON, May 5. In a letter to the Moscow correspondent of “The Times,” replying to questions about Russian-Polish relations, M. Stalin said: “Unquestionably the Soviet desires to see a strong and independent Poland after Hitler’s Germany is defeated. “I believe that post-war relations between Poland and Russia should be based fundamentally on solid goodneighbourly relations and mutual respect; or, if the Polish peoples so desire, upon an alliance providing for mutual assistance against the Germans. as the chief enemies of Russia and Poland.” The correspondent comments: A strong and independent Poland’ are words in which there cannot be ambiguity. It should be possible on this reaffirmation to rebuild the bridge between Russia and Poland. t “It is safe to assume that Russia s attitude to the Allies’ post-war plans for Europe will depend mainly on the measure of agreement reached, before hostilities close, about the eastern European zone between Russia and Germany. Russia does not want confusion and enfeeblement of these vital areas during the years she must spend on the arduous task of reconstructing her own liberated regions of the west.”

HUGE WEIGHT OF BOMBS MAJOR ATTACK ON DORTMUND EIGHT TONS DROPPED EVERY MINUTE (N.Z.P.A.-8.0.W.) LONDON, May 5. Four two-ton bombs were dropped every minute when the Royal Air Force raided Dortmund, in the Ruhr, last night. Four-ton block-busters were also dropped, as well as . thousands of high explosives and incendiaries. Not far short of the record total of 1500 tons of bombs (dropped on Cologne in the 1000-bomber raid) were released. . . Halifaxes, Lancasters, and Stirlings, as well as the smaller Wellingtons, took part in the raid, the number of four-engined machines being the greatest yet used. Reports from pilots speak of two vast explosions. A wing commander described the second explosion as a great mushroom of flame followed by a vast glow and billowing smoke. Towards the end of the raid the whole skv was lit up by flames. The first raider came over Dortmund at 1 a.m. and ran into the famous Ruhr barrage, but this slackened off as the bombs saturated the opposition. The great belt of searchlights also gave up when the raid was well under way. Major Attack This is the fortieth time,that Dortmund has been raided, but it is the first time that it has had a major attack. The largest industrial city in the Ruhr after Essen, Dortmund is the terminus of the Dortmund-Ems canal. It specialises in steel-rolling, but it is also a coal and rail and canal traffic centre. , „ , German military transport suffered another blow yesterday when the General Motors and Ford factories at Antwerp, long since converted to enemy use, were pounded by heavy bombers of the United States Army Air Force. A preliminary study of reconnaissance data indicates a heavy concentration of bombs in the target The two large factories are adjacent. The Ford plant works in association with the Ford factory at Poissy, near Paris, and both are concerned in the production of military trucks. The General Motors plant is used for the manufacture of spare parts, and it has long been employed as a repair, assembly, and manufacturing facility by the German army. The military importance of both has been enhanced considerably by the recent successful raid by American heavy bombers on the Renault factory near Paris, one of the largest German truck-producing plants in enemy territory. In addition to the factory area, bombers also attacked the quayside and warehouses and scored hits on a plant identified with the production of “siebelferries.” a form of small antiaircraft barge which is used m the protection of harbour and offshore areas. , Laying Mines Behind the phrase, “mines were laid in enemy waters,” lies the story of a very important part of the Bomber Command effort. Recent extensive mine-laying operations m German coastal waters, including the Baltic, are of particular importance in view of the approaching summer campaign in Russia. • Mines not only interfere with supplies to the enemy forces on the northern sectors of the front, but they interfere with the transport oi raw material across the Baltic. In addition, the Baltic is the main training ground for enemy submarines and surface vessels. The enemy has large numbers of minesweepers there, but he is occasionally caught by minelaying sorties. . Coastal Command of the Royal Air Force has been increasingly silent on its work for security reasons, but it is revealed that last month was a bumper one in the number «of attacks on U-boats. Since the beginning of the war Coastal Command has flown 80,000.000 miles, exclusive of naval con. voys, made 882 attacks on U-boats, and engaged 1600 enemy aircraft. Spitfires of a Canadian squadron of Fighter Command attacked three small boats at anchor in a bay near Ushant this evening, the biggest boat, 100 ft long, being blown up. In a later attack on a small vessel, believed to be a U-boat tender, one of the Spitfires was hit but landed safely at its base with a hole 18in in diameter in its port wing. Typhoons shot up trains and barges at Dunkirk earlier in the day. One of our fighters is missing.

FAMILY OF HESS

NOTICE OF QUESTION IN COMMONS (Rec. 1 a.m.) LONDON, May 6. Mr Will Thorne (Labour) has given notice of a question in the House of Commons, asking Mr Churchill whether £15.000 worth of securities which Hess had when he landed in Scotland are being used to pay for the keep of Hess and his family, now in Britain. RECORD ATLANTIC FLIGHT LONDON, May 5. A fully-laden Liberator bomber has made a coast to coast crossing of the Atlantic from Newfoundland to Britain in six hours 12 minutes, clipping eight minutes off the previous record, reports the Air Ministry News Service. The pilot, Captain G. R. Buxton, simultaneously set two other records. He flew from Newfoundland to Britain, 2200 miles from take-off to landing, in seven hours seven minutes, which is 24 minutes under Captain May’s time; and from Montreal to Britain. 3150 miles, in the flying time of 11 hours 12 minutes. Captain Buxton's average ground speed over the ocean was 300 miles an hour. He flew most of the way at an altitude of 21.000 feet, in an average air temperature of 43 degrees of frost.