TWO FACTORIES CLOSED

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25253, 4 August 1947, Page 3

TWO FACTORIES CLOSED

—— | AMERICAN ACTION IN BERLIN ] DISCOVERY OF WAR MATERIAL i (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) H (Rec. 7.45 p.m.) BERLIN. August 2. The American Military Government I has announced that it has discovered . 1 large quantities of undeclared war , . material in the United States sector I of Berlin which is believed to have ! been manufactured for a “foreign :. Power.” , 1 The official announcement did not | identify the "foreign Power.’’ : . Officials found semi-completed gyro- ; I scopic motors for use in aircraft, sub- ; I marines, and tanks, wings and body ’ | parts of link trainers, theodolites for .; observing the trajectories of guided i missiles, such as the V2. submarine

periscopes, and similar precision instruments. The Americans have closed two factories in which the material was found. Leading officials have been placed under arrest during investigations. Officials of the Askania factory in Berlin, where large quantities of illegal war material were found, said that the equipment delivered from the factory to the Askania works at Tetlow, in the Soviet zone, had been sold later to the Soviet occupation authorities. This is reported by the German News Agency in the British zone. Theodolites had been delivered to the Russians, who had said they wanted them for railway surveying. The Askania officials denied that they had resumed the production of instruments for military purposes. They said that the submarine periscopes found were in scrap metal heaps, some of which had been collected with the assistance of United States troops. The steel supports had been cut from the periscopes and used for the production of other goods.