“PREPARATION FOR WAR”

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28669, 20 August 1958, Page 13

“PREPARATION FOR WAR”

Charge Made By Russia

(Rec. 10 p.m.) MOSCOW, August 19.

The Soviet news agency Tass said last night that the present visit to Australia by the British Minister of Supply, Mr Aubrey Jones, was made “with a view to accelerating and extending British war preparations there.” “This is borne out by his own statements praising the rockets, guided missiles and other weapons . . . statements made at a time when British and American aggression continued in the Middle East,” the Russian agency commented.

[Earlier this month, Mr Jones visited the Maralinga atomic weapon range and the guided rocket range at Woomera. He said he was extremely satisfied and impressed by what he saw.l “Mr Jones’s bragging about nuclear weapons obviously had the purpose of continuing the tactics of intimating and blackmailing the Arab states,” said Tass.

“It becomes clear from the British Minister of Supply’s pronouncements that his Government attaches great significance to the Australian proving grounds as places for the perfection of British military equipment. “The trip itself shows that Britain, as the United States, is basing its strategic plans on the latest types of weapons, above all nuclear arms,” Tass said.