DEATH FROM AIR

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 121, 16 February 1937, Page 9

DEATH FROM AIR

Rebel Planes Fire on Fleeing Refugees

MALAGA RETREAT Fierce Fighting Near Madrid ATTACKERS HELD UP By Telegraph.—Press Assn. —Copyright. (Received February 15, 7 p.m.) London, February 14. The Valencia correspondent of ‘‘The Times’’ states that during the retreat from Malaga to Almeria rebel aeroplanes swooped down upon 40.000 heavily-laden men, women, and children who were fleeing from the Fascist terror and machine-gunned them, killing hundreds. The slaughter was intensified by the fire of rebel warships sailing parallel with the coast. Senor del Vayo, Spanish Foreign Minister, obtained these facts from three Ministers who returned from Almeria. An unknown vessel bombarded Valencia at 10 p.m. on Sunday. Approximately 30 shells passed over the centre of the city, falling in outlying parts. The Government gunboat Laya replied, driving off the attacker. It is reported that 14 were killed and 30 injured. A later message states that an unknown warship again shelled the city for five minutes during the night. Fourteen were killed, six of whom were children, and 30 injured. Eighty thousand people participated in a demonstration which sent a deputation to Senor Caballero, the Premier, urging a purge of military leadership, the Institution of a single command, the creation of a strong War Ministry under Government control, compulsory military service of all able-bodied men. and intensification of work on fortifications. Senor Caballero promised to consider all points. Numerous .’Air Battles.

Air battles are numerous in the Madrid area, seven rebel aeroplanes having been shot down in two days. The scene of to-day’s fiercest lighting was in the vicinity of Arganda. 10 miles south-east of Madrid, where the loyalists successfully bombed and bombarded advancing rebel tanks and retained their positions. The West Park at Madrid, where normally nursemaids and children played and couples courted, is a maze of trenches, with trees torn by grenades and rifle fire. The Government’s fortifications are so complete that when the rebels burst into the University City they did not know the whereabouts of the enemy's positions, which are concealed in a labyrinth of tunnels which are lit by electricity. The rebels still occupy the cellars and first floor of the battered eight-story shell of one of the most modern hospitals in Europe, which they stormed weeks ago. They do not venture into the upper stories before nightfall. The adjacent cancer institute is a mass of ruins. The no-man's-land beyond the barrier of sandbags is dotted with rebel corpses, victims of the. last attack.

Evidence at a mass trial at Madrid of 84 prisoners charged with military rebellion at Cerro Rojo revealed that two battalions of the Foreign Legion consisting entirely of Irishmen are at present at Pinto, south of the Jarama battlefield.

General Miaja. while complimenting them on their courage, has ordered the retirement of all women combatants from the Madrid front line. At Malaga the rebel aiilliorities sentenced to death 38 so-called Communist bandits, passed life sentences on five others, and sentenced two to 20 years’ imprisonment. The Seville radio station asserts that Communists killed 80.000 persons at Malaga after the outbreak of hostilities. and that many women, children, and aged people died of hunger. The British Vice-Consul. Mr. Clissold. returned on }>oard H.M.S. Basilisk.

Great Damage at Malaga

A report from Gibraltar states that, with the permission of the military authorities, a newspaper correspondent visited Malaga and found that a tenth of the city had been destroyed or gutted, the total damage being estimated at £2O 000000 There are no hotels, restaurants, cinemas, shops, churches, or convents left, and only the walls remain of the famous cathedral. The altars and images have gone. Inhabitants of the precincts of the cathedral said that more than a thousand people had been living in the cathedral for six months with their donkeys, goats, and dogs. Dozens of eases of smallpox were reported, and there were deaths daily. English residents said that Malaga suffered 44 air raids, the biggest being on January 2. when 10 aeroplanes dropped 40 bombs in the heart of the city, setting fire to many buildings. The worst shelling was that by the cruiser Canarias on January 11, when 100 shells exploded, wrecking buildings.

REPORTED BARGAIN ON SPAIN Mussolini and Goering (Received February 15, 7 p.m.) London, February 14. The “Daily Telegraph’s” Paris correspondent says that diplomatic writers support statements that Signor Mussolini and General Goering agreed that Germany should reduce her assistance to the Spanish rebels, allowing Italy to secure them victory in return for ttaly giving Germany a free hand in Czechoslovakia and predominance in the Danube valley. Tn response for this Germany will grant Italy priority in Spain and the western Mediterranean.

ITALIAN ACTIVITY Charge of Sabotaging Work of Non-intervention Paris, February 14. “Le Petit Parisien” says that the reported landing of Italian troops at Malaga is causing anxiety to the British and French Governments. “Pertinax,” in the “Echo de Paris,” says that intervention will continue to be hypocritically indirect and will then turn itiio open intervention. A Valencia message states that the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Senor del Va.vo, broadcasting throughout Spain, said that Italy and Germany had been

saltotaging the work of the Non-inter-vention Committee. He described Malaga as a Mediterranean port which was being placed at the service of the Duce by subalterns under orders from Berlin and Rome.