CONTROL OF THE ADRIATIC

Evening Star, Issue 25003, 23 October 1943, Page 5

CONTROL OF THE ADRIATIC

BRITISH NAVY'S ROLE NO EHEMY SHIP SAFE (Rec. 8 a.m.) LONDON, October 22. "The British Navy, in conjunction with free Yugoslav shore batteries and armed raiders, has gained complete control of the Adriatic," says the British United Press correspondent on board a ißritish destroyer patrolling the Adriatic. "No sooner does an enemy vessel poke its nose into the Adriatic than it is in the bag or sinking. 'lt is like shooting a fish in a barrel' is how one of the destroyer's officers described the situation. I have seen several score of German sailors taken prisoners under Britisli guns as they tried to run desperately-needed supplies to Durres and Valona. "Two British destroyers, the Tumult and the Tyrian, got three medium-sized ships in three days. One was a tanker and the others were freighters, the larger of which was captured, with a valuable cargo. Reconnaissance planes "guided the destroyers to the ships. The destroyers fired warning shots across the ships' bows and then sent out a boarding party. "Yugoslav Partisan ships and shore, batteries are doing equally well, and recently sank two German ships and captured a third, with a big cargo of food. One Partisan leader, a member of the party which boarded the captured ship,'said: ' When we boarded her we executed the German crew. We dominate the Adriatic coast from Fiume southwards, and the majority of the islands off the coast are in our hands. "The German sailors seem to be relieved because they had fallen into British hands. The prisoners agreed that if they had been forced to land on Yugoslav territory they would not have lasted long," says the correspondent. -..-..