GERMANY FEARS INVASION

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 June 1943, Page 5

GERMANY FEARS INVASION

U-BOATS RECALLED

ROADS CLOSED TO TRAFFIC LONDON, June 10. Hitler is already recalling U-boats from the Atlantic to defend his “European fortress” against invasion, says the naval correspondent of the “Daily Mail.” There is evidence that far lower U-boat packs are operating against our convoys, he adds. Üboats are being concentrated at strategic points, including French coast bases such as La Pallice and Lorient, and also at Trondheim, in Norway. Apart from the recalling of U-boats, many reports are reaching London ot growing apprehension of an Allied invasion of Europe. The “Daily Express’s” Stockholm correspondent says that for the first time since the war began the German road system—the Reich’s Autobahnen built at Hitler’s orders—has been closed to private traffic. German authorities say that the roads are being put to the service of the war effort. Railway directors have been notified of further travel restrictions. Break-downs of railways are becoming increasingly frequent and there is open criticism of Hitler in Germany on the ground that he has blundered in concentrating on the road system, and he has neglected the railways and road traffic. and he has failed to keep the armies in Holland, Belgium and France fully supplied. An American correspondent. William Shiver, author of “Berlin Diary,” believes that Hitler can be beaten this year. He says that the quick, complete surrender of the German Army in Tunisia is one of the most encouraging signs we have had since the war began. If good, perfectly disciplined troops will crack up in this way the people at home may be expected to crack all the more readily. The quickest way to beat Hitler is by invasion of the Continent by the shortest and most direct route possible. IVe must get an infantry force on the Continent for a stand-up fight with the German Army. A “protection ordnance” has been published by the German military commandant in Belgium and northern France, states the' Belgian News Agency. . It provides for the imposition of the death penalty for acts which may compromise the safety of the Reich or occupying authority or disturb the peace of the occupied territories.

TANKER SINKS U-BOAT

RUGBY, June 10

When a ship in a convoy was torpedoed and caught fire, the glare revealed a U-boat on the .surface. A Norwegian tanker fired guns and destroyed the submarine. Seventeen of the crew are to receive Norwegian decorations.

LONG RANGE PLANES

LONDON, June 9

Very long range aircraft, known as VLR’s are operating under the Coastal Command against U-boats in the Atlantic, according to an announce'ment by Mr. Churchill. Some details about these aircraft were released to-day by the Air Ministry. They are Liberators fitted with extra fuel tanks which give them a range of at least 2000 miles. Operating from west Atlantic bases they have done much to reduce the gap .in mid-Atlantic where most of the shipping losses occur, and which has not previously been effectively covered by anti-U-boat defences. /The VLR’s spend as much as 18 hours in the air at a time, making these patrols one of the toughest jobs in the Air Force. From the time the crews are briefed until their interrogation by intelligence officers is completed the crews have been on dijty continuously for 24 hours—often as pilots state, “without the stimulus provided by finding’ and fighting a Üboat.”