GERMAN POISON GAS

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 July 1945, Page 5

GERMAN POISON GAS

THOUSANDS OF TONS FOUND DISPOSAL PROBLEM RUGBY, July 20. Thousands of tons of poison gas buried underground in 33 square miles of a German chemical warfare experimental station at Raubkammer, 12 miles from Belsen, have created a problem for the British authorities, says a correspondent. It has not yet been decidea whether to keep the gas till the end of the war with Japan or destroy it. If it is decided to get rid of it the mptal tanks in which it is stored will be taken to the middle of the Atlantic and dumped into the sea. These lethal gases cannot be burned, nor can .they be profitably - resolved into their constituent elements. The Chief Chemical Officer of the Scientific Research Department, R.A.M.C., told the correspondent: “When we overran Raubkammer we arrested 400 scientists and technicians working here. They included a whole gang of scientists from factories in Berlin where the gas was manufactured. We have been interrogating them. The chief scientists £ay the reason the Nazis .did not use the gas was that Hitler had a horror of gas, as he himself was gassed during the last war.” The officer continued that it was unlikely that Japan had any gases unknown to the British. The chiefs had told him that the Japanese military mission in Berlin was given no information by the Germans about gas. The Japanese were allowed to attend a monthly meeting with German gas experts in Berlin, but were shown only respirators. The British military and civilian respirator was capable of coping with every gas the Germans haa, according to the chief German chemical officer. GERMAN SUPER-GUN NEW YORK, July 18. Brigadier-General Stewart Reimel, Chief of the New York Ordnance District, reported that American Ordnance experts in Germany have found a super-heavy 32-inch gun. The gun fired a five-ton shell. The investigators also found ammunition with a 94-mile range, and a new type of rocket-firing gun. CONTROL OF BERLIN. ' LONDON, July 18. The second meeting of the Allied Kommandature was held in Berlin today. A French representative was present. There is no official news of the business, but it is known that the administration of Berlin is going satisfactorily, with goodwill and co-opera-tion. The British will take over the feeding of their zone at the week-end, and until then the Russians will continue to supply food. Administration in the British zone is running smoothly and unostentatiously. The first week of British control was accomplished quietly and efficiently. AMERICAN - TROOPS. LONDON, July 18. In Berlin to-day, the United States Army Chief of Staff (General Marshall) reviewed the American 2nd Armoured Division, known as the “Hell on Wheels Division,” With him were the Chief of Staff of the United States Navy (Admiral King), the Chief of the British Imperial General Staff (Marshal Brooke), Marshal Alexander, and Air Chief Marshal .Tedder. High Russian officers were also present. . . Correspondents say that the division made an impressive sight as it was drawn u*> in dead straight lines on the great autobahn just outside Berlin. The cannon and guns of the division, with muzzles pointing skyward, glistened in the sun. PATENTS OFFICE. (Ree. 10.35 a. m .r^ DON> Ju[y p ; The American Control Council in Berlin to-day took over the German Patent Office to safeguard its records until the Multi-partite Council is established. A senior German, official was ordered to suspend all Patent Office functions except placing the records in readiness for future use. The office is housed in a 700-room building'. German officials on duty when the Americans arrived were held for questioning while the office was examined. All patent records were found intact in a sub-basement, though the building itself was' extensively damaged by bombing last February. COMPULSORY INSURANCE (Recd. 10.35 a.m.) V LONDON, July 19. The Control Administration in the Russian sectors of Berlin has abolished 120 bankrupt insurance organisations sponsored by Hitler and has replaced them with an all-embi acing insurance scheme, reports Reuter s Berlin correspondent. It has been made compulsory for all employed citizens to insure their families witn the new organisation based on equal contributions from employer and employee. - All, Berlin _ doctors, dentists and medical specialists will serve m the central panel of the new organisation which will be primarily concerned with sickness, accidents and insurance, and invalids and aged pensions-