U-Boat Base Near U.S.?

Manawatu Times, Volume 67, Issue 109, 11 May 1942, Page 5

U-Boat Base Near U.S.?

WASHINGTON, May 9. A message from Key West (Florida.) says that 14 survivors from ships who landed there angrily reported that two*of the German submarines machinegunned members of the crew. They described one submarine as freshly painted and without trace of rust and looking as if it had just left drydock. Mr. Clarence Wells, third mate of one ship, who landed at Norfolk (Virgniia), said that 13 survivors drifted 100 U miles during 16 days in a lifeboat. Mr. Wells asserted that the attacking submarine was small, only about 150 feet, and was too small to operate for any length of time without a base or mother ship. The Navy Minister (Mr. MacDonald) told the Canadian House of Commons that ships lost by enemy action leaving Canada on trans-Atlantic trips totalled under one per cent, since the start of the war but he declared that sinkings up and down the Atlantic coast were the heaviest. He added that vessels travelling without escort were four times more vulnerable than those protected by convoys. In an endeavour to reduce loss of life all American ocean and coastal vessels over 1000 tons will soon be required to carry at least one portable radio for use in lifeboats. The radios will enable survivors to signal for aid after the attacking craft has departed from the scene.

Champion Rifle Shot Mr. and Mrs. T. Ranford, of Whakarongo have received news that their son, Private Ivan Ranford, who left New Zealand with the 3rd-Echelon, after winning the Battalion marksmanship with the rifle, went on to win the Brigade' championship. He received two medals and a trophy. He is now in Syria practising ski-ing with a special unit.