Show Of Force In Ruhr

Northern Advocate, 14 June 1949, Page 5

Show Of Force In Ruhr

BERLIN, Mon. (11 a.m.).—Opposition by German workers was countered by a show of force by the British Military Government today. It now appears that the dismantling of the four Ruhr synthetic oil works will proceed without serious incident. Defying the British ultimatum, Germans had prevented dismantling crews from entering two of tfie plants. Oil orders of the British Military Government, 100 Belgian troops with tanks and armoured cars then occupied the Essen Coal Company’s synthetic petrol works at Bergkamen from which dismantling squads had withdrawn after the Germans barricaded the entrance with overturned carts and cars. There was no trouble as the troops quickly cleared the plant of its .230 workers and placed machine-guns and armed patrols throughout the factory area. ORDERS CARRIED OUT An official British statement issued this afternoon said the dismantling operations were going on normally at two of the four plants. Some work is being done at a third. Major General W. H. A. Bishop, British regional commissioner, who ordered the show of force, said tonight he was sorry he had had to use troops “but I am glad to say that the orders of my Government have been carried out without using physical force or firing any weapons.” General Bishop indicated confidence that the dismantling would proceed without further difficulty and he returned to normal duty the troops who had been alerted in case of trouble throughout the day. Most of the Belgian troops had left the Gergkamen plant by nightfall.