REINFORCEMENTS FROM INDIA

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 20 May 1941, Page 5

REINFORCEMENTS FROM INDIA

A Free rFench officer who was in ■ Syria recently stated emphatically that nine-tenths of the military and | civil populations desired an Allied i victory, and the Germanophiles were ! limited to only one small clique of higher officers. The French army in Syria is between 45,000 and 50.000, and is mostly ! composed of colonials. The equip- ! ment has deteriorated since the Armistice through neglect, and much of it is ; now unserviceable. There are about 1 300 planes, of which only 30 per cent, ■aie though*, to be airworthy, while the petrol supplies are short. OIL FLOWS TO SYRIA Iraq oil is flowing once more through the pipeline from Mosul to the Syrian port of Tripoli, but recently a mysterious explosion put out of action the refinerj' at Tripoli, which is the largest in Syria. Incidentally, the Iraqis, while permitting the flow of oil to Tripoli, cut off the supplies by the pipe line to Haifa. The French Governor of Syria, M. Dentz, broadcasting from Beirut in French and Arabic, said: “You heard the address of Marshal Petain, which w r as full of firmness and wisdom. It means that Vichy is determined to secure order and peace for France and her Empire. After the incident at Dakar, England has now seen fit to attack aerodromes in Syria, under the pretext -hat they heve been put at the disposal of the Germans. Actually German planes only flew over Syria. “There is nothing to prevent France from defending the independence of her empire. The course of events will only draw France, Syria and Lebanon closer together. My task is to defend the skies and soil of Syria, and I am determined to fulfil that duty. We are prepared to meet force by force.” The Cairo correspondent of the independent French news agency says the National Committee of Frenchmen in Egypt has drawn up a declaration in which it protests against the cession of Syrian aerodromes to Germany. The declaration says:— LEGITIMATE BRITISH DEFENCE “The committee emphatically de-

The committee emphatically deounces the hypocritical, underhand character of the concession, which, by creating a new menace to the valiant Imperial troops in the Middle East may oblige our ally to take legitimate measure of defence. We know that in protesting against this last particularly odious abdication we are acting as the mouthpiece of all the French in the homeland who are obliged to keep silence.” Bombay reports that the Nizam of Hyderabad has delivered a message to Moslems in India explaining at length the reasons for Anglo-Indian military measures in Iraq and condemning the treachery of Rashid Ali. The Nizam appealed to Moslems to join in an ex pression of disapproval of the action of Rashid Ali an'l his clique, who have offended against the most solemn precept of Islam, which is to honour a pledged word. RUMOURED FRONTIER CLASH To-day’s Cairo communique reporting on the campaign in Irak, says that the situation at Basra and Habbania remains calm.

e It was learnt in London to-day that on 13th May British forces occupied a position 25 miles south of Basra without incident A message from Istanbul says that R.A.F. planes machine-gunned trains carrying French war materials from Syria to Irak. British and French troops are reported without confirma--1 lion to have clashed on the border of . Syria and Palestine. 1 NO CHANGE [ SITUATION AT HABBANIA AND BASRA [British Official Wireless) (Rec., 10.43 a.m.) Rugby, May 19. A communique issued at Cairo states that there is no change in the situation at Basra and Habbania.

GERMAN TRANSPORTS IN AEGEAN SEA [United Press Association —By Electric Telegraph—Copyright] (Rec. 9.10 a.m.) London, May 19. While the British fleet and air force operating from Alexandria, Crete and Cyprus can prevent the Italians and Germans from landing large forces in Syria, the Germans are accumulating a respectable fleet of transports in ports on the Aegean Sea by bringing Axis, Bulgarian and Rumanian ships through the Dardanelles from the Black Sea. The arrival of fresh reinforcements at Habbania by air. including some of the most warlike units of the Indian Army, has cheered ‘the besieged garrison, says the Daily Telegraph s Jerusalem correspondent. The former besiegers seem momentarily on the defensive, and the garrison was not even upset by an attack by a small group of German planes on 16th May. However, with the threat of German reinforcements still impending, it cannot be said that the situation is yet entirely happy. One indication of Rashid Ali’s failure to rally the whole body of his countrymen behind him is that the Arab tribes in the Euphrates Valley have so far shown no signs of joining the movement, though they have been among the fiercest participants in every previous antiforeign trouble. In the meantime the attacks continue against the enemy planes from Syrian aerodromes, and not only have German planes been destroyed but also runways have been smashed. Most of the British colony in Syria have now crossed the border into Palestine.