TO BE REDUCED

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 28 August 1945, Page 5

TO BE REDUCED

BRITISH TROOPS IN BERLIN FRENCH TAKE OVER TWO AREAS • London August 27. The number of troops in Berlin is being reduced by 3000 partly because a large protecting force is no longer necessary and partly because the French have assumed control of two boroughs formerly in the British area. Major-General Lewis Lyne announced the reduction when he revealed that he was retiring on August 31st. as British member of the Kommandature in order to resume the leadership of the Seven 4 !) Armoured Division. MajorGeneral E. P. Narcs is his successor. Major-General Lyne praised the work of the Kommandature. “It under two months established itself as an efficient international machine for the unified government and control of Berlin. The Kommandature has had seven meetings and on not a single subject have we ever had a disagreement that could net be solved after discussion” Major-Gen-eral Lyne added. "There were many qrcent problems to be solved, particularly tho«e affiecting the German population’s health and living conditions during the coming winter. However, every possible precaution was being taken and he was sure a workable solution would be found. The greatest efforts were being made to keep additional German refugees from entering the crowded capital.

POLES SENTENCED TO DEATH

The first death sentence by a British court-martial since the British entered Berlin was passed on a twenty-three-year-old. Pole. Joseph Halabuda. for being in possession of firearms. Halabuda. who had been in the Dachau and Buchenvvald camps, said a Russian officer had given him a pistol to hunt Nazis. The court sentenced a German. Ernest Alsleben. to life imprisonment for having an automatic pistol.