DOOM FACED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22523, 14 September 1936, Page 9

DOOM FACED

♦ P.SAN SEBASTIAN REBELS ON OUTSKIRTS STEBN ULTIMATUM ' PEOPLE IN A PANIC HASTY EVACUATION !By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Received September 13, 6.35 p.m.) LONDON, Sept. 12 Messages from Spain indicate that San Sebastian seeing to be faced with doom. An appeal to Madrid for help received a reply that the capital could npt assist the town and suggesting its surrender on terms. This was followed by a report from Hendaye that the loyalists t were evacuating tjie town following upon the defeat of the Government militia at Hernani and Oyarzun. After that, the Foreign Legion '(Terzio) troops occupied Fort Santa Barbara, preparatory to endeavouring . to enter the town to-morrow. Earlier despatches reported that the situation at San Sebastian was growing more tense every hour. The rebels' 48 hours' ultimatum to the loyalists to surrender will expire to-morrow morning. It is believed/that it will be disregarded. ' Colonel Ortega, Governor of San Sebastian, said: "We can defend our* selves for weeks." i ' The. flight of panic-stricken civilians continues. When rebel airmen dropped tha ultimatum pamphlets the militia endeavoured to seize all that fell in the streets to prevent the population reading them. > The rebels shelled Hernani, five miles from San Sebastian, from which the women and children have been •evacuated. Heavy cannonading broke the twodays lull on the San Sebastian front yesterday. General Mola then issued his last warning of a merciless attack unless the city surrendered. The Government troops defending the ' city outnumber the attackers but have ho unity. Food supplies are growing *h<srt.

TALAVERA FRONT DESPERATE STRUGGLE II: - - ' MADRID NOW MENACED < (Beceived September 13, 6.35 p.m.) , MADRID, Sept. 12 Both sides claim victories in the Talavera region, -western Spain, where the fighting is more important than on the Jrun front, as it may prove the key to Madrid. A decisive victory would enable the insurgents to relieve Toledo and then strike across easy country to the capital. The rebels are taking care not to disclose the precise movements of their troops, but the general plan appears to be to advance along the valleys of the Tagus and along the hilly ranges of the Sierra Degredos to the north. The Government's troops are faced with an ever tightening encirclement, and are desperately striving to drive a wedge between the rebels on tho / Tagus and those who are operating further to the south. So far the counterattacks appear to have yielded nothing. The rebels claim successes on the Talavera front. Their airmen are dropping pamphlets in Madrid calling on the troops here to surrender, otherwise the attack will not be long delayed. Typhoid fever is reported to be serious in the besieged town of Oviedo. Refugees state that 72 people died in one day. Shelling and bombing by tho Government forces continues. 1

ANOTHER VERSION REBELS OUTNUMBERED TIME WORKS FOR LOYALISTS (Received September 13, 6.35 p.m.) NEW YORK, Sept. 12 A copyright message to the North American Newspaper Alliance from Toulon states that General Franco's reported battle for Madrid on the Talavera front was mereiiy an outpost skirmish and his junction with General Mola's troops on the Sierra Dcgredos only a meeting of mountain patrols. The rebels have on paper a quarter circle against Madrid from the north to vest, but they can dispose only , 20,000 men on a 100-mile front in hostile territory against vastly superior numbers. .Time works for the loyalists, who are adding daily to their knowledge of warfare tactics and their fierce enthusiasm. ' A siege of Madrid seems to be impossible from a military point of view.

PORTUGUESE EMBASSY TRANSFER FROM MADRID MILITIA INVADE OFFICES .(Received September 13, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, Sept. 12 A message from Lisbon states that the recent transfer of the Portuguese Embassy to Alicante from Madrid is revealed to have been due to the invasion of the offices by Government militia, *bo demanded that the Ambassador hand over his documents. When he refused the militia forced their way in ®nd the offices were set on fire. A Spanish employee at the Embassy arrested and is understood to have H been shot. The Portuguese Embassy in London denies reports from Lisbon of a further :• Mutiny in Portuguese warships and Army garrisons, and of the bombardment of Lisbon. ' ================