BOMBING OF TOWN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22722, 7 May 1937, Page 11

BOMBING OF TOWN

JOURNALIST'S STORY

GERMAN AIRCRAFT BLAMED

THE BURNING OF GUERNICA By Telegraph—Press - Association—Copyright (Received May (i, 11.50 p.m.) LONDON, May 0 The Times' special correspondent at Bilbao categorically declares that the statement that "Guernica was destroyed by Red incendiaries" is false. "I was on the spot shortly after the bombing of the town," lie says. "The roofs that were still unburnt were a mass of bomb holes. "Trees were injured by bombsplinters, of which I collected several, and they, were of exactly the same metal as is used by General Mola's German aircraft. A front line journalist accompanying me picked tip three incendiary bombs, all German, and dated 1936. "Everyone in the town knows that a number of women and children were trapped in a bomb refuge. People obviously do not enter bomb refuges when the Reds are burning the houses above them. I entered a church which was burning fiercely and had a hole in the roof where a bomb had entered. The priest was helping to evacuate the poor who had taken refuge there. He forgot to tell me that anarchists had wrecked the church from that peculiar angle. Deaths From Bomb Wounds "I spent several hours in Guernica, and sniff where I might I could not catch the odour of petrol. The houses were not burnt like those I saw in Iron, but were shattered through the roofs and walls. "Next day I visited the ruined hospital, surrounded with bomb holes, and saw 40 dead, mostly women, who were killed, not by petrol but by bomb wounds.

"When the insurgents lead journalists on a conducted tour tlioy may fill in bomb holes and even obligingly provide a smell of petrol; but the fact remains that General Franco's aeroplanes burnt Guernica. The Basques never forget." The Times' special correspondent adds that he himself was machinegunned by German aeroplanes yesterday in adjacent villages, which were heavily bombed. Officials Broadcast Senor Jose de Labauria, Mayor, Eusebio de Arronategui, a priest, of Guernica, and Senor Jesus Maria de Leizaola, Minister of Culture, gave a broadcast regarding the massacre and wrecking of Guernica. The first two named were eyewitnesses, and the third arrived within two hours. Senor Labauria swore before God that German aeroplanes wickedly and bloodily bombed the to^n. Mr. Christopher Holme, Reuter's correspondent, declares that he and fellow journalists saw huge bomb craters and picked up unexploded bombs. He asserts that there was no smell of petrol. The Basques continue to withstand the Italians in the Bermeo sector, and also have improved their positions near Durango. GERMANY PROTESTS ALLEGATIONS IN BRITAIN ACTION BY AMBASSADOR (Received May 6, 11.50 p.m.) LONDON. May 6 The German Ambassador, Herr von Ribbentrop, called upon the Foreign Secretary, Mr. Eden, and protested at what he described as the "incorrect and tendentious allegations" in the British press and the House of Commons with reference to the alleged destruction of Guernica. If they continued, he said, they were bound to have an unfortunate effect. Herr von Ribbentrop added that foreign newspapers confirmed that Guernica liad been set on fire by the Government troops. MEDICAL ASSISTANCE LARGER DOMINION PARTY DOCTOR AND NURSE OFFER [BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION"] DUNEDIN, Thursday Following the announcement of the projected departure of three nurses for Spain, the Dunedin Spanish Medical Aid Committee has received an offer of the services of a sister from a North Island hospital and of a doctor, a graduate of Otago University, also from the North Island. The committee hopes that sufficient funds will be raised to enable an increase to be made in the personnel of the New Zealand .unit so that this doctor and nurse may be included.