GREAT BATTLE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23067, 18 June 1938, Page 15

GREAT BATTLE

LOYALISTS' RALLY REBELS CLOSE IN VALENCIA APPROACHED FRANCE AS A REFUGE STARVING TROOPS FED By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright (Received June 17, 1'1.30 p.m.) LONDON, June 16 The troops of General Franco are within 19 miles of Sagunto and within 22 miles of Valencia, states the Saragossa correspondent of the Daily Telegraph. The loyalists have rallied four miles south of Castellon and have established a new line along the Mijares River, says a report from Madrid. A great battle is taking place south of Castellon, where the loyalists are offering a stern resistance to the rebels. Eight thousand more men of the "Lost Division" have reached France, where villagers hastened to supply the starving men with soup, states a correspondent of the Times. The fugitives left the wooded hillsides of the Gala Pass in flames to delay their pursuit. Many were wounded. The losses of the division during the last stand were so heavy that they were unable to bury'their dead. With the exception of 80 men, states a later message, all the members of the "Lost Division" who took refuge in France have returned to Spain. There were no incidents. They said they were happy to return so that they could be used on other battlefronts.