GERMANS SUFFER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23928, 31 March 1941, Page 8

GERMANS SUFFER

BRITISH AIR RAIDS GREAT CITIES ABLAZE DEATH AND DESTRUCTION CIVILIAN POPULATION By Telegraph—Press Association —Copvristht (Reed. 7.g0 p.m.) LONDON. March '-!!> The Air Ministry lifted the curtain to-night on the damage inflicted by the Royal Air FoPce on the civilian population during raids over Germany. The Ministry says that the ■weight of the, attack is increasing steadily. New types of bom hers carry tremendous loads; it is not unusual to learn than an aeroplane is carrying twenty 5001b. bombs, or live of 10001b and 10 of 5001 b. each. During a series of raids on Bremen, the Air Ministry states, 1000 people have been killed and 700 injured. Onethird of the Foeke-Wulf aeroplane works have been forced to close down. Devastation in Hanover One raid on Hanover killed "250 people, destroyed 250 houses, and seriously damaged 500 more. An aeroplane tyre factory was set alight, and it blazed for two days. Berlin was badly damaged and many civilians were killed. The weakness of the in Berlin is ineflective shelters. Ihe majority of those killed were sheltering in cellars which collapsed. In one cellar ;!<) people were drowned by a burst waterman.) At least .'ill bodies were recovered from a row ol damaged houses. Hamburg Burned and Tattered The inhabitants of Hamburg were staggered hv the damage. Three blocks of houses each 200 loot long, and a block of flats 500 feet long, were wrecked or burned out. Cologne has a similar story: hundieds of fires destroyed 100 houses, also a factory which burned steadily for three days. 'The marshalling yard at Boiin. which is a-quarter ot a mile long, was completely wrecked. Other areas were hammered witii persistence and precision .. . The Germans show a growing disinclination to take their medicine. LOAN TO GERMANY JAPANESE WARSHII'S TQKIO JOURNAL'S HINT MINISTER'S VISIT TO BERLIN LONDON. March -JS The loan of Japanese warships to Germanv mav be the real purpose ot the visit to Berlin of the .Japanese tor ei f 4n Minister, Mr. Mutsuoka. 11 i11 1-s tlu* conservative Tokio newspaper Asahi Shiinbun "Germany has great expert a lions of the future role ol the Japancs uavv," says this journal. The obvious technical >i transferring Japanese warships to Gotrnaii ayd Italian hands could be easily overcome. German crews could he trans ported, via Siberia, to some North China port which remains technically neutral and outside the Axis alliance, and there board such warships as the Japanese Navy might feel it could 6pa re. It would not be necessary to sail the vessels to German ports, or even to the Atlantic, as there is enough British and Allied shipping in the southern Pacific to afford a tempting target for Axis naval depredations. ITALIAN MINELAYER SEEN /IN JAPANESE HARBOUR NEW YORK, March 2 s The Associated Press of America savs that p;.:-<engers on the liner President Jackson reported sighting off the Kobe 'GTannn) breakwater the weather-beaten Italian warship Eritrea It was see" anchored off the breakwater last Satur day and was still there last night when the President Jackson left It flew the Italian flag and the name Eritrea was easily discernible. The Eritrea is fitter! for mine-lnying Sailors speculated whether it had been mine-laying in Australian waters The Eritrea, an escort vessel of 2172 tons, was built in 1936. She carries four 4."in. guns and anti-aircraft armament, and has a speed of 20 knots. RUMOURED COUP MARSHAL BADOGLIO COMPLETE DENIAL GIVEN fßpcd 12.45 a.m.) LONDON, March ;.'o .Rumours, of which there is not the slightest confirmation at present, are circulating in Belgrade, that Marsh id Badoglio, former Chiel ot Stall ol the Italian Army, has headed a coup d[ etar in Italy. Marshal Badoglio resigned some time ago after a dispute with Mussolini, apparently over the conduct of the war in Albania. The British United Press, which previously circulated a most guarded repor of the rumours, later said that all competent quarters in Borne categori cally denied them. The rumours are described as possibh a clumsy attempt to discredit AngloAmerican journalists in Belgrade lhe> spread most rapidly. A copy of a suppressed edition ol La Tribuna. which lias reached Athens, reveals that Marshal Badoglio, in an anti-Nazi article, said ; "If we may count on eventual aid from our ally we should not count on total aid, for the results might be fatal for the nation.'' GERMAN INFILTRATION KEY POSTS IN ITALY (Herd. 5.5' p.m.) LONDON", March ■_>* Latest' reports reaching London through neutral channels on German infiltration in Italy show that a Get man co-ordinating commission is, operai ing in nil north Italian towns with the representatives of almost all industrial concerns. German, technicians have been in stalled in aircraft, electrical and |o\tii< industries, and Germans are also stead ily replacing Italians at important points, and in telephone, telegraph and electricity services. Gestapo representatives are reported to be in the police -stations at all main centres, including Home. The Nazis are further posting Germans to ail Minis tries in Borne, beginning with the Service Department. MILK IN MANUFACTURES BRITISH RESTRICTIONS (Reed. 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, Maicli Js An order prohibiting the use oi_ milk, fresh, condensed or powdered, in the manufacture of a large number of commodities, including bread, pastries and sweets, will come into force on April I, savs a British, official wireless message.