GLIMPSE "INSIDE"

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23997, 21 June 1941, Page 11

GLIMPSE "INSIDE"

VITAL CONFERENCES

BATTLE OF ATLANTIC

PROTECTION OF CONVOYS (Red. ft. ft p.m.) LONDON, .Tune 19 Conferences vital to the Battle of the Atlantic are day by day taking place between senior naval officers and masters of merchant ships, says a British official wireless message. A description of one of these "convoy conferences" is given by a naval eye-witness. The Navy and the Merchant Navy are sitting in conference to discuss problems of the Battle of the Atlantic. The men in civilian suits are masters of those merchant ships and cargo liners or rusty old tramp steamers who run the gauntlet of U-boats and Gorman bombers to feed Britain and supply the war machine. The senior officer of the Naval Control Service rises and explains points contained in the sheets of sailing orders, instructions and other secret documents which each Merchant Navy captain lias before him. The men i/i civilian clothes listen carefully. Defence Methods Discussed The senior naval control officer calls upon a Hoy a I Naval Reserve officer who is to be commodore (if this convoy to address the men who will look to him for guidance throughout the perilous voyage. He will sail in the senior ship of the convoy. The commodore rises and explains to these Merchant Navy masters what lie wishes them to do and what action he proposes to take in the event of various emergencies which may arise on the voyage.

.More questions are asked and | answered. Then the senior officer of the | warships which will escort the convoy j tells the masters of the ships he is to j protect exactly what experience has taught him about the best way to cooperate in beating the TJ-boat and the bomber. He is followed by a captain whose interest is in the defensive guns with which the merchant ships have been fitted. Air Protection Then an officer of the Royal Air Force explains the air protection which his Service affords convoys and how best to cope with German aeroplanes out in the Atlantic from the iir lighter's point of view. The merchant captains make observations and ask questions. Finally, the captain presiding over the convoy conference rises to intro-j duce the commander-in-chief, an ; Admiral who has found time from the j unceasing work of directing* the Battle j of the Atlantic to come and explain the | position as he sees it to these men of! the Merchant Navy. So ends the convoy conference. The j Merchant Navy captains return to their j ships to prepare for sailing, and another ' great adventure is under way. AWARDS FOR HEROISM SERVICE WITH SMALL CRAFT ONE EX-NEW ZEALANDER (Reed. 9.10 p.m.) SYDNEY, June Ist j Among the group of three Australians j who have been awarded the George j Medal is a New South Welshman, How- j ard Dudley Reid. who is believed to be | formerly of Wellington. The Minister for the Nnvv, Mr. W. M. Hughes, when making the announcement. said that these officers were in i the first group of Australian yachtsmen who joined the Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve for service with small craft operating .with the Royal Navv overseas.

He added that the quality of the men who had gone from Australia had been very favourably commented upon by the Admiralty, and the awards now announced exemplified fine work that Australian yachtsmen were doing. Reid, who is aged 33, is an accountant in civil life and became a lieutenant last December.

AXIS RETALIATES

CLOSING OF CONSULATES CHARGES AGAINST AMERICANS (Rerd. 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, June 20 The Berlin official news agency says that Germany has demanded that all American consulates, also the offices of the American Express Company in Germany and German-occupied territory, shall be closed by July 15. A message from Rome states that Italy has also demanded the closure of United States consulates. According to a message from Washington, Germany's action was anticipated by State Department officials, who said the order would cause little inconvenience since trade was at a standstill and few Americans now remain in the Continent. Twenty-five consulates arc a fleeted. The Berlin News Agency has issued a list of offences justifying the closing of the consulates. Firstly, it is stated, the consul nt Frankfurt delivered copies of anti-German propaganda and passed on secret military information; secondly, the consul-general at Munich made detrimental remarks against the Reich; thirdly, the consul at Cologne carried out espionage against Germany, in code, in collusion with the Belgian consul, reporting the German march into Belgium, Holland and Luxemburg; fourthly, tho consul at Hamburg sketched railways and military installations; fifthly, an employee of the American consulate at Oslo reported German troop movements in Norway ; and sixthly, the consul at Paris is accused of sheltering a member of the staff of the British consulate there. It is expected in Washington that Italian consulates in the United States will be closed as a result of the Rome decree closing United States consulates in Italy. PRESSURE ON ITALIANS DEBRA TABOR ADVANCE JiONDON, June 20 "While patriot forces are steadily increasing their pressure on the Italian garrisons in the Gondar district, our own troops are continuing their advance on Debra Tabor," states a Cairo headquarters communique. "In the southern areas operations are progressing satisfactorily."

It is authoritatively stated that British forces in the Western Desert are now safely back in their original positions eastward of Solium, which is in Gorman hands, says a cable message.