WAR AT SEA

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 24024, 23 July 1941, Page 7

WAR AT SEA

BATTLE OF ATLANTIC "NOT UNSATISFACTORY" RESCUES OF SAILORS (Reed. 11.30 p.m.) LONDON. July 22 Progress in the battle of the Atlantic in recent weeks by the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force can be regarded as "not unsatisfactory," taking all factors into consideration, it is stated in London. It is pointed out that it would not be wishful thinking to regard the future with sober confidence, providing that everyone in Britain gives his maximum war effort and prevents waste. At the same time, in the battle of the Atlantic the people of Britain must be prepared for ups and downs. The boldness of a Spanish oil tanker, the Campeche, which stood by for two hours in the danger area in order to save them, is revealed by the crew of H.M.S. Lady Soniers, a Fleet auxiliary vessel which was torpedoed last week.

Members of the crew stated that two submarines attacked the Lady Somers. firing torpedoes almost simultaneously. One submarine scored a hit near the stern of the vessel, and then came to the surface, but crash-dived when the ship opened fire.

Five minutes later a second submarine came to the surface, but disappeared vertically after the ship had fired at her.

While the Lady Somers was settling down, the crew took to the boats, except for the captain and the crew of one gun, which kept firing to scare off the submarine. Five hours later a second torpedo struck the Lady Somers with a terrific explosion, but those on board were saved with the rest of the crew. A message from Madrid says that after being 20 days in an open boat before they were picked up. 25 survivors from a British merchant vessel have been landed at Vigo from a Spanish trawler. The crew totalled 164. The fate of the other boats is unknown. The ship was on a voyage between Hull and Gibraltar. NEWSPAPER BANNED CHINESE WOODCUTS SHOWN TOKIO, July 22 The New York Times Sunday magazine section of June 8 was banned throughout Japan yesterday presumably because of a group of Chinese woodcuts, examples of war art. One bore a caption, "Homeless After Japanese Raid." Another, depicting dead Chinese, said: "Gift of the Imperial Army." The Chugai yesterday said the uncertainty abroad over Japanese future "movements is preventing the United States giving the maximum of aid to Britain by moving the Pacific Fleet to the Atlantic, thus showing Japan's importance in the complicated world situation. BOMBING INSURANCE INTEREST IN JAPAN NEW YORK. Jnly 22 The New York Times Tokio correspondent, Mr. Tolischus, reports that the Ministry of Commerce and leading insurance companies are discussing the problem of introducing bombing insurance in view of the increasing tenseness of the world situation and the fact that bombings of Japan may become an actuality. The Agriculture Minister, Mr. Hiroyasu Ino, assured the public yesterday that there is plenty of rice and vegetables in Japan, and Japanese farmers will soon be producing. The Tokio stock market has turned soft, and this is attributed to the prospect of increased taxation, as well as the complicated international situation. PRECAUTIONS AT MANILA (Reed. 8.50 p.m.) NEW YORK, July 22 According to a broadcast from Manila, plans are being completed to evacuate 300,000 natives and American women and children from Manila in the event of a threat to the capital. The announcer said evacuees would be housed in concrete warehouses on sugar plantations an hour's drive from the city. FRENCHMEN GAOLED (Reed. 6.15 p.m.) VICHY, July 22 Strasbourg newspapers record that sentences ranging from two to 15 months' imprisonment have been imposed on Frenchmen for listening to foreign broadcasts. One man confessed that he listened to the 8.8.C. regularly.