SECRET WEAPON

New Zealand Herald, Volume 79, Issue 24274, 15 May 1942, Page 5

SECRET WEAPON

CLAIMS BY GERMANY USE OF "NERVE GAS" CONFUSED TALK DISCREDITED (Reed. 7.30 p.m.) LONDON. May 14 Berlin circles claim that their "new weapon" is a "boundary case" in the use of gas. The Berlin correspondent of the Stockholm newspaper Nya Dagligt Allehanda, who has been expelled from Germany "because he has sent news without foundation," says the Germans are using nerve gas on the Kerch Peninsula. Nerve gas does not cause bodily harm, but stuns soldiers, who wake up prisonei-s. The Vichy radio says nerve gas achieved a complete surprise on the Kerch Peninsula. The radio also says it is reported from Bucharest that German chemists have arrived in Rumania to produce poison gases for use in

Russia. Only German and Rumanian workers are employed on the "secret invisible weapon." The Stockholm correspondent of the Times says confused German talk about a secret new weapon is undoubted nonsense and is possibly inspired to encourage the drooping home front because, after five days, the clear fact emerges that no decisive gains have been obtained on the Kerch Peninsula. Reports from Berlin to-day reflect a certain disappointment, the correspondent adds. They confirm the conviction that the German experimental heavy offensive was a flash in the pan, but it is certain that the attempt will, and must, be repeated, because the dislodging of the Russians is imperative for the initiation of summer operations, which cannot be long delayed. The question is being asked: If the concentrated and long-prepared German and Rumanian effort, with the surprise of improved secret weapons, was not able to clear the Kerch Peninsula, what chance have they of prevailing against the main Russian armies between Kursk and the Black Sea? The Germans are dealing more fiercely with guerillas when they are able to seize them. Germans at Minsk shot 150 partisans. SUNK TANKER RAISED VESSEL OF 19,400 TONS ENGINEERS* ACHIEVEMENT NEW YORK, May 13 A message from Philadelphia says that one of the largest tankers in the world has returned from the depths and will soon be serving the United Nations again, carrying oil. She is the E. H. Blum, of 19,400 tons, which was torpedoed and sunk off the Atlantic coast on February 16, and has been salvaged. Although salvage experts thought that the wrecked vessel, which was broken in two, should be destroyed as a menace to navigation, engineers thought otherwise and, in spite of heavy seas, the dangerous and difficult task was accomplished. The engineers cut through the deck plates holding the two sections together and towed the unharmed fore end to port. Although the keel was sunk in the sand to a depth of 20ft., holes were plugged and the stern was made buoyant and refloated and also towed to port. The two ends will soon be welded together, the machinery reconditioned and the tanker will shortly be serviceable. VITAL NEED TO-DAY MORE AIRCRAFT-CARRIERS GROWING AMERICAN OPINION ! NEW YORK. May 13 The controversy regarding the battleship versus the aeroplane, which has rocked the Navy Department internally for months, has lecl to an agitation in Congress to limit or eliminate the construction of capital ships. This was indicated to-day when Sena tor Byrd voiced the opinion of a growing Senate bloc that emphasis should be placed on the construction of air-craft-carriers instead of battleships. Senator Byrd declared: "Experiences in this war have demonstrated the importance of air power. Also, the only way to get naval planes within striking distance of the enemy at present is by carriers. Therefore more of these should be constructed as rapidly as possible." President Roosevelt to-day signed legislation authorising a 200,000-ton increase in the submarine fleet, involving the construction of more than 100 additional submarines. WODEHOUSE IN BERLIN "JEEVES" IN GERMAN FILMS SYDNEY. May 14 P. G. Wodehouse, famous British humorist who is now at liberty in Germany, is adapting some of his Jeeves books for a new I3erlin film company, says the London correspondent of the Sydney Daily Telegraph. The Berlin film company intends to export the films. Jeeves,, a character in most of his books, represents the perfect English manservant who invariably rises to difficult occasions for his young master. Wodehouse, who is now living with his wife in the luxurious Adlon Hotel in Berlin, claims to have received £3125 from the, United States publisher of his last book, written in Berlin. He was just finishing his book, "Money for Jam." when he was captured in northern France in May. 1940. Wodehouse has said that the Germans released him on* July 26. 1941, because of the intercession of American friends. His radio talks from Berlin after his release were greatly criticised in England find the United States. ,