BASQUES FLEE SANTANDER

Southland Times, Issue 23288, 26 August 1937, Page 5

BASQUES FLEE SANTANDER

REBELS ONLY 11 MILES AWAY RAPID ADVANCE LED BY ITALIANS TONS OF BOMBS DROPPED ON CITY (United Press Assn.—Telegraph Copyright) (Received August 26, 12.40 a.m.) LONDON, August 25. The flight from Santander, the Basque port on the Bay of Biscay, has begun, with the vanguard of the advancing rebel forces only 11 miles away. The insurgents claim to have captured several Government leaders escaping by car and to have taken 150,000 prisoners and equipment. Sardine boats filled with militiamen, their wives and families are arriving at Bayonne and Arachon (France) from Santander, which they say is untenable because tons of bombs ate being dropped from the insurgent planes.

TTie Italian and Navarran brigades are continuing their lightning advance. The Bilbao correspondent of The Times says that the Navarran brigades, under General Solchaga, entered Torre la Vega, cutting the main road from Santander westwards. They then passed on, taking a secondary road. Thus the entire Republican forces in the Santander province are cut off from their only line of retreat. The rebels are only 11 miles from Santander on the western side, and the latest advance by the foreign legionaries from the Burgos road leaves them 13 miles from the city on the south. TRUCE APPEAL REPORTED An earlier message stated that the insurgent advance on Santander was continuing in all sectors and a “Black Flame” brigade had reached Santa Mande Caya, only ten miles away. A radio message from Bilbao says that the authorities at Santander sent a message to General Solchaga, the insurgent commander, seeking an armistice.

insurgent airmen report that Santander is wide open. Columns and guns are pouring out and it should be possible to enter in two or three days.

Deserters have reported the closing of all the shops in. Santander in view of the general mobilization. Twelve trawlers of the Santander fishing fleet have taken refuge in La Rochelle (France) to avoid capture.

The insurgents have condemned to death Senor Manuel Castro, formerly Minister of Industry in the Basque Government, and several officers in the Basque Army. The British destroyer Keith has left St. Jean de Luz (France) for Santander to endeavour to pick up members of the Basque Government, including the President (Senor Jose Aguirre) and also 17 rebel hostages who were taken to Santander when Bilbao fell, and any remaining British subjects. The British Embassy at Hendaye (France) was planning to rescue all Britons when it received an appeal from the rebel junta at Salamanca to assist in rescuing the hostages, whom the Basques had finally agreed to release. They had been held because of important connections with insurgent Spain. The hostages are now considered to be in most grave peril, the Basques admitting that it is.no longer possible to protect them from the extremist elements. The embassy agreed, but notified that it would also take off their Basque guards and the remaining members of the Government. Senor Aguirre and the others immediately signified their desire to take advantage of the opportunity to leave. MADRID BOMBARDED Shells are dropping every few minutes on Madrid, an intense bombardment causing heavy damage and casualties. A loyalist communication announces that the Catalonian army in a new offensive cut the communications between Saragossa and Huesca, broke through in other places, surrounded the enemy in the Quinto sector and aerially bombarded insurgent railways, aerodromes and concentrations. LEAGUE’S VIEWS ON SPANISH APPEAL EXTRAORDINARY SESSION MAY BE HELD (Received August 25, 10.45 p.m.) LONDON, August 25. The Geneva correspondent of The Times says that a telegram has been sent to all members of the League of Nations Council asking their views on the Spanish Government’s appeal against Italy and on the holding of an extraordinary session. The Spanish Government protested against “attacks on Spanish and foreign merchantmen, including British, by Italian warships in the Mediterranean,” of which it alleged it possessed proof. Spain added that the tension in the Mediterranean was being aggravated by the open assistance afforded the rebels by Italian naval vessels, and said that the whole of the Mediterranean, from Marseilles and Barcelona to the Dardanelles, must be considered a zone in which a general conflagration might be produced at any moment. GREEK STEAMER SEIZED BY REBELS OFFICERS AND CREW DETAINED GIBRALTAR, August 24. Seventeen men, the officers and crew of the Greek steamer Nagus, on their arrival from Ceuta (Spanish Morocco) state that insurgent warships eight weeks ago captured the ship in the Mediterranean, imprisoned the crew in Ceuta, unloaded the cargo elsewhere and kept the ship’s captain, who was taken to San Fernando and is still detained. The crew during its imprisonment had only a loaf of bread and a quart of water each a day.