FASCIST SET-BACK IN SPAIN

Southland Times, Issue 23406, 13 January 1938, Page 5

FASCIST SET-BACK IN SPAIN

Teruel A Check To Rome And Berlin

INCREASED HELP FOR REBELS POSSIBLE

(United Press Assn—Telegraph Copyright) LONDON, January 11. The battle of Teruel is regarded in Whitehall as a distinct check to Italian and German efforts to secure a foothold in the Western Mediterranean, declares The Manchester Guardian. It is becoming clear that extremist influence in Republican Spain is waning and that there is no longer any question of Russian interference. Italy and Germany, however, are not relaxing their efforts. German military aeroplanes continue to cross France every night, and Italy, although she has withdrawn her troops, is sending war material and engineers. The Germans are making a special effort to strengthen their political and economic position in Bilbao, where they are investing capital and circulating Nazi pamphlets. They are doing their utmost to counter British influence in northern Spain.

Both Italy and Germany are most disappointed at the way in which the war has dragged on, and may increase their intervention.

Messrs David Williams and Aneurin Bevan, Labour members of the House of Commons, who have just returned from Barcelona, paid a tribute to the Spanish Loyalist discipline and the excellence of the civil organization and new munition plants. But they emphasized the need for additional arms and food. For this reason the Labour Party campaign for Spain would be intensified. Any question of an early victory for General Franco had been entirely removed.

SUBWAY WRECKED BY EXPLOSION HUNDREDS MAY BE DEAD IN MADRID (Received January 12, 9.10 p.m.) LONDON, January 12. The Times says that news received in London from a trustworthy source states that the mysterious explosion in Madrid yesterday occurred in the underground railway, part of which was being used as a magazine for munitions. The trail), service on the unaffected part of the system is being maintained. The dimensions of the explosion are such that the dead will probably number some hundreds, but a severe censorship prevents details. A later message says that the centre of the explosion was the station, and it occurred just as a train entered. PLAN FOR EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS GROUPS OF 25 TO BE RELEASED (British Official Wireless) RUGBY, January 11. Negotiations for the exchange of prisoners between the two sides in Spain have reached a stage where it has been agreed that groups of 25 at a time should be exchanged. The agreement has not yet been put into effect, but assurances have been received by Sir Robert Hodgson, the British agent at Salamanca, that there is no immediate danger of sentences being carried out on a number of General Franco’s prisoners who are under sentence of death. The Chairman’s Sub-Committee of the Non-Intervention Committee considered a comprehensive draft resolution dealing with all the problems of the proposed plan—the withdrawal of foreign volunteers, the granting of belligerent rights, and the restoration and strengthening of the observation scheme —and it appeared that no differences of opinion need be expected about the composition of the commissions to be sent to Spain provided that the suggested personnels command general approval. The committee will meet again on Thursday.