SPANISH SOLDIERS FREED

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19604, 26 September 1933, Page 7

SPANISH SOLDIERS FREED

MANY YEARS IN CAPTIVITY United Press Association—By Electrlo Telegraph—Copyright MADRID, September 24. Fifteen soldiers, captured by Moors, when an army of 14,000 disappeared after a rout in Morocco in 1921, are reported to be returning home. Some were ransomed from Abdul Klim. Others are still held in the mountain fastnesses and the tribesmen are negotiating for a ransom. It is also rumoured that General Silvester, the leader of the ill-fated army, is still alive. In August, 1921, Spain suffered a most severe reverse in Morocco in what has become known to history as the Melilla Affair. An army of 14,000 men was heavily defeated and dispersed. Scattered parties fought gallantly against the Moors, many reaching the coast, where they were rescued by passing ships. For days chief interest centred round the fate of Colonel Navarro, who with some 5000 men was surrounded in the hills, but held out bravely until at last overwhelmed, when assistance failed to reach him. Thus was the work of twelve years’ campaigning in Morocco lost to Spain, and the sacrifice of 250.000 lives and £600,000 was rendered vain. It is possible that had help been immediately forthcoming, Colonel Navarro's men would have been relieved, but the authorities were reluctant to appeal to the country for the necessary funds, as the people were angered by the long drawn-out and disastrous business.