WAR ON NEUTRALS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 March 1940, Page 6

WAR ON NEUTRALS

EIGHT SHIPS SUNK LAST WEEK

NO BRITISH OR ALLIED LOSSES. DIVERSION OF GERMAN VESSELS. Ry Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. LONDON March 26. Xot. ~-i single British or Allied ship was lost by enemy action last week. This is the firsi week since the beginning of the war that has been free from such loss. On the other hand neutrals have suffered again, eight ships aggregating more than IG.OijI) tons having been snide. Of these six were Danish.

Recently, commented Daventry. the Munich radio had the effrontery to express sympathy with the Danes in the loss of their ships.

In Scandinavia the fate of neutral, ships continues to be the main subject of interest. In some quarters, also, the opinion has been expressed that the iron ore shipping traffic to Germany through territorial waters must stop. After the recent sinking of two German merchantmen it is reported that other German ships in the same trade have been ordered to return to port by the Nazi authorities. Recently these ships had abandoned their previous policy of hugging the Scandinavian coast and had risked crossing the Skaggerack Id save time on their way to Germany. The recent actions of the British Navy have made this a very perilous procedure. A Norwegian vessel has returned to port after a voyage full of excitement. In one month it was attacked four times by German bombers and once by a submarine, but escaped on each occasion. It also saw German planes sink a Swedish ship and saw another vessel blown up by a mine.

ANOTHER DANISH LOSS HEAVY LOSS OF LIFE FEARED. LONDON, March 26. The Danish steamer Britta (1300 tons) has been sunk off the Scottish coast, according to a Copenhagen message. The captain and four of the crew have been picked up and it is feared that 13 other men have lost their lives.