Nazi falsehoods.

Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21057, 8 March 1940, Page 5

Nazi falsehoods.

U=BOAT EXPERIENCES CLEARING INCONSISTENCY LONDON NAVAL OPINION (United Pres? Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) LONDON, March 6 The glaring inconsistencies which characterise so many German accounts of German actions were typified in an account of a U-boat’s experiences broadcast by the official German wireless service yesterday. According to that account the U-boat sighted a British steamer in British territorial waters. The U-boat approached the ship and the commander saw that she carried a gun. Therefore he sunk her with a torpedo. The ship’s crew, said the announcer, had entered lifeboats before the ship was sunk. The U-boat then came to the surface and approached the boats. The Germans gave the survivors presents and instructions regarding the course to take, as the distance to shore was about 60 miles. It was explained to the survivors that the ship had been torpedoed without warning because she was armed. Naval observers in London ask themselves how it could be that a British ship at the moment was within territorial waters within three miles of the shore—and the next moment about 60 miles from the shore. They also find it hard to reconcile the fact that the ship’s crew, according to the German account, had already taken to the boats before the ship sunk with the fact, also stated in the German account, that the commander of the U-boat had sunk the steamer without warning. DUTCH SHIP’S ESCAPE SAVED FROM DESTRUCTION ALMOST STRUCK MINES (United Press Assn.—Floe. Tel. Copyright) LONDON, March 6 The Dutch merchant vessel Stad Schiedam, of 5918 tons, was saved from destruction by mines yesterday in the North Sea. An aircraft ; of the Coastal Command was leavi ing on a long patrol when the pilot ! sighted drifting mines and reported their position by wireless. A minute or two after locating the mines the pilot observed the Stad Schiedam steaming into danger. The mines lay directly in her path. Flying over the ship, he flashed a warning by a lamp and told her to heaveto or alter her course at once. Again and again the pilot went round the vessel in circles, repeating his warning and his orders to stop. The master of the Stad Schiedam paid no heed and continued on the same course. Desperate Position i Obviously the airman’s signals had not been understood, and only a short distance now separated the ship from the mines. In the pilot’s phrase, “the position was becoming desperate.” He next fired a number of coloured lights into the sea immediately ahead of the Stad Schiedam, hoping the crew would realise their imminent peril. Still the vessel did not change her course. When she was close to one of the mines, the airman took other measures. From close quarters he opened fire with his front machinegun across her bows. These tactics were successful. At once the Stad Schiedam swung hard to port away from the danger which was immediately confronting her. However, the Dutch crew remained unaware of their narrow escape until a British naval vessel was called and destroyed the mines.