MORE NAZI LIES

Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21100, 30 April 1940, Page 7

MORE NAZI LIES

GERMAN PROPAGANDA A MAZE OF UNTRUTHS STORIES OF SINKINGS (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) LONDON, April 28 The German radio station Deutschlandsender on April 26 broadcast to Germany a story of the sinking of the British steamer Armanistan by a U-boat during a cruise from which she had “just returned.” The Armanistan was sunk on February 3 and her crew was rescued by the Spanish ship Monte Dabril. The loss of the Armanistan was announced by the Admiralty on February 6. It will be seen that this story, although misleading, was founded on something which really happened, but today’s most, spectacular German announcement has not even that merit. According to the Rome radio, a message from Berlin states that the supreme commander of the Norwegian forces and the commander of the Allied forces were both captured yesterday, and that the members of the two staffs were being taken to Berlin by air. This statement is quite untrue. Both commanders have been in ordinary routine communication with London this afternoon. Bewildering Task The task of following the adventures of the three British battle cruisers through the maze of German propaganda is a bewildering one. The Repulse first received Goebbels’ attention last October, when he claimed that she had been “torpedoed and almost certainly sunk” at Scapa Flow at the same time as the Royal Oak was sunk. In February, however, the Repulse steamed into a British port to give the crew leave after weathering winter gales. Goebbels then stated that the Repulse had “come in for repairs” and had a large hole below the waterline. Thinking perhaps he had paid too great a tribute to British seamanship and shipbuilding which enabled a seriously damaged ship with a large hole below the water-line to keep the seas through the winter months, Goebbels decided to drop this subject. About a month later—March 16— came a Nazi raid on Scapa Flow. No ship was sunk and no capital ship was damaged, so the German propaganda was forced to manufacture some sort of success. Consequently the Deutschlandsender announced on March 17 that three British battleships and one cruiser had been seriously damaged. Next morning the Zeesen radio informed America that the Hood, the Renown and the Repulse were the ships concerned. Tribute To British Goebbels had paid another tribute to British craftsmanship. According to his own story, the “enormous hole below the water-line” in the Repiffse had been successfully repaired in a month and the ship was back in Scapa Flow ready to receive the attention of German bombers, which not only damaged her again* but the Hoed and the Renown as well, thus putting out of action all three battle cruisers. Unfortunately for Goebbels, the Scharnhorst encountered the Renown 24 days later, and felt the weight of her guns. The Germans again claimed to have damaged the Renown and, for once, with justification. As announced by the Admiralty, she received unimportant damage in the action with the Scharnhorst. A few days later—April 27—the Hamburg radio told English listeners that “off Adalesnes a British battle cruiser received several hits of various calibres and was put out of action.” This was a little too much even for Goebbels, and an hour later the Bremen radio rectified the error and announced that it was a “British anti-aircraft cruiser” which had been hit. Creating an entirely new type of warship and sinking it at the same moment is but a minor achievement to the German Propaganda Minister. In the meanwhile the Hood, the Renown and the Repulse are available for other purposes than to be sunk by him.