TO SEE LEOPOLD

Waikato Times, Volume 106, Issue 22659, 12 July 1945, Page 5

TO SEE LEOPOLD

JOURNEY BY REGENT ABDICATION EXPECTED CERTAINTY IN BRUSSELS BRUSSELS, July 11 The Regent, Prince Charles, will go to Salzburg tomorrow with the Presidents of the Senate and the Chamber. It is assumed from such a move that a decision has been reached by King Leopold, with whom the Prime Minister, M. Van Acker, and leading constitutional advisers have been conferring for three days. Brussels newspapers unanimously assume that Leopold has finally decided to abdicate. CANNOT FEED THE WORLD BLUNT AMERICAN ASSERTION (Received July 12, 1 p.m.) NEW YORK, July 11 The blunt assertion that America could not feed the world was made by the newly appointed Secretary for Agriculture, Mr Clinton Anderson, in an address to the Advertising Federation. He added that the fact must be made crystal clear to liberated Europe to prevent trouble and ill-will in the future. “ America has been dipping into her food stock piles,” he said, “ and now has no reservations to fall back on. Not starvation but serious curtailment of the American diet is in store. We are eating into our reserves of meat, poultry, eggs, sugar, lard and canned goods” EIGHTH AIR FORCE LAST BOMBER FLOWN VITAL ROLE IN EUROPE (Official Wireless) (Received July 12, 1 p.m.) RUGBY, July 11 The last of the heavy bombers which composed the United States Eighth Air Force has left Britain and flown back to America. The famous air force, commanded since January, 1943, by Major-General J. Dowling, supplied the first American heavies to attack Germany from Britain, also the first force of American heavies to attack Berlin in daylight in March, 1943. The force played a vital role in smashing the Luftwaffe, as well as consistently pounding Germany’s industrial strength in daylight. The entire undertaking of transferring this mighty bomber force across the Atlantic was completed in 51 days. Four-engined bombers, consisting of Fortresses and Liberators, totalled 2118 and carried home 41,500 personnel. BRITAIN’S NEW FIGHTER JET-PROPELLED PLANE GREAT MANOEUVRABILITY (Official wireless) (Received July 12, 1 p.m.) RUGBY, July 11 Britain’s new jet-propelled fighter is the Meteor. The Ministry of Aircraft Production, describing it, says it is a single-seater fighter aircraft powered with two gas jet turbines. The Meteor is a low-winged monoplane of all-metal construction, with tricycle alighting gear. The armament consists of four 20 m.m. Hispano guns. The dimensions are: Span, 43 feet; length, 41 feet; height, 13 feet; wing area, 374 square feet. The Meteor first flew in 1943 and was used against flying bombs in 1944. The aircraft is very manoeuvrable. The landing speed is not high. There is very little noise in the cockpit in flight and. the usual vibration is absent. The engine controls are simpler than with recent engines. SOUTH AFRICAN LOSSES CASUALTIES TOTAL 37,962 PRETORIA, July 11 Total South African war casualties to the end of last May were 37,962 including 9027 dead, 14,242 wounded and missing, and 14,693 prisoners. BOMBED FOR HOUR BANGKOK RAILWAY (Official Wireless) (Received July 12, 1 p.m.) RUGBY, July 11 The Bangkok railway, which is a vital distribution centre of supplies to the Japanese forces left to fight a rearguard action in Burma, was rocked for an hour yesterday under bombs of Liberators of the SouthEast Asia Command, says the Air Ministry. Railway repair sheds and warehouses were well hit and workshops to the south were left roofless and blazing. Many other buildings were destroyed. DRUGS FOR INTERNEES JAPANESE GIVE PERMISSION (Official Wireless) (Received July 12, 1 p.m.) RUGBY, July 11 The Indian Red Cross announces that the Japanese have agreed to accept for Indian war and civil internees postal packets containing drugs up to a limited quantity. Two hundred kilogrammes of drugs has been sent, a proportion of which will be forwarded to Hong Kong, where there is a dearth of medical supplies. BRITISH TASK IN BURMA PREVENT JAPANESE ESCAPE LONDON. July 11 Messages from Rangoon say the Japanese are still crossing the swoollen Sittang. They are using bamboo rafts, and progress is slow against the fast monsoon current. The message says there can be no question of pitched battles with bej tween 3ft. and 4ft. of water in the I paddy fields, but whatever the ground is like, our main task is still to prevent the Japanese from getting across the road or the railway from Rangoon to Mandalay. “In the Sittang River bend, 100 miles to the north, the Japanese j continue to hold several villages, ini eluding Myitkyo, 12 miles northj east of Waw,” says the South-east I Asia communique. “Continued enemy movement from east to west is reported, particularly near crossing places on the Sittang.