SECRET

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NAA.006.0300

WEEKLY INTELLIGENCE REPORT

(W.1. R.)

ISSUED BY THE NAVAL I~TELLIGENCE DIVISION, NAVAL STAFF,

ADMIRALTY, FOR THE IKFORMATION OF ALL OFFICERS I~ H.M. !\TAVY

NUMBER 60 2ND MAY, 1941

I Attention is called to the pe?Zalties

attaching to an] io/raction if till?Official Secrets Acts

RETURN TO .D.NJ.

1,\ 1,\ 111\ Ililll,il~II~I,llil!, IINAA.OO6.0301

INTELLIGENCE REPORT is for the information of

Officers and British Officials only. The knowledge that

emts is to be confined to the Eritish Officers and Officials

whom it is issued.

CONTENTS

PART v; SPECIAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Page 53: Prisoner in England

PART IV: POLITICAL

i

IPage 31 : Germany

32: Poland34: Holland35: Denrnark36: France39: Spain39: Italy41 : The Balkans44: USSR.46: Iraq47: Far East49: USA.51 : Latin Ame1"ica52: South Africa

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE

that lectures should be given to Ships'

on the contents of W.l.R., care being taken to

matter which Commanding Officers consider

the purpose.

,CF;~~~he Comtiwas saved

):'Ol:tuiluese Kindness

WI,EI,LY )lAVAL NOTES

,:"",n"", ShippingShipping

:~:~;~~SeonMereh.anl.mEm:. Ships

ImDo,ts in Convoy

FLAG OR CO~IMANDING OFFICER'S copies of \V.l.R.,

additional copies in H.M. Ships where a Captain is in

may be retained for reference. All other copies

in each Ship or Establishment and burnt

into circulation. Personal copies

on receipt oj a subsequent number.(P6sthi<:ticlll c.ertificate is not required.)

PART I: WEEKLY NAVAL NOTES

ISSUED BY THE NAVAL INTELLIGENCE DIVISION, NAVAL

STAFF, ADMIRALTY, FRIDAY, 2ND MAY, 194 I

I[lii,I!!,j

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SECRET

REPORT

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NAA.006.0302

During the week four Gern1an or German-controUed Inerchantships, a tanker and a travvler 'were bombed and are claimed astotal iosses. Five of these successes are due to aircraft ofBomber Comm:lnd and one to those of Coastal Comm:lnd. On22nd April a mcrchanu:naIl of SOIne 2,{)OO tOllS \vhich ·was offEgersu.nd in Norvv;;ty Vlas hit aft with a bomb which caused agreat deal of Lrov,rn srnok:c and stcalTI and the ship was clain1edas destroyed. Tb~ rtcxt day an 8,000-ton merchantman 17 Dilksnorth of Yrnuidcn received three direct hits from bornbs andIt/as c:lairned as a total lus::>. The tanker, of bct\.'leen 1,500 awJ2,000 tons, was bombed 24 miles south-west of Stavanger on24th April and a direct hit was obtained from a height of 50 feet,this ship alsu being claimed as destroyed. The shiu whi.chCoastal COllllnand aircraft clairn to b~ave sunk was -'-a 1,000­tanner 20 miles to the south-east of Egersund on 26th April.On 29th April another ship of a sirnilar size was snnk on Lannionin Brittany by aircraft of BurnLey Cornmand. Direr.::t hits ha'/ebeen clai:n1ed on -Ave other ships.

. ,H

Carrent EventsE-boats were active OIl the night of 28th/29th April when an

attack was made on a convoy off Cromer. At one time as many3S six E-boats were reported and one ship of 1,555 tons wastorpedoed and sunk. Various engagements between the attack­ing force and the convoy escort have been reported in which onoof the enemy is believed to have been damaged and two othersdrivEn ofL Later an i\iLL Flotilla patrolling near Smith's Knollengaged two of the E-boats and claims to have dan1aged one, andlatcr stili two M,G:B,s had a rLUlning ilght with lwo at close I3,ngewhich ended 25 miles from Ylllniden, Many hits were made onthe cnt:m.y and slight uarnage was received. There \i\'C'--{"; noc:lsnalties in any of H.M. ships eng:lged.

WEEKLY INTELLIGENCE

GERMAN CONVOY ESCORT VESSEL(CJllverted Merchantman)

[C41',lOI-1) n

curtailed, with the result that thc air score against the Germansin the Mediterranean at 25: 4 with four damaged is less than halfthe revised figures of 53: 19 instead of 5 t : 18 for last week andfalls Sh01i even of the 29: 12 with one damaged of the weekbefore.

HThe Regia Aeronautica was markedly inactive during the

week; as a result, as far as is known at presenl, It lost but oneaircraft, a G.fiO shot down over Tobruk on 22nd Apnl and twoaircraft destrnved and another damaged on the ground mAbvssinia on 24th and 27th April. The revised figures for lastweek's air score against the Italians were 6: 3 WIth tW? damagedand [or tbe week before 7: 2 with one damaged. I he groundscore, also revised, [or last we~k was 11: ~ and seven danlaged(instead of 8: and six damaged), and fhat for the week before1:~· - and tell dan13gu d

In addition to those, one J11.52 troop-carrier was destroyed onthe gronnd and seven others of the same type damaged, alsoon the ground when a Hurncane machme-gnnned the aerodromeat Benina in Cyrenaica 'on 27th April. Auother J u.52 wasdestroyed by a Glenn Martin on the ground at the sameplace next day. The first ligu re under a. type 111 the above tableindicates the Ilurnber known to 11ave been destroyed: the 3cco~d

gives the number probably shot down, Of this week's casualtles1: 1 rn.88s fell on 22nd April to Naval Fulmars winch alsodamaged a third; Nanl anti-aircraft fire shot down a~unspecified type and damaged another over Malta on 23rd Apnland anti-aircraft fire accounted for 3: - unspeCIfied types overTobruk on 24th April, and probably shot down a Ju.88 off Creteon 25th April.

2

11

2

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]U.88.!IlC·1l1.1 Me. 109 I Me.llo·1 Un"pec I Total. I Damaged.

I - . I

I~._"l i_ 8:1,, 5: I ~-, 1. -- 10: - I

--I -1- -I :1:- 3;-

-:-~I:~I- ~- l~ :1

5.4

Ju.87.

222:~

24252728

'11Apn' l

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iDuring the week two air raids were made on Tripoli from

Malta where reinforcements of Hurncanes have arnved. Thesewere ~n two successive nights, 23rd/24th and 24th/25th April,and by hitting the Spanish Quay, the customs whad, the sea­plane -base and Government offices added to the damage doneduring the bombardment by the Fleet on 21st Apnl,. when5.30 tons of shells were fired mto the town and at the shlppmg.Details of the effect of that bombardment show that threem",rchantmen were sunk or destroyed outright: three otherswere set on fire and a destroyer was hit. Both the SpalllshQuay and the Karamanli Mole were hit and much damaged. Alarge fire was started in tbe fuel depot and others in or near therailway station. A dump of Army stores was hIt and severalsmall fires were started. During the bombardment six navalaircraft were engaged in dropping flares and spotting for theRleC'.t RE.'ugh::l7.i whlc,h the Ax]~ Powers are trying to use as anadvanced base was also not neglected as it was raided once byday and four times by night during the week. At least one shipwas bit in the habour, fires were started in the telephoneexchange and other Government and military buildings, andbombs fell on the Molo d'Italia and the Cathedral Mole.

1'1,,,, .Coastal Command of the R.A.F_ provided air escort forConvoys during the week as follows: -0n the 23rd. and27th April for 17; on the 24th Apnl for 16; on the 25th Apnl for15 ;on the 26th April for 18; on the 28th April for 22, and on the29th April for 19, or for 124 during the week, as compared with163 last week, and 140 the week before.

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Up to 1337 on 28th April, about 40,000 British and Imperialtroops had been reported as having elnbarked frorn Greece.Among the ports of embarkation were Raphti on the east coastof Attica, and Nauplia, Tolo (near Nauplia), Monemvasia andKalamata in the Peloponnese. Many o[ these troops went toCrete where the Greek Cabinet has established itself. Thehistoric cruiser Aucrof/ and other units of the Greek Navy,including submarinos and a d<:pot ship which have arrived ;]tAlexandria came under the Conunandcr-in-Chief, l\Ieditcr­ranean, on lst :MCl)", e-tL thf' request of the Creek Government.

The steady GfTInan advance in Greece during the \veekdeprived the Royal Air Force of thc< use of s,n rnany-aerodromesthat its activit}" against them in that theatre of \Var was greatly

2

There ha:; been a further decline in the nurnber of Gerrnanaircraft brought down in raids over this Kingdom and HomeWaters during the week. The score amonnts to 21::J With 15damaged compared with the revised figures of 2:J: 4 With 14

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(instead of 10) damaged last week and 50; 10 with 19 damagedthe week before.

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Dessie which was captured with some 2,000 Italian metropolitantroops <luring the week after a good deal of hard fightmg IS, hkeHarraT, particularly associated with the Emperor Halle Selasslc whoreceived the town and its district. as a personal fief lil February, 1926,frDill his predecessor the Elupress Zaudltu. ~rhename ffi3:r betranslated" My Delight" and was given to the to\vn by Ras M1Kae.1.a convert from Islam who was appointed Viceroy of Wallo by hiSgoiUathcr the Emperor John who was killed in his victory at~Ietemrf1eh over the Mahcli's Dervishes on 11th March, 1889. RasMikael rnade it his capital and later married Shoaregga the sccor:ddaughter of McneEk King of Shoa who made hi~?clf Emperor In1889. When WIeneEk died Ras Mikael's son L1J Yasu becameElnperor as heir of his gra..ndfather and made his father Negus of\\Tollo and Tigre in 1914. Lij Yasll, however, showed ::iigns ofbecorning a Moslcrn and in other ways rendered himself so unpoI~ul~r

that he was dethroned on 27th Septemher, 1916, in favour at hIS

maternal aunt who becanle the Empress Zauditu. The Negus Mikac~

continued tv suppurt his son but "Nas ddeated by Ras Tafan1'TakoIlIlcIl (now the En1peror Haile Selassie) at the head of theShoan~; who took hin1 pTi~oner on 27th Odohef, 1916, at Segalc.Lij Yasn, however, was not captuferl u.ntil April, 1921. After aperiod of detention at Ficche the depo;:;ed Emperor was takcl~ toDessie and imprisoned there until his escape for a brief penod,in 1932.

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21411

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1 •

7.

3.- -.1 1•1. - -_.

- - -1'-1-

ApdL I Ju88 IRo.m IRe~~1 Me109·lunspeo.[ TotaL IDa:~:'~

I _1- -1- -1­I~~I= ==-'l~'' 1 -1- _1 __ - _.-1=-

The night score of 16: 3 with five damaged, of which anti-aircraftfire ashore is credited with 7: 1, and" other means" with -: 1,compares with 14: 22 and four damaged last week. H.M.S.Elgin made a direct hit on a Heinkel ITI at 2140/28 and destroyedit off Harwich. The British Dandara, 213 tons, and thc BritishBelgravian, 3,1:16 tons, are considered to have shot downunspecified types off the Faroe Islands on 24th April, and northof Rattray Head, Aberdeenshire, dnring the night of 27th/28thApril respectively.

23/24 night24

24/25 uight2526

26[27 night27

27(28 night28

28j29 night29

29/30 night

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There is reason to believe that the German Seenotdienst hasprovided at one time and another as many as fifty of the rescue­floats, knovvn as " lobster-pots," \vhich are strewn about the seafor the benefit of fallen airmen. These fioats are said to bepermanently lit by lamps for wbj,·h the current is supplied froma wind-driven generator. GcrnJ<ln dirni.en who are rescued bymeans of these floats are given {;Ul anti-pnenrnonia injection assoon as possible and are k:ept in bed for at least tvvo days beforebeing given three weeks leavc. The Gennans clainl that upto the end of February, 1941, ITiore than 400 airmen, or whorn 53'-vere British, made use of these HoaLs in preference to theirrubber dinghies. For thc use of fallen airmen until they canreach the suppiies stored in the "lobster-pots" tbe Germansissuc special rations of choco-cola, coffee-beans, peppennint,chewing-gun1 and Pervertin which is described on its \vater-tightcontliner as being" exceptionally efficacious for keeping awakeand strengthening shipwrecked cre\vs." It is added that<I Numbers of crevvs have already been saved by taking Pervertinwho otherwise v'/ould have died of exhanstion."

4

yThe town of Dcssic which lies at a height of 8,103 ft. exactly on

the watershed between the streaUb [lo'?lin.g vvestward into the Blue"Nile and so to the Mediterranean and t.hose flowing eastward to jointhe Awash which sinks into the sand hdore it Tcach,,,;s the Guif ofAden, has been entirely replanned by the Italians who Inadc it anin1portant comIl1ercial cent.re. It is on the THain north and southmotor road leading fron1 Eritrec," to Addis Ababa. and is only a fewmiJf5 from its junction with the Inotor road cmning up from Assab onthe Retl Sea. In 193R it had about ~}6,OOO -inhabitant.s of whomnearly 6,000 Vv'eTe Italians. Some of these had been there for s01~le

time as Dessie W8.-S n1ade the headcmarters of an Italian Conll11erclalAgency as long ago as 190G. Its 10;5 is a st:rious blow to the ~talianswho now relain only two rnain strongholds---Gondar, where ~en~ral

Nasi is reported to 1,e ln comTl1JnJ, and Jill11na, about 170 mIlessouth-"\vest of Addis Ababa which is sLiil held by the Duke of Aosta,the Viceroy.

HThe clearing of fallen debris from the main conrt of the Admiralty

during the week has lllade it clear that a second bomb fell in thatcourt during t.he early Inorning of 17lh ApriL This Inakes four

5

qiI"ecthits on that occasion instead of three as was at first supposed.The damage done to the South Block was at the east end notthe ~est, as appeared owmg to a typographical error in' lastweek s W.I.R.

. The fronbspicce shows a merchantlnan convcrLed by the GermansInto an escort vessel. Her arn1amcnt consist of two low-angle guns,one on the forecastle and one on the poop, and six lighter A/A guns~ount~d 011 raIsed platforms, one on either side of the bridge, twoilll~edlately abaft the funnel, one on the poop and one -in theInaln-top.

T~e convoy whic~ this ship a~d two.a.rmed trawlers were escortingconsIsted of fIve shIps and was m posllJon 11 miles S. W, of Heligo­land steer~ng west on 18th ApriL Aircraft of Bomber Commandattacked tne COlTVOY and left at least three of its ship:; on fire.

. Correction: With reference to the photograph of" German Patrol[rawler pnnted In WI R N 58 ff t .I .. . . ' . o. ,e or s were made to con finn Its~ut lentlcl!Y, but It "?W appears more than probahle that the"\ essel was In fact a BnLIsh Patrol Trawler. The Sonrce from which~}:e photograph. 'vas obtained, an officer in a neutral ship, had:-.tated that he hUllself had taken it when intercepted bv a GermanPatrol Tnl,vler off Vard6 OE 5th March. ~

How the Franche Comte Was saved~n. the follm,clIItJ!, n(rrrative eli-Nain L ..1. Churrh lIa'I' f thBrzhsh T .k ~'. . I . .' " -... , d - ,~tr 0 ,·e

~-!T,. I ' an"N l'ran~ 1e Comtc, 9,314 tons, descr£hes how his 'ship«:-r"ZC t w'"rs homewara bound via Bermuda {rllll" T,·,',,;dad 'tl'13 076 t f " '" '. '" ' . .I" " W, 1

;' ons (I .' ~ ~(~!llZ, ally lac! lin vornd, Zt'Jas hrought I-ula the Clyde~~hj.0~gh she had be.en tJrp"'r!o'3d, had the whole 0/ the foredeck and

ej of the por! sldc blmwii Ollt and had been set un fire ..

, Tbe Franche Comte was i11 61: 15 N. -I"" "0' \\T (b t~40 I NW·-, " ,a au

ml.CS 1. . of the Butt of Lewis) when at 22.55 on 16th Marchthe tOt pe.d~o Sb:lCk h::'[ on the port side about tiS ft'd from thebO;, The '::ica ill- the tlme \Va'.'; n10dcrate ';'lith wind S.E. force 4: the

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weat.her was fair and the visibility about 3 miles. T had just leftthe bridge at the time and was walking down to my room. Therewas a terrific explosion and I was thrown off my feet, A great columnof water was thrown up, and t.here was oil to a depth of about 12 inchesall over the bridge and lower bridges, Immediately the ship wasstruck she caught tire. I could 110t get to the bridge, as all the frontpart was burning furiously, and I could see that t.he wbole of thefore deck had been blown out and was then under water. 65 feet ofthe ship's side was blown away and the plates were buckled out.­wards, All the bulkheads had been smashed, the deck torn right.away and the mast buckled.

I had no ether option but to order the crew to man t.he lifeboats,but r gave thcln instructions to rClllain alongside the ship until suchtime as I gave LheIu instructions to cast off.

I remained on deck myself, and the rest of the crew got into theboats. The oil that was pouring out of the port side was swalnpingthe port lifeboat, so I gave them instructions to cast off, I thenwent into my own boat and told thcm to hold on to the painteruntil I gave them instructions to cast off, but unfortunately some­body chopped the painter and I was dropped down. We pickedup t.he other lifeboat; I told them to give me a line and to pull tothe windward of my ship, in order to re-board her if possihle.

Vi/hile \VC were lying off one of the escorting Destroyers rduTncdto us and ordered us aboard. Having been picked up I wentimmediately to the Commander of the Destroyer ami told him Ihad no intention of leaving my ship until she had sunk. He toldme he could not remain with me as he had to rejoin the convoy,but that he \'v'ould come back to the lifeboats as soon as he wasable, He returne,l to the convoy, dropped depth charges and thenreturned to the lifeboats. I then cal1e<l for volunteers t.o return,,"lit.h me. My three Officers, four Engineers, Chief SLevvard and three\Vireless Operators inlmcdiately volunteered to return with me.We got back into the lifeboat and endeavoured to pull back to theship, but the sea ,vas rough and we had not sufflcient pulling powerto get back to her. In the Ineantimc the Destroyer returned to theconvoy, and ILliL Corvette Bluebell, came back to sta,nd by. Iasked her to come alongside the lifeboat t.o tow me back to the ship.Six filcn, who were survivors [roIu the ships Vtmetia and Perm, whichhad previously been sunk, volunteered and came into the lifeboat,vith me. The Corvette then towed us back to the Franche Comti,after which she ]dt us t.o go to the assistance of anoth~r ship whichhad been struck. We got back alongside my ship; she was stillburning furiously and she I.ooked a sad sight. I could not persuadethe men in t.he boat. to re-board her because she looked as if she would

7

noLreh1ainafloat very long. I tried to persuade the men to let mete~boatd her but they would not pull alongside, so I suggested thatWe should pull off and re-board at daylight.

While we were laying off the Armed Trawler Northtand camealong and we were again picked up. I told the Commander of theTrawler that I had no intention of leaving my ship and I asked himIf he would remain with me until daylight. He remained to stayalongside until daylight, and when daylight came I re-boarded myship with the volunteers.

By this time the fire had been put out by the seas, and withinI! hours we had sleam on the boilers and proceeded on our passageat a slow speed, escorted by H. M.s. Btuebell. I had great difficultyin getting my ship to port as she would not steer and she was underwater almost up to the bridge. All the compasses had gone, and itWas just luck that we were able to reach Rolhesay, which I am pleasedto say we did, on Friday, 21st March.

When we got inside the Bult of Lewis, H.M.S. Btuebell signalledto me that she had no InOIC stores aboard, and W<l:5 carrying abont79 survivors from other vessels. She said that if I could 110t let herhave some stor{~s she would pave to leave mc. I stopped under theIce of the land, the Corvette came alongside, and whilst we weretransferring stores the Commander ordered another gunner toboard me in case of aerial attack.

I ",",auld like to eXDress mv adlnirati~)n for the wonderful mannerin which the remai~ing ln~mbcrs of my crew and the volunteerscarried out their duties and as:;isted me to bring my ship safelyback into port.

Portuguese KindnessThe following is an extract frOIn the journal of lHr. A. L. H-ewso-n.

Chief Officer of the BriNsh. AndalL~.';~;ln 3,082 tons, whhh ;;:vas torpedoedon 17th }vlarch, 1941, ",j,ite in ronvoy SL68 homeward bound with ac!!...l'go of cocoa from the Cold Coast jor Liverpool.

.... On the 17th March, 1841, ill position approx. 14° 33' N'j21° 06 ' \hl. the ship being in cDnvoy, at 2010, distress rocket..,were observed on the port-bow OfH-: mile distant i!ld~cating that aship had been torpedoed in that vicinity. The rYlaster and 3rd Officerwe~'e on the bridge at t1J~ time, and \vere. joined shortly after by tl1t>ChICf Officer who had been aft to check the" blackout" and readthe log. The },tIaster gave. orders to stand by £01 effif'rg-ency signals,

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when at 2020 without further warning, a torpedo sh,uck ,~he

Andalusian about 10 ft. abaft the foremast on the port-SIde. Iheforward deck appeared to be instantly wrecked, the shIp to?k aheavy list to port almost immediately, hedlllg over to an ang";, ofabout 40 degrees and it became evident that the shIp was settlmg.

The Master ordered all hands to the boals. a few minutes lat~r

gave orders to abandon ship. These orders were communIcated ~o

the engine-room staff, who shortly after reported that the mamengines were stopped and that the oveTsJde dIScharge shut ofl.

All way being off the vessel the boats were safely lowered in ~h~water where the crew embarked. This procedure was comple,ein an ordey]y manner under difficult ci.rculnstances at about 2040.there being a moderate swell and choppy sea.

The ship by this time had a list of about 1.0 degrees to port, a freeboard of about 15 ins. was clown by the head, and takmg water overher lllidship deck as she rolled gently in the swell.

It being evident there was no one else left on board we, in the portboat, pulled away from the ship in a westerly direction, and ~;adually

hauled 1.0 the southward as we drew clear of the Shlp,. (He w,.ndbeing north-east, we pulled for about. l;alf-an-hour, dunng WhlC~tinle endeavoured to make contact wltn starboard boat assullledto be lying to the eastward.

A series of flashing lights were observed in thai direction, ?utowinO" to the swell it was found impracticable to send a readablenless~geJ so we, repeated the signal" S.O.S." and sign;;dled theletters ANDAL, nolil.jag a ste~rmer very dos(' to us, we repe<l~ed

the signal" S.O.S." three tilllCS in her direction, but Ceased flashmgwhen a machine-gun opened fIre close at hand. We then droppedthe lifeboat.'s hood, and crouched low in the boat.

At about 2115, flashes in the direction of our stcame~ sug~;sted

that she was submerging and that the liferafts \vere iloatmg on andigniting the flare:.; attached to them.

We lost sight of the unknown steanler in darknes3, and afterI ' .raising the hood again, we streamed the sea a:nchor, ar:-c, we la~ 1:

the vicinity of thl] attack until (ity light. Dunng the mg1.t a Sl~lP slifcboat drifteu dosc to us apparently af.nndoned. Wc lost. ~lght

of the boat again in the darkness_ At daybreak cont,Cl,ct was ~lade

with three lifeboats containing survivors ot the Dntc9-.1 apanoelz andafter exchanging greetings and verifying our posltlOns~ and landbearings with th~irs, 0740 ·we set sail for the Portuguese Cape VerdeIslands estimated to be 120 miles distant on a course of N.W. ;; N.The wind was fresh from the north-east with a moderate swell,and choppy sea, inclined to be rough d.uri~lg the aft~rl1oo~. A~ter

sailing for an hour with the boat beh2 vmg splendidly t"e wmd

9

freshened 'Somewhat, and it was found prudent to take a reef in th~sail.' and ,so ease the strain on standing gear. Four helmsmen wereappointed, comprising Chief Officer, Bosun, Bowers, A.B., andAndrews, deckhand, and a rota of lookout-men was set.

At 1000 on the 19th land was sighted on the port-beam. We madetowards it on a south-v'lest Course.

At 1500 we arrived close in shore, and cornmenced sailing aroundthe coast endeavouring to locate a suitable landing. The shore wasfound to be bounded by dangerous rocks and reefs, so that by night­fall we were obliged to discontinue our search, and put out to sea forthe night, where we lay riding to a sea anchor in fine weather­At daybreak on the 20th we sailed towards the shore again tocontmue our search but the wind fell light and progress was slow.Towards the afternoon, we had arrived on the lee side of the islandwhere the shore offered a suitable landing on a sandy beach, andall hands being weary from the lack of sleep and exposure to the sun,it was decided to man the oars and pull inshore, with a view to makea safe landing. The anchor was kept in readiness, and the hoatslowly backed in. The sandy beach was found to shoal quickly, andwith little warning the surf broke, swamping our hoat from whichwe all jumped clear, and manning the shore rope, we hauled highon the sands. This being done, all stores and equipment were takenout, and carried well clear of the water line. A shelter was improvisedUSIng the oars, sails, hood and boat cover, after settling a fire awayall hands had food and rest.

At daybreak on the 21st it was found that the night tide hadwashed the boat higher up on the sands with keelson fractured.Aft:[ a rat~on .of food and water, search parties were organized, witha VIew to findlIlg water and habitation, the island presenting a veryb~rrcIl ol1t1~ok \vith no vegetation in sight and the ground -coveredWIth vo1camc rubble as far as the eye could reach, there being onlya few trees VISIble, several miles away. One search party wenteast and the other west, and after covering several miles of thisrou~h ground, both parties met with success, being hospitahlyreceived by the inhabitants of two small villages. It was thenlearned that we had landed on the Portnguese island of Boa Vista,and about 25 miles from the port, at which there was a WIT station,and franl which then~ was a ,c,teamer service occasionally. One ofthe natives offered to carry a message to the AdIninistration at thisport, and \ve gladly availed ourselves of his services.

He left on a jackass this being the island's sole means of locomo­tion, the jonrney taking several flOurs. 'We understood that it couldbe arranged to sClId a large fish-carrying vessel aronnd to this village,whence we could embark for the port and so get picked up by

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NAA006.0307

steamer when our whereabonts became known. To this idea we gladlyassented, which pleased the villagers who were delighted to receiveuS as guests and accordingly turned out all available jackasses toshift our camp situated several miles down the coast. WhIlearrangements were being made we were refreshed with coffee, andone of the womenfolk set off with a large can of water for those leftin the camp about seven miles away. At the same time it transpiredour western search party had acted similarly so that our campguards were surprised to find themsdves suddenly innndated WI ththis pricdess commodity, of which we ha,1 lost one and a half kegswhen the boat was swamped.

They were thus able to refresh themselves, which befitted themfor the afternoon trek. This was completed before sundown, allour men bearing up under a broiling sun, our eastern search partyhaving covered a distance of about 21 fililes in the venture, and thosewho returned from the west 17 miles.

The villagers treated us to a lordly spread dunng the evening,following which all enjoyed a good rest At daybreak on the 22ndour "despatch rider" returned from the Port, with a reply fromthe Administration instructing the Sheriff to convey us all by jackassesto an anchorage about 10 miles down the coast, where a steamerwould await ns. We also learned that two of the Dutch boats hadlanded in that locality. After coffee and a snack, we bade our hosts., goodbye" and began our long trek which, owing to the woodensaddles and rough crosshill country was both painfnl and tortuous.We reached the anchorage some three hours later at about 1030,where numerous natives had a surf-boat in readiness to see us safelyon board the Portuguese 28th oj May. Her master Capt. Britto,gave us all a hearty welcome. We left the island shortly after, andafter calling at Sao Nicolas for further British survivors of theClan 1.11acnab we arrived. at Sl. Vincent, Cape Verde Islands on themorning of the 23rd March, where we were met by Messrs. WilsonSons & Co. Ltd., who thereafter attended to our welfare.

11

r---

13

British Convoys

'I! •

,

,

ShippingItalian

(:OXVOYS. The ft)llowing table shows the ':H_lIubei· of S]llPS, British,Allied alld Neutral, which have sailed ill escorted convoys during the lastweek and since the begir;n.ir,g of the war; together with the losses fromenemy action :-

The AtlanticThe Tebro, 4,3H} tons, which is at Santos, Brazil, took in 450 tons of

coal on 23rd April and was reported two days tater to have changed herberth and to be ready for sea.

The Himalaya, 6,240 tons, which recently arrived at Rio de Janeiro inballast awl said she had sailed from Kismayu, was reported on 25th Aprilto be receiving 300 tons of diesel oil.

The tcmker Gianna 11[, 5,719 tons, speed 9 knots, sailed from LasPalmas in the Canary Islands early on 27th April for an unknown destina­tion. On 23rd April the Trovature, 4,7OD tons, ".vent alongside the Erna·;zi,6,619 tons, to coal her and the next day discharged more coal into lighters.The Che,"Ca, 5,846 tons, went alongside the quay on 23rd April to unloadpalm k(TUds with a view to discharging later the 2,000 tons of manganeseore which she has on board.

The MediterraneanTwo of the fruit ships trading between Spain and Italy have b~cn

reported from Barcelona dming the week.

The Gulf of MexicoThe Mexican Government are reported to be going to use the two

Italian tankers which they have seized for local trade between Mexico andHouston.

1IIIIIIIIIIIIIilllllllllliliiIINAA006.0308

I!1I

II

MERCHANT SHIPPING

German Shipping

PART II:

E14ropean lVaters

During the week tCfI enemy or enemy controlled merchapt ships have·been sunk or seriously damaged.

Three of the fruit ships have been reported during the week: theTinas, 2,826 tOlls, arrived at Carthagena on 24th April, the Bellona,1,297 tons, arrived at Valencia on 23rd April, and on the same day theLishoa, 1,799 tons, left that port.

The Black Sea

Four out of the eight German ships which have been in the Black Sea::ince the outbreak of war have now gone through the Sea of MarmaraInto the Aegean. These are the Larissa, 1,819 tons, which passed Istanbulon 16th April, and the Delos 2,589 tons, which passed Istanbul the nextday, both ships declaring a cargo of food, and the Ithaka, 1,773 tonsand Norb'urg, 2,392 tons both of which entered the Bosphorus on 23rdApriL A report from Istanbul says that the Gerrnans are activelytrying to charter steamers from Varna and Bourgas to trade to Salonikaand Kavala.

The Pacific

The Regendnlrg, 8;068 tons speed 17 knots, sailed from Kobe on22nd April, having arrived there from Yokohama earlier in the month.

It has been reported from Buenos Aires that many ratings from theGraf Spee have joined the Erlangen, 6,101 tons, at Puerto Montt, Chile,and that she is expected to sail and to be going to supply a raider southof Cape Horn. The Erlangen was painted grey early in April but noother reports of activity have been made since she arrived in port inDecember, 1939.

The Gulf of Mexico

The two G·crman ships seized by the Mexican Government, theOrinoco, 9,G60 tOilS, and the Hmncln, 4,351 tons, arc to be renamed thePuebla and the Oaxaca.

Thr? Atlantic

Two ships have sailed from Brazil1an ports during the week. TheLec}J, 3,290 tons speed 14 knots, which arrived at Rio de Janeiro on3rJ March from Bordeaux, salled from Rio on 28th April; she had loadeda ~onsidf'rablc cargo of hides. The Babitonga, 4,422 tons, speed 11 knots,saIled frorn Santos with 1,000 tons of diesel oil in drums and accordingto the press was bound for Vladivostock. The owners of the B1ontevideo,~,075 tOIlS, which is at Rio Gra..t'1de do SuI have petitioned the court tolift the embargo on the ship. According to a De\\! decree in Brazilcontracts between nationals of belligerent states who are not residentin Brazil are not subject to action in Brazilian Courts.

The _T<erslen :11£&5,4,971 tOIlS, sailed [rum Teneriffe t'arlv on 22nd April,and arrived at Las Palmas the same day. ~

12

15

Attacks on MerchantmenBRITISH SHIPS,

Home Waters

The Joint Arbitration Committee has decided that the trawler Flavia,202 tons, which left Aberdeen fot the fishing grounds on 19th August, wassunk by t~nell1)' action on about 28th August, 1940.

The tanker British Renoum, 6,997 tons, was bombed off Dartmouth on21st ApriL Her engines were disabled, but she ltas returned safely toporL There "vert~ nu casualties.

The tug Rege-nL)', 76 tons, \vas :mincd and suurnergf'd off Fords, DagcIl­ham, on 21st April.

The salvage trawler Afiss Flaine, ~~64 tons, was hit by aircraft andsubmerged alongside the quay, in an air attack on Plymouth on the nightof 23rd/24th April

The British 111011-nilhlrR, 4,648 tons, was aLtackerl by a Fockc-\Vult air­craft and set on fire on 26th April about 150 miles north-west of the BloodyForeland and was later reported to have sunk. Six mcn an~ believed tohave been klHed by bombs and the remainder, many of them seriousl.ywounded, were picked up by two merchant ships. The A10unlparh \A.'asa straggler from Convoj: S.L. 69 and bounrl from Bahia Blanca to Mau­chester with a cargo of grain.

The British Celte, 9,-l~~ tons, on passage frorn Reykjavik, was attackedby aircraft before 27th April about 110 miles south-west of the Faroes.Ten of the crew wert' landed and the rcmaiw.L'r ,verc picked up hy theNorwegian N ea.

The Daphne TI, 1,970 tons, which was attackf'o by an E-Boat 15 milesnorth\vcst of Cromer on 18th March and later taken in tow, is now reportedto be a constructive total loss.

The tanker Ahamo, k,621 tons, which was mined off Cromer On

8th April, must now be considered a total loss, salvag-e having provedimpossible.

IVes!erJI ApprU(f.c!lcs

The Eskene, 3,829 tOllS, bound frotH Hull to 13uf'nos Airt"s with a cargoof coal was torpedoed about 140 miles \Vf>Sl of Santa Maria, Azores, on8th April, and is now known to have sunk. The cre\v which took to ttwhoats, \vas pid:erl up bv the British Penhalc and tanJed at Pernambuco,Bra7.il.

AJncan rraters

The Aurillac, 4,733 tons, bouud independ~ntly from T<lkoradi. tovVashington with a cargo of manganese ore, was flttacked b:y a submarineand sunk on 15th April about 470 miles west of Capt' St. Vincent. Thirtv-eight snrvivors were rescuerl. -

The Calchas, 10,305 tons, bound from Sydney and Durhan to Liverpool\'I'it1l a g.-eneral cargo, Vi-cas torpedoed all 21st April Cl.OOllt s~m miles Vi/.S.\V.oJ tile Canaries. ::.\0 ful"ther details are availahle at present.

1IIIIIIIIIIIIIilililmlllllllllliliNAA006,0309

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Mediterranean AreaThe Ranee" 5,060 tons, which struck a mine in the Suez Canalou.

3rd February is now reported to be a constructive tota.l1055.The tanker, British Science, 7,138 tons, hound from Haifa to the

Piraeus, was torpedoed and sWlk on 18th April. The crew was saved.The tanker British Lord, 6,098 tons, under Government Charter, hOllnd

from Aberdeen to Suda Bay with fuel oil, was attacked by aircraftSduth-west of Gaydo Island 011 21st April, and damaged by a ,near miss.As there appeared to be danger of further attacks the ship was C!.bandonedand left afioat.

The Bankura, 3,18S tons, was seriously damaged by enemy action atTobruk on 21st April, and later received further damage. Ln an aircraftattack on that port.

J Australian Hlatersi' Some time before 18th April, the British trawler M £ll£mumul, 287 tons,\ sank near NC'wcastle, New South Wales, after a mine had fouled her trawl., Five of her crew were saved and seven arc missing.

ALLIED SHIPS

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!liIllllllllllllllllllllllllllNAA.OO6.0310

Home WatersThe Nonvegian Polanol, 10,022 tons, independently" routed to Curacao,

was bombed by aircraft and set all fire about 190 miles VI'est of Sydero,Faroe Islands on 25th ApriL The fire was later got under control and theship has been taken in tow by a tug.

The Dutch Jl.1etiskerk, 6,045 tons, \vas hit in an aircraft 2ttack onConvoy \VNI9 about 16 miles east by south of \Vick on 27th April, butreached port safely the next day with some damage to her steering gearand an unexploded bomb on board.

The Norwegian Rimjakse, 1,334 tons, bound from Loch Ewe toReykjavik, was torpedoed and sunk on 27th April about 130 miles north­west of the Butt of Lewis. The master and seven of the ern-v vvere rescuedfrom a raft and landed at Scrabster and it is thought probable that othersWGC picked up by the submarine.IvIeditcrrantan- A rea

The l\Of'iilf:gian tanker Pe;:icles, 8,32·1 tons, which '.vas att<lck:ed by anE-boat in Suda Bay all 27th March, has now broken in two and isconsidered to be a constructive total loss.

Four nwre Greek Hospital Ships ha\/c been attad(E:~d off Greece byenerny 2ircr,Jt ·---The Esperos, 1,461 lons, was sunk off TVFssolonghion 21st l'..prii 2,nd the same clay the Ellcn.is, 876 ton::::, \<'/<.1.5 d!lmaged bybombs and nnchine gun fire. On 24th April, the ~i'il4yo::;, 2,068 tons, wassunk at Luutraki and the Policos, 875 tons, was sunk at ;,Jethana. Allthe ships had H.ed Cro:-;s nnrkings deadJ,' vl~ih1e.

The Greek Sl}'lian-i 3,256 tons, which \V8.;;; hnmbcd by .:'tlrcraJt at thePiniPllS on 6th \pril is now reported to be a total loss. -

NEUTRAL SHIPSThe Panamanian Urania, 1,953 tons, was seriously d:::iilIag-cci b.yenemy

action at Tobntk on ;lbt April, ~·md later rep0Ttec1 to be (1 constructi"'Ictohllo:;s.

The SVvedish Castor, 8,714 tons, which was torpedoerl on 31st l\larch,IS now reported to have sunk.

16

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MAY 1941.

11

11111111111111111111111111111111

NAA.OO6.0313

Overdue Ships

!Scrabster. . 29th March

Caripito, 1st April.Venezuela,

Uilipito 3rd April.

Halifax .. 3rd April.

Borgund (Nonvegian) .. Reykjavik. 25 t h IMarch. i

Agnita (tanker) 3,552 Freeto'wn. 19thMarch.

·Canadolile (tanker) 11,309 Freetown. 22ndMarch.

~TI,!edJerda 4.380 Freetown. 13thMarch.

It is now known that the British Tempi" Moat, 4,427 tons, which leftthe Clyde on 19th February for Bnenos Aires, Was sunk by a submarine,on 23rd February. The British Agnete J..Yaersk, 2,104 tons, which wasshelled by a submarine on 24th March about 675 miles W. of Ushant, isnow presumed to have sunk. She had left the Clyde on 18th March forSt. John, New Brunswick where she has been overdne since 4th April.

The owners of the following ships have been informed that their vesselsare so gravely overdue that they! must now be considered lost :~

Name. Ton- 1- From To I Date due.nage. I

Nothing further has been heard of the Canford Chine, 3,364 tons,overdue in the River Plate since 19th March or of the Norwegian Horda,4,301 tons, overdue at Halifax since 1st April.

The following overdue ships whi,ch were presumed lost, are now knownto have been the victims of enemy raiders :-

Name. Ton- l'rom To Date Date ofnag-e. due. Attack.

Bruges (Belgian) 4,9S4 I Montev;deo. 29th Freetown 18th July ~O/7/40June.

Wendover 5,487 Mersey. 22nd June Bueno, I22nd]uly 8/7/40

Aires.Storstad (Norwe- 8,998 Mid, Borneo. 30th Melbourne 19th Oct. 12/10/40

gian). Sept.Mopan 5.389 Port Antonio, Liverpool 10th Nov. 5/11/40

Jamaica. 26thOctober.

Port ~Vellingtdn 8,301 Adelaide. 1911 Durban 7th Dec. 30/11/40Nov.

Tribesman 6,242 Mersey. 20th Nov. Capetown 14th Dec, 4/12/40

A large number of the members of the crews of these ships areprisoners of war.

A report has been received from the Netherlands Shipping Companystating that the Dutch Barnveld, 5,597 tons, which was due at Capetown

·on 26th January was captured or sunk by a raider on 19th January.The master and chief engineer have been repatriated to Holland fromthe South of France.

17(C41201.-1) c

PART III: NAVAL INTELLIGENCE

The following ships have this week been reported overdue at theirdestinations :-

Germany

11111111111'lllilillllllllllllllllll~NAA.006.0314

Two (one fitting out).Four (two filling out).One.Two.One.Nil.Three.

At Kiel, 18th March. Not since located.Reported in Baltic, 17th April (B.l).Reported in Baltic, 16th April (B.l),At Swinemunde, 8th April.

25th April.17th April.25th April.25th April.8th April.

25th April.21st April.

At Kiel, 25th April.At Kiel, 25th April.At Bremen, 17th April.

Reported at Gdynia, 20th April (B.2).Believed to be in Baltic undergoing trials.

8-in. Cruisers :­Prinz EugenHipperSeydlitz ..

6-in. Cnlisers :­LeipzigNiirnberg ..KolnEmden

Destroyers :­KielBremen ..BremerhavcnWilhemshavenSwinemundeBrestLa Pallice

Raider Activity6. It is now known that the Aurillac, although she made a warship

raider distress signal, was sunk by a V-boat. (See-last week's W.I.R.)

7. At 2100j23rd April, the British Dramare Castle, when in position3Qo 45' S., 14° 23' E. (about 250 miles N.N.W. of Capetown), sighted alow-powered searchlight at a distance of 10 miles. It was sweeping thehorizon,and was visible for 10 seconds.

8. On the following day the Greek Salaminia, when in position 33° 10' S.,16° 39' E. (about 130 miles N,N.W. of Capetown), passed two waterlogged1ife~oats, the fl?ating- carcases of several cattle and sheep, and what wasthought to be one corpse. No name was seen on the lifeboats, and it hasnot yet been possible to establish to what ship they belonged.

19(COWl-I) C2

2. The battleship Bi"marck is reported to have been at Gdynia on~thAcpril,gradedB.2.: ,j'Naval forces were reported at Narvik on 22nd April and 25th April,hut, if they were there, they are unlikely to have included anything heavier·_f:~<ll1:t~o:&-in. cruisers. Reconnaissance on 28th April showed no naval"!'9r(:~'S;,present.

_'~:_~~-:Tpe,battle--cruiscrs Gneisenau and Scharnhorst were last located atBrest at 1800 on 25th April.

,,5. Battleships:­Bismarck ..Tirpitz

Battle-cruisers :-_.Gneisenau In dry dock at Brest, 25th April.Scharnhorst Alongside at Brest, 25th April.

Pocket Battleships :-Admiral Scheer In dry dock at Kicl, 25th April.Lutzaw Left Kiel between 8th and 17th April.

Believed to be carrying out trials in Baltic.

j

DateToFrom

Convoy•m

I Ton- I Inage. Knots.

Imports

Name.

The Nicolaus D.L. made a raider distress sigoal on 13th April.

_ustlea, .. . . 4,267 8! St. Vincente. Verde Newport 17th Apr.23rd Mar. News;

raftsman .. . . 8,022 13 Oban. 24th Mar. Capetown 21st Apr.Trolleholm (Swedish) 5,047 10 Obarr, 8th Mar. Capetown 17th Apr.

amzam (Egyptian) 8,299 12! Pernambuco Capetown 21st Apr.

icolaus D. L.9th Apr.

.. 5,486 - Trinidad. 30th Mar. Capetown 21st Apr(Greek)~

E

Z

N

- Imports into Great Britain by ships in convoy during the week ending19th April totalled 796,426 tons, compared with 756,472 tons during theprevious week and an average of 700,462 tons during the past ten weeks_Oil imports, in 31 tankers, reached the satisfactory figore of 340,093 tons,

'compared with 247,061 tons in 23 tankers during the week ending 19thApril. Mineral imports were 178,893 tons, of which 124,346 tons weresteel, scrap iron, pig iron and iron ore. The corresponding figures for theprevions week were 131,196 tons and 86,467 tons. Timber iinports were27,186 tons and cereal imports 134,361 tons, 15 ships being fnlly ladenwith grain. Other food imports amounted to 48,058 tons, including:fruit 7,062 tons, tinned fish 4,485 tons, sugar 6,475 tons, tea 1,913 tons,meat 11,701 tons, and butter 2,915 tons. The fruit imports includedthree shiploads of sweet oranges totalling 4,807 tons and 784 tons of freshtomatoes~ Imports of machinery (3,127 tons of machine tools), aircraft ...aircraft engines and war material were above average.

Based on information received up to 28th April, 1941

Main Units1. Photographic reconnaissance of Kiel on 25th April showed that

cruiser Hipper and another 8-in. cruiser were present, one of them in thesouthern floating dock. The pocket battleship Admiral Scheer was still in

,No; 6 dry dock. It is probable the other 8-in. cruiser is the Prinz Eugm,which left K,el between 8th and 17th April for exercises in the Baltic, andnot the Seydtitz, which as far as is known is still at Bremen.

18

4ir.4c!~~ity

f)': M:etc9rological ilights have been on normal lines, but there has beena;teIlP,en~J'" for: the zerrit fjights from Trondheim to start earlier in the daylli~:foextend further to the north and westward.

Hi.: Tile activity by F.W. aircraft was well below average. One or moreaircraft· were engaged daily on armed reconnaissance to the west andnorth-west of Ireland, but these ilights have been unproductive. Twoships were damaged. On 22nd April three F.W. aircraft made an extensivereconnaissance in the Bay of Biscay extending 650 miles to the wcstward~

of Bordeaux~ More recently F~W. aircraft based on Stavanger operatedin northern waters between Scotland and the Faroes; one of these aircraftwaS badly damaged by A.A. fire when attacking a ship and later in combatwith a Hudson.

11. Although average attention has been paid to shipping off the eastand south coasts, thetehas been noticeably less reconnaissance in theapproaches to the Bristol Channel. Inland reconnaissance flights, whidthave been few and of short duration, were mostly over the SQuth andsouth-east counties.

12. G.N.A. activity has been increasing in the last few days over theBay of Biscay, also off the south-west coast of Norway, -and in theHeligoland Bight, where flights may be advanced training activity.

13. Attacks on shipping during the past week have been less extensivethan recently, but there has been a greater percentage of attacks on convoys­than usual. The tendency for attacks to be made on isolated ships andconvoys at night has continued, and quite a number of these attacks havebeen made on trawlers and other small craft.

14. There has been very little daylight offensive activity over thiscountry during the week; raids at several points on the east coast ofScotland were made by aircraft operating from Norway and a few placesin the south-east counties were attacked by small formations of enemyaircraft.

IS, The principal night attacks this week were those on the Plymouth­Dcvonport area on the nights of 21 st, 22nd and 23rd April. Apart fromthIS there has been no concentrated attack, but bombing has been spreadover a "vide area, Tyneside and Merseyside being the places most affected.

U-Boats16. The week has been uneventful in the North Western Approaches.

About eleven V-boats have been present, but definite information as totheir whereabouts is lacking; there has becn only one attack, on a smallNorwegian ship, which was torpedoed and sunk 011 the 27th about130 miles north-west of Butt of Lewis.

17. An Aj5 trawler and a destroyer carried out an unsuccessful attackon the 20th/21st, 30 miles north-west of Butt of Lewis.

18. Further south, the in.dependent British Calchas was torpedoed about530 miles W.s.W, of the Canaries on the 21st April.

19. Two V-boats are present north or west of Cape Verde Islands, andone is operating in the Freetown area.

20

I JI~~~~~~III~~I~Mining,u''tp:'.'p.l<' feature of the week was the mining of the Thames and Londondd¢~$:a]1ring the bombing raids of 16th/17th and 19th/20th Apnl.Nurct¢~nmineshave been fixed m the nver and SIX In the docks. Othersfel_r_ioh.Jand~ A number have since been destr0J:ed, and traffic has beenresiltrlcd, with some restrictions. A tug was milled off Dagenham anda water boat off Shellbaven.

itA .danger area is suspected in the vicinity of 58' 34' N., T SO', w.(50. fiJiles west of the B~ltt of Lewis), where three heavy explOSIOnsoccrirred on 20th April. Searchmg sweep has so far been Without result.

22. A German contact mine in exceptionally good condition and with70. ft, ofrnooring wire, was washed ashore in Pegwell Bay, Kent, on27th April. Searching sweeps are being made to the north-east.

23. During the early part of the week the daily total of mines accountedfor was unusually low, but it rose sharply all the 2Sth Apnl.

24. Off southern Nonvay hydrophone effects suggest~ve of minelayingwere heard on 19th April 2 miles S,S.W. of Jaederens Pomt.

VIZEADMIRAL (VICE-ADMIRAL) WERNER FUCHSBorn 18.1.1891

During the Great War he was Wireless Officer on board the cruiserKolberg and later on in the cruiser Regensburg as Torpedo Officer andOfficer of the Watch until the end of the war.

He was promoted to Kapitanleutnant (Lieutenant~Commande:) inNovember, 1919, and to Korvettenkapitan (Commander), and appomtedto the German Admiralty in April, 1927.

In March 1934, he took command of the cruiser Koln, after beingStaff Oflicer'with the Admiral Commanding the Baltic Station.

He was Head of the Training Division at the Admiralty ill 1937 andtransferred to Head of the Fleet Division in 1938, was promoted toRear~Admiral in October of the same year and became Director of theOperations Division in 1939.

Promoted to Vice~Admira.lon 1st December, 1940, he is now reportedto have established his headquarters with a staff at Brindisi, and is saidto be very anti-British.

GERMAN ACTIVITIES AND POSSIBLE INTENTIONS

GeneralThe trend of reports suggests that invasion preparations generally

continue, but not on a very active scale; there have been several reportsof the cessation of embarkation exercises, bnt this may be due to badweather.Norway

Naval units and merchant vessels have heen reported moving northfrom Germany and Denmark towards Norway. There is no evidence thatthese movements indicate imminent operations; the MjV movementsmay be incbnnexion with recent relief of troops in Norway, and th~ :nove­mentsof naval units are possibly a prelude to further surface raIdmg orother naval activity unconnected with invasion.

21

l

F~r. th~ first time a sOUTce suggests the possibility of an attack. upongr~~nl?:nd. The latter has hitherto only been the subject of enemy airre~<>~ilai~sa'ncc! probably lor meteorological .. reasons. Another report~fciI(~~id-i;>however,no supporting evidence is available at the moment,-­5.t:itesthat Gemlan troops in north Norway are intended to be used againstrc~Jand; as shipping is available or could readily be made available, sucha·:Possibility exists.qermanyand Denmark. There have been further reports of activity, chiefly troop rriovements,bllt it is said, possibly correctly, that the chief consideration is defenceagainst British raids.Low Countries and France

It appears that the Germans are returning some barges converted forinvasion purposes to their owners, and have even given permission forthem to he reconverted for normal purposes; this probably indicates thatthe enemy has now provided morc suitable craft.Spain

Arrangements for the billeting of German tourists in southern Spain anda ~ecent visit by German generals to the vicinity of Gibraltar arc furthereVIdence that the Germans are making preparations for an attack on thewestern gate to the Mediterranean, which, according to some sources, isto coincide with an attack on Egypt.Portugal

Referen~es tt? Portugal have been rather less frequent in the past week,but there IS eVIdence that the Axis powers are interesting themselves inthe Azores and the Cape Verde Islands.Morocco

Reports continue to arrive of German infiltration into French Morocco.It is learned that the French Government have given formal agreement toan increase of 200 officials in the Armistice Commission at Casablanca, andthat Gennan officers and men are passing freely from occupied Francethrough Spain to French North Africa.

Correction. ·In W.I.R., No. 59, for 25th April, Part III, para. 18, read30: 00 W, for SO: 00 W. as the probable western limit of U-boat dispositionsduring the week ending 23rd April.

NORWAYMilitary Activities in North Norway

There is no indication that recent troop movements to Norway neces­sarily imply any increase in the forces, assessed at three divisions, in thearea north of Narvik inclusive. These forces are admittedly more thanare necessary for purely occupation purposes, and during recent monthsthey may have been intended for one or more of the following purposes :_

(a) An anti-Russian gesture. (b) A threat to Sweden. (c) Defencepnrposes. (d) RaIds or small scale operatIOns.

It is considered that the scale of attack requlred [or operations againstIceland would be at least three divisions; while therefore this number oftroops could readily be made available, information obtained in Lhe recentr~d on the Lofoten Islands showed that the troops in North Norwayinclude a large proportion of reservists.

22

I

1111111111111111111111111111111111

NAA.006.0316

Y"'\'l1f\e,,,onclnsion to be drawn is that althongh the necessary shipping isi~,~9iIld .b~rnade-availablcat sho~t llOtice and the troop dis'po~itio~smay

':·h:ave'aIready altereo. without our kriowledge, there are no mdicahons, at.-<lti~ti.atthemoment~to suggest the imminence of raiding'operations,

BELGIUMConditions in Antwerp

Date of Report, lsi March, 1941. Graded G.2

'r.ShiPPing--af the beginning of February, 1941.-About IS G;ermanS..rgo ships were lying alongside the quays of theScheIdt. OccaSiOnallyshIps· leave, sometimes for only a few hours, sometlmes for two days. Allships return empty; they leave for Norway with cargoes of coal, whichis· 'loaded out of barges in various docks. Belgian cre~s· are used. insteamers which fly the German flag. Old German shIps have large

inuriibers instead of names.Four ex-Greek ships, totalling 18,000 tons, were in harbour. There

were no warships. The ex-French ship P.L.M.23, which loaded coal forNorway, is sunk outside harbour.

Ships are repaired at the Mercantile, which is the only yard working.Shipbnilding at Hoboken has closed down.. There IS no manufacture ofwar material or aeroplanes and no InformatIOn that the removal of planthas taken place.

2. Barges.-The number of barges was then estimated at 300, varyingill size from 600-1,200 tons d.w, The barges had been converted forirtvasion and some were fitted with air screws. About a quarter of thesewere returned to the Belgians in November, 1940. In Antwerp it is notthought that barges can successfully be used for any invasion attempt.

3. Docks and Locks.-All bridges and locks were in working order. Thethree large docks north of An~tru~ecl were not being used. A po~toon

bridge across the ScheIdt was hIt tWIce by the R.A.F. and later demohshedby the Germans.

4. E.ffects of British Air Raids.----:There is no information ?f damage torail or canal facilities by our bombmg. A petrol dump on ScheIdt QuayNo.1 was attacked, but no damage of any importance has been caused.

ConclusionSea-borne trade is limited to coal exports to Norway. Invasion prepara­

tions were relaxed during the winter, a1thOl~gh ships an~ ~arges re~ained.

Little damage has been done by our bombmg. but actIVIty remams low.

FRANCE

Attitude of Vichy GovernmentInformation up to 21st April, 1941

The following events have recently been reported :-1. German .infiltration into Morocco. The Gennan Armistice Com­

mission demanded that an additional 150 Germans should be admittedto Morocco. Weygand and Nogues opposed this demand (B.2). It isnowconfirrned from other sOlirces that this infiltration is taking place.

23

25

111111111111111111111111111111111111111

NAA.006.0317

I1

SHIPPING IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

German1. Fifteen ships, totalling 32,000 tons, are engaged in thc orangc trade

between Valencia and Marseilles. One ship of 1,700 tons has beenrequisitioned for the German Navy and ordered to Genoa. (Fact.)

2. Eight ships, totalling 17,200 tons, were in the Black Sea. Four havepassed the Dardanelles, probably laden with grain. (Fact.)

3. Thirty-one ships, totalling 137,000 tons, were in Italian ports; ofthese, 14 left Trieste in December and Januaty and were reported astrinsports. Only five now remain at Trieste and one at Pola. (Fact.That they are transports, B.Z.)

French1. Reported that on 22nd April 12 ships were requisitioned by the

Gemlans at Marseilles and their crews replaced (by whom IS not stated).(B.2.)

2. On 20th April it was reported that nine ships had left Bordeaux withFrench flag and French crews, which were to be replaced by German andItalian crews once the ships were in the Mediterranean. (B.3.)

3. A report from Toulon states that some ships .left .Marseil~e: duringthe night of 23rdj24th April in the direction of Spall1 ~:_h mumtIOns a.ndarms (heavy and light machine guns) and small ahnmmum boa!s, winchmay have been motor boats. These ships were loaded at mght andconvoyed by two sloops. (B.2.)

4~ Another report states that the French ship .P.L.M.20 was to leaveMarseilles on night 24th/25lh April for Italy With a cargo of rubber,corkand bauxite, and that the French ship Schiaffino Preres left Marse~leson:night of23rd April for Brindisi with a cargo of phosphates and baUXIte.(B.2.)

S.An unconfirmed Vichy press report states that ~3 ships,. totalling·24Q,;QOQtons, have been requisitioned; some of these are In occupIed ports.(Press.)

(c) Soc. Immobiliere dcs Petroles dll Midi. Fonr tanks, total,.!ii/;C;', capaCIty 4,380,000 gallons.

'!;;-];!(~Ci~. Industrielle des Petroles. Six tanks, total capacity 2,400,000,,',,;,\', gallons.

!!,,;'(6) 500. Anon. Lille Bonniercs et Colombes. Five tanks, total!'.!c. '.' capacity 2,340,000 gallons.

,,'6';,',The,cnemy has carried out important tanker movements to an~ fromt~i~,',p()rt. As many as five tankers have been photographed, ill ~heha+l:>0l1rs or lying off, at the same time. These havc included 5oo-ft. shipsof"JhC 4ltmark class. The latest sortie (17.4.41) shows one 5oo-ft. taukerin harbour surrounded by a net.

7. Two U-boats were in the port at that time. U-boats have visitedth~ port intermittently since January, 1941.

8. It is thought that enemy tankers bring oil to La Pallice fromGermany for storage. The possibility that these large tankers act assupply ships for raiders cannot he dismissed. i

I

iII&,

I

Ii

24

LA PALLICE

1. La Pallice is a big commercial port with a minor naval destroyer andsubmarine station.

2. Vessels drawing up to 27 ft. (Neaps) and 32 (Springs) can enter thcharbour, and on the southern side of the northern jetty, which has a lengthof 904 ft., there is a depth of 291 ft. A deep sea quay for liners is nearlycompleted.

3. A large stock of coal and oil fuel is maintained.4. Since the construction of La Pillice, the port of La Rochelle has

become of secondary commercial importance. La Pallice is three milesfrom La Rochelle.

5. Oil depOts at La Pallice are :-(a) Soc. pour ~'Approvisionnement des Consommateurs pour Huiles

Combustibles. Three tanks of 856, 220 gallons each (containingrespectively gas oil, Diesel oil and fuel oil).

(b) L'Economique Soc. de Distribution dc Petrole et Essence. Tentanks, total capacity 2,100,000 gallons.

2';'.:-,-]Jis believed that the French Government have issued instructionstp!!tlte$ti'n,erchant ships to scuttle themselves rather than fall into our

:h:>ndS., Preparations are to be made in advance. (B.2.),g,D<lringI8th April-20th April, 60,000 tons of Frcnch shipping, under

escort, has passed Gibraltar. (Fact.)4. Lieut.-Commander Groves, R.N., formerly N.C.S. Staff, Marseilles,

has reported that he personally watched German troops passing throughNice statton during four successive nights from 15th March. (B. 1.)

5~ Gennan "E" boats have passed through the canals to Marseilles.. (B.2.)

6.. MallY rumours are current. that German forces. passed through. Tunisia on their way to Libya. (D.3.)

7. A report states that German ships left Marseilles loaded with troopsand mules. (C.2.)

8. A press report of 21st April states that Hitler has written to Petainoffering to resume economic collaboration and to start peace negotiations,?ut stipulating that Laval be taken back in some capacity. The inferenceIS that Hitler is satisfLed with the progress of events in Francc. (l?rcss.)

.Conclusion

In recent weeks the French have committed or permitted actions whichare opposed to aUf interests, which exceed the Armistice terms, and whichcannot be explained by mere compliance with German wishes. Thefactu~ evidence seems to show that Darlan has decided upon, and iscarrymg ont, a policy of definite hostility to 115. He is restrained only bypublic opinion in France, which is friendly to 11S, and by the brake imposedby.the wishes of Marshal PHain. Otherwise he is going to the limit toaSsIst Germany. At the same time he is throwing dust both in Our eyesand in those of his own people by the pretence that he makes concessionsreluctantly and under pressure.

Conclusion

f9yermany is concentrating her Mediterranean and Black Sea shipping.< ·jiir.Th~i-e are ~eliable- repor~s that Germany is requisitioning FrenchshIppmg m Marseilles and possIbly in Biscay ports.• ·(iii) These ships are p~obably required as transports, but they aremovmg supplies as converuent en route.

(ivY There is no evidence as to their ultimate' destination if in facttroops have been transported. " ,

. (v) The use of French ships as German transports (if established) goesbeyond the AITlllShce terms, and IS an act hostile to us. 'This is aggravatedbythe reported escort of two sloops, which must be Fi·ench.

ItalyBased on information received up to 28th April, 1941.

Reconnaissances

~ T~~ISIAN COAST. On 22nd April at 1300, after a reconnaissance of theTunIsIan coa?t, a <!~enn Martin rcported having sighted a merchantmanof 4,000 tons ill posItwn 34'" 47' N., 11 ° 25' E. on a course of 360 proceedingat a speed of only 3 to 4 ~nots.Fifteen to 20 miles west or' this ship asmall merchantman was SIghted on the same course and at the samespeed. At 0310 a ~estroyer was sighted in position 35° 20' N., 11 0 20' E.on a COUlse of 180 , speed 15 knots, huggmg the coast.

A Glenn. Ma:tin reconnoitring the northern sector of the Tunisian coastreported sIghtlllg at 0450 on 25th April, three destroyers and a torpedoboat 15 nlll~s fw.m Pantcllana on a course of 353°. The ships increasedspeed on bemg SIghted.

PANTELLARIA. At 1736 on 23rd April a convoy of fivc merchantmcnescorted by four destroyers was reported SO miles south-west of Pantellariaon a course of 138°, spced 10 knots.

SYRACUSE. On 25th April no large ships were seen in the harbuur.CAPE B~N-T~PANl. , A Glenn .Martin patrolling the area on 2~1rd April

reported slghtl11l? at 1138 two crmsers and two destroyers 10 miles north­~orth-west of Lmosa on a course of 190°, speed ]2 knots, with an ItalianCant 2.506 escorting. One Italian Ro. 43 was seen near Pantel1aria.? BENGHAZI. On 22nd Ap~-jl a Fleet Auxiliary of 254 ft., a tanker of245 ft., and a merchant ShIp of 260 ft. were SIghted enterinCT Benghaziharbour. b ,-

On the 23rd it was reported that a ship of 10,000 tons, another of3,000 to.r:ts and two. of 200 ft., believed to be torpedo boats, wereapproachmg BenghazI harbour from the south-west.

On the 25th photographs taken during a reconnaissance revealed a shipof 340 ft. and two others of 300 ft. in Benghazi harbour.Enemy Aircraft ActiZ!ity

MALTA. Malta was att~cked by enel~y aircraft several times duringthe week. On 22nd Apnl four formatIOns of Me. 109's with a J u. 88

26

11111111111\liilil~IIII\IIIIIII~NAA.006.0318

~1:~1ted. ,t'h'e'island. Anti-aircraft guns bIJenedfire and'eight Hurricanesw~tif'~1?andtherewere fights from 15,000 to 30,000 ft. One Me. 109 was(j;~;&yed and another probably shot down. At 2155 approximately2(j;1ifryraft successively attacked the dockyard after having dropped flares.BlyrIrbswere dropped from heights varying between 1,000 and 10,000 ft.ovep/thedockyard area and other localities. Anti-aircraft guns engageds~,~~al-tirIleswith predicted barrage. There was some superficial damagefQ;f~a.:Valproperty, no damage to Army or R.A.F. property and nocasJr:alties, but some houses werc. damaged.

.all thy 23rd there was another raid by about 40 Me. 11Os and J u. 885a.l1~:Fsome Naval damage was caused and a fire started which was quicklylilfpUg4tllndcr control. Ten civilians were killed and four injured. One~f.ie#iy-_aircraftis known to have been shot down and another was damaged..,'rltiJ'E. On 24th April Suda Bay was twice bombed by fonr Cant

1no7s and a Br. 20 and by 10 Ju. 88s respectively. Some buildings weredestroyed but there were no casualties.'"Enemy Ports and Other Objectives>:tJIBYA. The R.A.F. carried out several bombing attacks in this area

duriTlgthe week. On the night of 20th/21st April Wellingtons droppedbombs onM.T. at Capuzzo causing a number of explosions which lastedfor ten minutes. Bombs were also dropped on Gazala aerodrome calL<;ing:fi:veexplosions. On the 21st Blenheim squadron fonnations bombed55 aircraft at Denla and 28 aircraft at Gazala starting several fires believedto" Qt. burning aircraft at both objectives. On the same date threeIIlli-ricanes making a sweer to the west of Tobruk encountered 1 Me. 109 ;during the fight a Hurricane rammed and destroyed the Me. 109 andsubsequently forced landed, the pilot was uninjured.

Benghazi was bombed on the night of 22nd/23rd April and again nextday. Fires visible for many miles were started. Bombs were alsodropped on DerIla landing ground amongst 70 dispersed aircraft.Wellingtons also bombed M.T. concentrated near the road west of Gazalahitting,several vehicles.

Qrlthe-morning of the 25th Blenlieims bom1Jed M.T. concentrationsnear Capuzzo and M.T. in the Bardia area, and at dusk enemy aircraftat Dernaaud Gazala. Derna Barracks and M.T. concentrations north ofAcroina:. were bombed. Three enemy aircraft were destroyed over Tobrukduring a raid by Ju. 87s on the afternoon of the 25th.

TRIPOLI. Tripoli harbour was attacked on the night of 24th/25th April.Seven slicks of bomhs were dropped and hits were registered on thecustoms wharf and seaplane hangars,

TOBRUK. On the morning of 24th April en'emy a~r~raft dropped minesin Tobruk Channel, temporarily closing the harbour to shipping. In theevening German bombers with fighter escort dive-bombed the town anddamaged a water reservoir. Three enemy aircraft were shot down.At dawn on 24th April the enemy infantry with artillery support attackedthe ,~outh~west perimeter fron; the direcliori ·of Acroma but the attackwa;~'-'1>r{)¥-13n-up 400 yards from the British forvvard defences and many ofthe>enemy'were -killed. Enemy prisoners taken were five officers and125 other -ranks. There were no Briti..c;;h casualties.

27

.J\~Y:S~~1'fJA-", .After hard figllting enemy positions twelve miles south--eastof l)(i~~_~~ ~eres:apturedon 23rd April. Demolitions hindered the Britishaq+:~c~_;})ut Dessie was captured on 27th April. Patrols crossed thel~iyi:~,t',~():tnoandweremetby heavy machine-gun fire. Patrols have beens~nt to the east of Shashamanna to support Patriot activities,

RED SEA. On 21st April the narrow channel from Kayet, at Massawa,W'lS, considered. to be .clear of mines and ships were entering the port.There was no SIgn of Me on Shumma Island. A white flag was flying onDahlak Island. Gnn positions on Mount Ganga (Assab) were empty.

Reported by aircraft.

British Port Hardy andOilfield, and NorwegianCaledonia in ConvoyHX I'll attacked.

Reported by aircraft.55: 17 N.-09: 14 W.. 50 m., W. byN. of the Bloody Foreland.

r

60:02N,-15:45W.,31Om.,W.byN.,ofButtofLewis.

2009/28

·0921/29

"Coast of Norway"

" African C,oast "

" The Challnel "

" Western Area"

~, North Sea" ..

Enemy Submarine ActivitiesIn the regional grouping of the following r:ports of s~l)Jnarines or of

ships attccked by them the following geograplilcal expresslOlls are used:­"North-Western Area" North of 55: 00 N., and West of the Orkneys and

Shetlands, and of 01: 00 W.The area East of 02: 00 E., to the North of

55: 0<., N., and East otOI : 00 ViT., to the Northof ol: OON.

The area between that line and a line ruuning fromDover to Cap Gris Nez.

West of that line as far as a line rnnnillg from theLizard to Ushant.

West of the Channel, South of 55: 00 N., andNorth of 36 : 00 N.

The area South of 36: 00 N., and '"Vest of Tadfa.Straits of Gibraltar.

NORTH-WESTERN AREA0150/27 60: 10 N.---DS: 54 W .. 130 m. N.W. Norwegian Ritnfakse

of the Butt of Lewis. attacked.1515/28 60: 10 N.-17 : 00 W., 340 m., BliLish Caputet attacked

W.N.W.of ButtofLewis. in Convoy HX121.1600/28 59: 16 N.----07 : 23 W., 55 m., N.W. Reported byaircra.fL

hy N. of ButtafLewis.1620/28 60: 10 N.-17 : 00 W., 340 m., Reported by H.M. ship.

W.N.W.ofButtofLewis.1930/28 60: 14 N. -15 : 20 W., 300 m.,

\V.N.W. of Butt of Lewis.

29

1\!IIIIII\II\I\I\\M\\I~NAA.006.03 19

One Yugoslav submarine and two M.T.B.s have ~eached Alexandria.Other ships will, it is hoped, follow the Yugoslav men-of-war.

MiningSCAR The French Admiralty has announced danger areas offMADAGA . . f

Madagascar a few miles to seaward of DIego Suarez and Tamatave rom1st May.• MALTA. The entrance to t~e Grand Harbour and Marsamxett have-aga.in b~eIl·mined by enemy aircraft.

lillian MinesA new type of Italian mine has been recovered. It is spherical, 29 ins.

in diameter, and has four 7-m. horns. fired by a hydrostat SWitch. Asecond hydrostat switch renders the mUle safe on the surface.

Italian SztbmarinesFor the greater part of the w~k in~om:at~on ?f Italian U-boats was

lacking hut towards the end of thIS penod mdlcatlOns show that four arepresent in the N. W. Approaches and one has left Bordeaux for patrol.

R.1932R1932RI933

R1929

193919321933191219121912

1907

19301930193119281924

271

689689689567567

1,4201,4801,4801,0131,0131,013

THE WAR IN GREECE

Imperial troops held the "Thermopylae line," to which they hadretIred, for some days. The Thermopylae hne stretched from Molo onthe Gulf of Lamia to Eratrine on the Gulf of Corinth west of the Bay ofSalona. .

The Greek army in Epirus, on finding itself cut off, laid down its arms.Tlils had a depressing effect on the rest of the Greck Army.

As a result of this and also in view of the lack of aerodromes behindt~e new line from which ~ritish fighters could operate against the GermandIve-bombers, the Impenal forces had again to retire and are now in thecourse of being withdrawn from Greece.

German forces based on SaIonika and Kavala have occupied the islandsof Thasos, Samothrace and Lemnos.

The following Greek warships had arrived at Alexandria by 25th April:Cruiser Tonnage. Year of completion.

Giorgios Averoff 9,000 1911 R.1932Torpedo Boat Destroyers:

Queen OlgaKondouriotisSpetsaiIeraxPantherAetas

Torpedo Boats:ASPis}Niki

Submarines:NereusTriton ..GlaucosKatsonisPapanicolis

(Is expected at any moment.)Repair Ship

Hephestos 4,549 1920The above aCCowlts for what is left of the Greek Navy with the possible

e~ception of one destroyer, likely to have been sunk, nine torpedo boatsand one M.T.B., about which no report has so far been received.

28

30

ii

'I"d'\

!lllll\lliillli~l\ml\\ll~NAA.006.0320

Germany

PART IV: POLITICAL

reminder that victory can only be won in theno echo in the German press, which has indulged in

.~,~B;i~~~~lof glee over the occupation of Athens and the expul­British forces from the mainland of Europe. The

the summer fortified by renewed victories and makingthey are convinced of Britain's desperate plight, thoughreason to believe that the new victories leave theGerman people somewhat apathetic. Though theindividual British air attacks is now causing serious

there is no doubt that German morale has steadied, andmuch remains to be done to shake it. Further information,however, about the March raids on Berlin makes it clear thatserious damage was done, and those in April were so effectivethat the authorities were for the first time unable to hide theextcnt of the damage from the public- At least twenty buildingsin Unter den Linden were destroyed, the State Library wasgutted, and the State Opera House demolished. Fires werestarted in the principal food office, and the boiler house of themain fire station received a direct hit. Whcn news of the raidof the 17th April-in which there are said to have been manycasualties-reached Angora, the staff of the German Embassyshowed considerable alarm. A sidelight on the Hamburg raidsis to be found in the Hamburger Fremdenblatt, which states that,owing to pressure of other work, the Hamburg glaziers cailllOt atpresent undertake, as is their usual custom, the cleaning ofwindows.

There are oersistent rumours that Russia is 10 be the nextvictim of Gennan assault, and is about to be faced with" seriousproposals." The Germans arc not satisfied with their suppliesunder the trade agreement, but there is apparently little theycan do to increase them without attempting the conquest of theUkraine or obtaining some kind of control over the organizationof supplies. If Russia were to give way on the second alter­native, she would compromise her security, perhaps fatally.During nine months of 1940 Germany was importing foodstuffs­largely vegetable and marine oils-from the Far East via Siberiaat an annual rate of 360,000 tons. This represents the mostserious gap in the British blockade. Last year it took severalmonths before this kind of transit traffic could be developed onan effective scale,· and even then frequent disturbances

31I1

J

Reported by Consul,Funchal.

Reported by BritishEmpire Success.

Reported by BritishCarperby.

British A urillac attacked.

U.S.S.R.

COAST OF AFRICA

37 ; 09 N.-18 ; 43 W., 470 ill., 2700

Cape St. Vincent.32; 30 N.-17 ; 00 W., oIl Funcha!

Madeira. '06 ; 20 N.-I3 ; 19 W., 140 m., 1800

Freetown.10; 02 N.-18: 56 W., 350 ill., W. by

N. of Freetown.

WESTERN AREA

I52 ;22 N.~26;31 W., 600 m., W. of IBritish City ofNagpurValentia. tt k'da ac e •

0752/29

2143/15

a.m./25

2145/25

1544/28

AUTHORIW OF SENIOR SOVIET NAVAL OFFICERS.

.on the occa~ion o~ the rec~nt Conference of the Bolshevik Part held~c:~~~~~£v~~~u~e~Ig:~anki~gttnavafl anhd military officers were ei"ected

9-. ,C Omlll ees 0 te Party. Refore the pUT e of

1 37-1938 a sImIlar honour had been paid t th ·]·t· g.of t1 t d . 0 e nUL .ar y representatIvesIe COUl~ ryan It may be presumed that the re-establishment of this

~us_tOl.n ha~ ~een brought about. to. further the prestige of the Services.t IS mterestlllg to note that tlus IS another victor" of tl,> j' illover th" Com' . tl . . - J - e. me 0 cers. .. . ~ .. . Imssars smce Ie polItIcal element has not been accordedsuch rustmctlOflS. The awards 11l question are as follows :_

fEt'hlecpted a Candidate Member of the Central Executive Committee

o e arty:--

~ice-£:dmiral1. S. Yumashev, Commander-In-Chief, Pacific Fleet.Pa;i;c:tcd members of the Central Auditing Committee of the

~icc~Admi:alV. R. Tributs, Commander-in-Chief Baltic I11eet(';{~~dmlral F. S. Oktyabriski, Commancler-ln:Chief, Black 'Sea

The Commissar for the Navy, Admiral Kuznetsovmem ber of the Central Executive Commlttee. ' is already a full

. I

occurred. It therefore appears doubtful whether theth~oretical maximum of an annual total of about fiSO,OOO tonsOfgbods of all kinds can be reached in 1941.

There has been some slackening in the number of reports.r¢teived of further call-ups, a,nd it seems probable that the bulkof the mobilization for the 1941 campaign has now been com­1'l€le<,l. . Tp.ere is now no doubt that cons!demble numbers ofrften , prevIously exempt hom milItary serv1ce, have been calledont of specialized war service to join the forces. This is signi­ficant and may indicate an acute shortage of skilled techniciansin the armed forces, which can only be met at the expense of theprOduction of war material and incidentally of exports to Russia.There h~ve been some curious reports of men in Alsace Louaine,demobillzed from the French army, being called up under theirage groups into the German army.

PolandThe correspondent of a Swedish newspaper writes that

" authontatJve quarters" in Bedin were asked about the import­ance of statements concerning" recent troubles" in the Govern­ment-General. An official spokesman explained that the GermanGovernment made no secret of the fact that the Poles weredissatisfied with having their country occupied. Recent dis­turbances there had been caused by " criminals " who had beenset hee by the Polish Government, and now they werefrequently in evidence. The spokesman went on to say that thefight against these criminals had cansed "heavy losses amongthe 5.5." In fact the 5.5. mcn are hequently individuals whohave made the Reich proper too hot for themselves. Theirprivileged position in Poland is based on the fact that Himmler,their head, is at the same time the commissary invested withextraordinary powers for establishing Germanism in the eastemprovinccs. They have the right to shoot people for resistanceto authority, and such resistance need not take an active formbut may be inferred from the mere attitude of an accused person.In these circumstances it is hardly surprising that the Poles are" dissatisfied" and that the German press continues to reportinstances of armed assaults by " bandits."

In order to diminish the number of Poles in Poland theGermans have invented a new racc--the " Gorals," or moun­taineers, living in the Tatra mountains and their foothills to thesouth of Cracow. According to the German contention there are200,000 of these" Gorals," but when recently forms were sentto them on which they had to enter, among other details, theirnationality, only thirty described themselves as "Gorals." Allthe rest put their nationality down as Polish.

32

..Arbi~}t~al1sfeffiof population are continuing both in theatltil~!i~ii1;jfj):tntc:'iriesan4the Govem~ent-Gene:~1. l~ crS"ti'?~at;~*teiliiiYeitf(}rtificationson ~he Germ'bn 51 ~'l0 t e bOVI~H'b!l.ti~r:'W1e,ithe fortified Zone lS said to e 40 wlo!'ile refS roa">....,.>"'p·'.l c:es~has namrally led to the exp SlOn 0 manyn,$onre... · .a.. di t . f R d t th th ofPi.;lisbi.::peas>\nts. In the s net 0 ti' a am, 0 tedsou ea 1W'ib1~\'vlli.the direction of Cracow, nO ces were pos c up r ylir~e present year to the effect ~at 43 villag:es were to be

. . • ted by 1st May. Persons leavmg voluntanly by that dateevaeua .. I' t k d fwould. be allowed to take .w1th them their" IVes oc an ?;r:ni' plelllents and would receive a very small compensation InC:~sh. These people, it may be noted, are n'!t tenants butowners of the land they are now called on to gIve up for the

Ttary purposes of an alien invader. In some dlstnctsml I ants are said to have been turned out of their holdings forf:~~g to furnish their quotas of grain, while in some places thequotas have been fixed so h1gh that the peasants have preferredto leave their land unsown.

The representative of the American Conunission for PolishRelief, who recently visited Warsaw, has stated that more than293,000 persons in the city, including 91,000 chlldren,. are hvmgon rations sO reduced as to provide only 700 calones a day,whereas 2,000 calories are the generally accepted nllll1mum. Heestimated that the population of the city had been swollen bynearly 400,000 Poles from th.e annexed terntones; In thesecircumstances it is not surpnslUg to learnfrom the Gemlan pressthat in January Warsaw had fifteen bl~~hs to every eIghteendeaths. .. This," comments the wnter, IS explamed by warconditions. "

A Swedish paper has publis!'ed an interview with a Polishworkman from (;ydma, who saId that that town, created by thePoles, is now being ruthle~sly GermanIzed. Labourers arealmost the only Poles remammg there, and those who fo~merlylived in modern dwellings are now housed m ba,!acks outside thetown. Polish families, when ejected from theIr hon;es, had toleave all their possessions behind for their Germam-speakmgsuccessors. For two winters they have suffered greatly fromcold: during the fIrst winter it was possible to bUY"at least somecoal, but during the winter of 1940-1941 coal was. reserved forthe German race." Poles are allowed no ratlOn cards forclothing or footwear; only lucky ones manage to get woodenshoes. Fish and potatoes ar" haTd to DOme by, and foodrations are very small, so the Poles are hungry, shabby andenfeebled. They get no soap and have to wash. With s.and andwater. There is much police persecution. It 15 forbIdden to

33

IIIIIIIIIIIIII~I!I!IIIIIIIII~IIIIIINAA.006.0321

\,

,! ~

I'

Denmark

IIIIIIIift,\'i]

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII~III~NAA.006,0322

ThiStegulation of labOur conditions shows the detenuination()fthe German authorities not only to alter the Dutch way of lifeahd 10 ,rule it on German lines, but also to make every possibleuse of foteign labour for German war pmduction. In this con­nexiOh it is of interest to note how Germany proposes toincorpotate Dutch industry in her industrial system. For thedistribution in Holland of orders from Germany, a branch of theGerman Chamber of Commerce has been set up which is to seethat the raw materials for the orders placed are to be suppliedfrom Germany. The first step in this direction has been takenin connexion with the leather trade.

The agreement concluded by the United States with theDanish Minister in Washington, M. Kauffmann, in relation toGreenland, has led to his dismissal by Royal Proclamation; hisaction is being investigated with a view to criminal proceedings,and his property in Denmark, according to the Danish press, isbeing seized. The Danish press is generally condemnatory,especially of that article in the agreement which empowers theUnited States to prolong its control over Greenland indefinitely,in spite of the assurance given that the United States fuilyrecognizes Danish sovereignty and that the country will berestored to Denmark after the war.

This endeavour, under German inspiration, to give to theagreement more than a temporary significance suggests thatDanish pnblic opinion is rather relieved thau otherwise to feelthat Greenland is to be adequately protected against a threat ofGerm.an occupation. (Incidentally, President Roosevelt isquoted as saying that he " would not be at all snrprised if Green­land were not in part occupied by tlle Axis at present," thoughhe gave no details.) In fact, the Danish authorities in Greenlandapproved M. Kauffmann's action, and, in view of the propa­ganda permitted to the Quislingites in Norway, encouraginghopes of the transfer of sovereignty over Greenland to Norwegianhands in the event of a German victory, it seems probable thatmost Danes will clearly realize that their interests are best servedby the protection secured under the agreement. There is already,in fact, some evidence to this effect. ~

The problem of unemployment in Denmark has been (0 Someextent eased by Government subsidies and loans for repairs tobuildings, which are saiel to have provided six months' work for

35

HollandAfter the Germau occupation of Holland, the number of

unemployed rose sharply from 180,000 to half a million.According to an article m the Naltonal ZCltung, Germany IS

taking immediate steps to remedy the 51.tuabon; not only has sheembarked upon schemes of dyke-bmldmg and land reclamatIonin Holland, but she has also persuaded some 118,000 Dutchmento enter employment in the Reich. In both instances theingenuity used to enrol labour IS worth noticmg. In Holland,owing to the law whereby only those registered as unemployedand therefore in receipt of relief could be drawn on for pubhcworks schemes, it was necessary to promulgate a decree thatany unemployed person could be used on public works, eventhough he drew no uuemployment benefit. In practice tlusby-passing of the established law amounts to forced labour. Asfor those Dutchmen who have been transferred to work In

Germany, it is claimed that they were recruited entirely withoutcoercion, although it is admitted that some resistance ha,d to beovercome. As the labour bureaux apphed theIr attenllontirelessly to every single individual whom they wished to inveigleinto the Reich, it is difficult, WIth even the smallest knowledge ofGerman methods, to see how these efforts fall short of coercion.To prevent workers fron:: spending all their wages in Germanyand leaving their famlhes to be supported by chanty, 1 theGermans have tRken steps to ensure that 60 per cent. ot t.ll~lr

wages are to be transferred to Holland, A special allo,,,vance ,,:tthretrospective effect is granted to the famIly as tral?SltlOnmoney" to cover deficiencies incurred during the penod ofunemployment: these sums, being a "purely Dutch" afIa,r,have to be met by the Netherlands Exchequer. A tightening upof the system of unemployment relief is to take place; a cent~allabour office is to be cst'lblishcd, and compulsory pohce IdentItycards are to be issued, even to persons not previously registeredas unemployed.

34

,~'~~~:,fio1ishirithc streets, and a workman who defied the pro­~l)'itlaii),ti",dansweredback that he w?;s .usmg hIs m?ther ~,;,ngue,"""'i;1rcif'dead. "The new masters, It was explamed, want~~i'ltY:'t(fdestrOY the Polish f,lation but dare not because they'tre'~iJ7!I'qliShlabour; so. the.l: stnve,to keep the fOles as slaves andJ"a.riahS:All who beheve m the. neworde.r should come ands;!¢\yhat it is. But Germamzatwn WIll fall also here., Pohshhis\O-ry is rich in fights for freedom. We abIde our bme andknow our duty."

1ii'I 'I',i

•~Otvorkers. It is expected that a further largt; advanc.e will'ntedto municipahties. Meanwhile an advertisement m the'h'a eH press states that the German labour bureaux still

§@.laJ::\l~ur of all classes, both male and female, for work m,Germany. The latest Danish trade fignres show. that eX]J?rtstrave4ecreased steadllysmce Augnst, 1940, ,and Imports SlUceNovember. On alst March, 1941, Germany s cleanng debt toDenmark was just short of 500 million kroner. This IS consider­ably greater than her total exports to Denmark in 1938 or 1939.

The 85th birthday of Marshal Petain produced a curio~s

divergence between Radio Paris and the Vichy wireless. Wlulethe former made much of the anniversary, which was treated,at least in the Paris press review, as the major ~vent of the day,it appears to have been completely Ignored m Vichy Governmentbroadcasts. The significance of thiS. ~ay be that VlC~y doesnot wish to stress the Marshal's semhty, while th,?se m Panswho are hot for" collaboration" with Germany,.wlsh to cajolehim as the most influential Frenchman, mto aIdmg a develop­men't of that process. He is showing no signs at present of anystrong resistance to it. By agreeing, under German pressure, toallow further German infiltration into French Morocco, Vichyhas gone against what has hitherto beeT,' looked ul?on as one ofFrance's major interests-the preservatloT,' of the mdependenceof French North Africa. Doubtless the VIchy announcement ofFrance's withdrawal from the Leagne of Nations is also in com­pliance with a German demand. The natural conclusion fromthe present tendencies of the Vichy Government is that 1;hey areunlikely, on the strength of any promises of economic rehef fromthe United ,States being allowed through the blockade, to .take afirmer line against German demands. VIchy IS eVIdentlyimpressed exclusively by the ability of the Germans to apJ?lymilitary force. The events in the Balkans and m North Af~lca

assist this inclination, but it was always present, and AdmIralDarlan has been one of its most consistent exponents.

The visit of Admiral Darlan to Paris (where he appearsto have seen Brinon and may also have seen Abetz, theGerman "Ambassador "), at a time when Vichy is inprocess of further surrender to German demands, h,;,-s naturallyencouraged the partisans of Laval to renew ~eIr agItatIOnfor his return to office. They argued that, as VIchy must seeGerman military might to be invincible, and collaboration

36

r'J'I,

II,'.:1:j

:ju1<1

;11

Franceilllllllliil~IIIII!II~11

NAA,006.0323

tj1lrIe-fo-reirievita-ble, power should be put into the hands of Laval,W'hQ Rja,yj;re a:ble even now to get some '(uld pro quo m the formQf'a.LteHtt~ of.prisoners and a reducuo-n of the costs of the~et~an.occupation. Rumour has been busy WIth sugge~tlOns

~a,t;GeImany is·anxious to haste,:! ~e process of collabo-rat1Ol~­pab:1lywith the mtentlOn of obtalllmg !he fullest poss~ble asslst­<ilIcefrom French industry-and that German concessIOns mIghtil1cltrde the freeing of certain categories of prisoners, particularlyfactory workers. In this connexio-n a recent article in£/lllustratJion by a supporter o-f Laval may be quoted. Thearticle said that Laval had considered " how to intensify OUT,effort to recapture from the British and the Gaullistes theColonies which they had snatched." In order to do- this, theagreement of Vichy was necessary, and had, it was claimed, been.obtained.

" It was also necessary to have the means of action, whichimplied the permission of the Occupation Authorities torearm certain of onr warships and planes, to raise troops, tomake munitions, to organize cadres and a specialized per­sonnel which were not at our disposal, since many o-f theneeded men were at present in the prisoners' camps. Thenegotiations which had begnn had as their object the releaseof these men for this particular purpose."

Even if this only represents a piece of wishful thinking, itmay, especially ~if it represent, the thoughts of Laval, be ofsignificance.

Prospects in North Africa are not encouraging. Even if Vichycould not or would not display some firmness as regards Africa,there did nevertheless appear some hope that the influence ofGeneral Weygand, General Nognes and others would make itselffelt, not because of pro-BritiSh sentiments but because of nationaland persoHal pride. But German propaganda and penetrationhas gone so far that French prestige is seriously compromised,and General Nagnes has now reason to fear the threat of German­aided Spanish action against a French Morocco, where the mostdangerous type of Nazi agent is already active.

In the maintenance of pro-British feeling in France a consider­able part is played by the French broadcasts put out by theB.B.C., which, in spite of jamming and other hindrances, arewidely listened to. An Englishman who lately left France wasassured by French acquaintances that the B.B.C. slogan" RadioParis Ment (Radio Paris Lies) " had been extremely effective.The propaganda of Radio Paris, run by the Germans, is said tobe only known to some French people by the quotations from

37

Italy

IIIIIIIIIIII~~IIIIIIIWIIIIII'I!INAA.006.0324Spain

The improvement in Italian morale which was already notice­able last week has, as is only natural, been fostered by theprogress of events in the Balkans, on which Italian public opinionis. being chiefly. focused. It is .certain t!,at the prospect of war·wlth YugoslaVIa had been VIewed WIth grave disquiet andanxiety in Rome, where the liveliest fears had been felt lest the

39

(1ierman _pressure on Spain, and in a less violent form onPortugal, continues, and the recent enemy successes in theBajkansand Libya have considerably strengthened the GennanaTguments. There is little evidence, however, that the pressurehaS yet got beyond the propaganda and blandishment phase,though there are persistent stories of the arrival of the usualforerunners in Southern Spain, and some are said to have passedthrough on the way to Spanish Morocco ·and beyond. ThesitiIation in Spanish and French Morocco and at Tangier has animportant influence on the Spanish leaders. for not only havethe Germans established themselves in some strength in FrenchMorocco but any important distiIrbance of the status quo inthose parts would strongly tempt the Spaniards to try to getwhat they could out of the ensuing confusion.

Dnring the week there were indications that Spanish resistanceto this German pressure was, if not hardening, at any rate moreinclined to clot, and there is reason to believe that even nowGeneral Franco and the Army chiefs, though they may notbelieve it possible to resist in the long run, will hardly embrace

. their fate with any real delight. This is of importance, for it isunlikely that the enemy will force the pace at the risk of havingto use military measure.s against an associate of the Axis anddeal with a hostile Spain, however ineffective its formal resist­ancc, unless new developments in the war sitiIation make thecontrol of more Atlantic ports a matter of outstanding urgencyto him. The development of the fighting in Libya is likely tohave a great influence on the attitiIde of the Spanish leaders.

The attacks on tbe Portuguese in some Spanish papers haveabated somcwhat, but the enemy attempt to make ]Sortug-neseflesh creep continues. It seems likely that the junketings attend­ant on the celebrations of Dr. Salazar's birthday were intendedalmost more for the purposes of keeping up national morale anddemonstrating the natiOtlal unity than merely for the congratula-tion of the Prime Minister. 0

~1.!iYJiiqjj;afes()llletimesgiver: inB.B,C. broadcasts. The spread6~'!f&fbiddeflnews by fOreIg,;,. broadcasts an~ foreI.gn papersla,~ely!;f(Jfced the Vichy authonties to rela,,; an. meffective cens?r­stllIr'axid to open up the way for. the pubhcatio? and expreSSIOnClf.m6fe independent news and VIews. Accordm& to one. reportft.,trrVichy, "It is realized that the censorship IS. virtuallyllseless. c •• The reading public have been buyme- SWISSti~pefs. more especially since despatches from VIchy m thesepapen:care uncensored. Whenever a· speech by Pre~Ident

Roosevelt is censored in Vichy the. full text. may be fou~d m theSwiss papers. In short it is bemg reahzed that while newscannot be completely suppressed, a press wIthout n"ws ISthreatened with rapid extinction." Another. report attnbutedthe relaxation of restrictions to an understandmg that censorshipis effective only after the confiscation of wireless sets,. which isimpracticable in France. Some of the French papers dId n~t .fallto take advantage of the ambiguities of the official position.Their methods were simple and effective: wide use was made ofAmerican telegrams and quotations from neutral, particularlySwiss, papers, and communiques were present?d and headed ma way which left no doubts as to the sympathIes of the edlt~rs.

This tendency seems to have pertilfbed the VIchy authonties,who are now reported to have decreed that Axis news must be" featiIred " and British and allied news played down.

A very well-informed observer, recently in Vichy, was assuredthat practically every letter from one part of unoccupied Franceto another is censored, not merely as a polIce measure but as anecessary means of finding out the trend ?f public opinion. Thattrend is reflected in the SWISS press, which lately reported that" 95 per cent. of the Paris P?pylation is Gaulliste though loyalto petain." On the RIViera, It IS said, General de Gaulle IS oftenspoken of as " our M~yshal on the other side," an~ an old soldieris quoted as saying, We are happy to have Petam here andde Gaulle in England." The efforts of Vichy propaganda tocounteract this awkward division of popular loyalty have beenmainly concentrated on buildin!S uP. the prestige of MarshalPetain, but, though successful 111 thIS, there seems to be noevidence that they have proportionately wea~ened eIther. ~hepopular sympathy with de Gaulle or the WIsh for a Bntlshvil'tory. In view, however, of the latest dIsplays of (".;ermanmilitary strength, it is necessary to allow for the posslbJllty.ofan increas.ing support for Franco-German collaboration, whichmay appear to some to offer the least unfavourable prospects.in the near future, whatever its resnlts in the long run.

itlr~",dypattered Italian army inAlbania might be caught betweenX*,gi'\~lay and Gr?ek troops itnd eitb,er ,,:nnihiMed or force~ to9apiJ\ilfl:tebefore It coul~ be rescued by Its Germ~n ally. 1 hatfli<f ba.llfSlunent of thiS mghtmitre has come as an unmense rehef

, iti"'')' be gauged by the vainglorious accounts in the Italiitn pres&atid,wireless of Italy's prowess in advancing against the Yuga­sla.vs and Greeks. While praise is lavished upon the Germans,Rome is obviously anxious to establish the importance of Italy'spart in recent events. Since there is no prestige to be won inbattle against cowards, it is even admitted that the Greeks havebeen fighting bravely, though the force of this belated acknow­ledgment is somewhat weakened by the absurd statement thathitherto Italy has had to fight against a foe vastly superior innumbers. It is also pointed out that it is " generally recognized,even by Britain, that the maintenance of communicationsbetween Sicily and Tripoli has been perfectly carried out by theItalian Navy and Air Force."

While the virtual collapse of Italian resistance in Abyssinia,the check to the Axis advance by land upon Egypt, and theincreasing extent to which the United States is interesting herselfin the war are all matters of concern, a commentator on the Romewireless has been counting up Italy's real or supposed gains:

"We have improved from every point of view our'strategic position, and have impaired that of Britain. Wehave freed from the British a vast expanse of our vital space,the total liberation of these territories being one of thesupreme aims of the present war. We have solved theproblems of Dalmatia, Albania and the Adriatic in a mannerexceeding the wildest hopes of our forefathers. OurAlbanian army is available for other tasks. The fleet, thearmies and the air forces of the Axis are now much nearerEgypt and Palestine, which constitute the stronghold of theBritish Empire. Whatever H.oosevelt, Hull, Knox andChurchill may have to say about it, Britain cannot lose thisstronghold without causing the collapse of one-third at leastof the British Empire."

Even without these last statements, it seems plain that theAxis means to make a strenuous effort to capture the Suez Caualbefore the first American ships arrive and to seize coutrol of theoilfIelds in the Middle East. It appears to be argued in someAxis quarters that Turkey can be disrega.rded, since after thefall of <,ireece sea transport from Greek ports is expected to givethe AXIS complete freedom of movement in the Mediterraneanand to afford access to Africa, Palestine and Syria without dis­turbance to Turkish neutrality. This argument, however,seems to underestimate the British Fleet.4~

That~heinternalsituatiOI':,in s1?ite of present rejoicings, is not?oufld"ss~l1gested~}' vanous SIgns of nervousness about the1iI.angers of ene~y propaganda. Pclverelli, UndercSecre­~;~ry to the,MimstrY"of Popular Culhlre, speaks of the; ,necessary Vigilance of the Itahan press and wireless,,becau~enemy propal;anda IS not so upnght as ours, and~preads hes ~?-d tendenclOus news which have to be answeredImmedIately. Telegraf.o reports a case of a man at Cecina'caught 'n flagrante lIstemng to the B. B.C. He was condemnedto two months In pnson, a fine of one thousand lire, and the loss-of hiS ":Ireless set.. In view of the persistent denunciations bythe VatIcan radl~ of the treatment of Roman Catholicism in·Germany, It IS SIgnIficant that a warning should have beenIssued by th~ Under-,s.ecretary of the Interior against the practiceof anli-Fasclst activItIes under the cover of religious teaching.

The Balkans JI~~II~~~II~~~~Acco.rdin& to press reports from neutral sources, 20,000 people

were killed m the German air raids on Belgrade and the city'swater and electnclty supplIes were put out of action. theGermans are saId to have indulged in systematic looting, fillinglong hnes of trucks With stolen goods. They then threw openthe pnsons and. encouraged couvicts to pillage, photographingthem m the act 111 an effort to throw responsibility on the Serbs.Persons between the ages of 16and 60, according to these reportsare bemg forced to clear up the wreckage caused by the raid~and to collect the ~cad and wounded, and anybody fonnd out ofdoors after seven m the evemng is shot without warning. Afterthe looting most of the troops left the city, leaving only a smallge,Inson and members of the Gestapo, who alone are allowed torow across the nver to buy food at Zemun, which was notdamaged lfi the raIds and of which the population was partly ofGerman ongm.

Transocean, the German news agency, has announced fromBerlm that a conference is to be held here" for the settlement ofproblems m the fonner Yugoslav State." Within a single fort­mg~t Berhn offered a guarantee of all Yugoslavia's frontiers~gamst afiY neIghbour, and proceeded to carve it up and to denyItS verynght to eXIst. Two Austrian Nazi stalwarts, Kutscheraand UeberrClther, formerly deep in plots against Dollfuss and~chl1~chmgg, have been appomted as heads of civil administra­tion.m Southern Styna an? Carniola, which seems to forecastthe mcorporahon of Slovema in the Reich and its subjection to

41

,

'lnil

,:,J1'\1-.

\1

I~

!I

i'~¢$tia.I)j~ation. (What i~ taking place in t;he Balkan~, says the.ijfdlili;:Boersen Zeitung, IS not ~)lllya .polItlcal \ev\SlOn but ani\'~nortric transfonnatiOn by whlchagucultu~ewIll be made the'~~§iceconomic activity, .help:;d by ~uch mdustne.s as meat'qitrnmg and sausage makmg, for whIch Germany IS always a

Ygijodcustomer.") The Italians have spread themselves alongitb,eDalmatian coast-cabout which Germany may not s~e eye toeye with them-and are setting up a bogus Montenegrm ~om­

'mittee, on frankly separatist hnes.Meanwhile, the' expenm~ntin Croatian "independence" under PavelItch IS proceedmgapace. The ideas of his Government may be gathered from ":proclamation reminding the Serbs that the motto of the Usta~?:(Separatists) is " an. eye for an eye and a tooth for a t,?oth. 'from a decree that the lands of all volunteers on theSer?lan SIdein. the Great War are to be seized without compensatIOn; andfrom a request to the Vichy Government for. the release of threemen sentenced in 1934 as accomplIces 111 the murder ofKing Alexander.

Roumanian claims to the Banat do not appear to have beengranted, and the German~ have guarded against the .risk offriction between Roumama and Hungary 111 thIS regIOn byrestricting the Hungarian occupation of Yugoslav territory to. thecountry west of the river Tisza. G,:neral.A~ton~scu's relationswith the Germans are strained, mamly, It IS saId, b.ecause hedeclines to demobilize the troops which he at present still holds mreadiness along the Hungarian frontier, i,:, ~ase the RegentHorthy, finding that he could stab Yugoslavia 111 the ba<;k WIthimpunity, might be tempted to seize Southern.Transylvama fr,?ma still more helpless neIghbour. T,? mask hIS J;'ohcy of passIveresistance, in which he has the backmg of hIS mlhtary colleaguesin the Cabinet, General Antonescu lately paId a fulsome tnbuteto Hitler.

The war in the Balkans has of course affected food supplies toGermany. The bread grain supplies from the four Danubiancountries would not be of vital importance, as Germany's ownneeds arc amply covered by domestic production and stocks, butthev would represent a welcome addition, for they would relleveGermany of the necessity of using part of l.'er stocks.of breadgrain for Bclgium, Norway and other occupIed countnes. Thefodder supplies from the south-east would be of much great~rimportance since they represent about 14 per cent. of Gernlany stotal annual requirements. In addition to cereals, Germanyclaimed oilseeds, slaughter animals, pork, lard :,nd eggs. It ISof interest to note that the total of German gram demands wasabout 10 per cent. in excess of the average peace-time exports ofthe four countries concerned, in spite of an unsatisfactory wheat

42

harvest) 'It ,therefore appeared doubtful whether the ambitiousG,}tman',import programme could have been carried out even ifb,,(jjl"lii;«rdifficulty had arisen. The partitioning of RoumaniaTosult("din the loss to Russia of the greater part of the dis1:rictsgtQWrngoilsceds: Roumania's export capacity of grains has alsosuffered, and the original German claims had to be reduced.

The mobilization of the Hungarian and Bulgarian armies, andthe general unrest caused in Roumania, may have an immediateeffect on available export surpluses and prejudice to a certainextent the prospects of the growing harvest even though no actuallighting takes place in these countries. From Yugoslavia,Germany expected to get during 1940-41 about 360,000 tons ofmaize, of which so far only some 50,000 tons seem to have beendelivered. Allhough the Germans have conquered Yugoslavia,they have little hope of obtaining the whole of the balance, forthe peasants arc hoarding maize, partly as a result of thedisappointing wheat harvest in 1940. It appears, moreover, thata substantial acreage of grain-growing land was not sown thisspring. Yugoslavia's promises of pigs (200,000 head) and pigproducts (about 10,000 tons) appear not to have been fulfilledat all, and here, too, there is little prospect of enforcing deliveries.There is reason to believe that the transit traffle on the Danubehas been seriously obstructed by Yugoslav action: if this trafficwere interrupted for more than a very short time, deliveries toGermany of food supplies from Yugoslavia, Roumania andBulgaria would all be considerably affected. The occupation ofGreece will add little or nothing to German food supplies.

" The Greek Air Force," said M. Capsalis, the Greek Minister,in Egypt in a press interview, " will fight on against the Axis,and the whole of the Greek merchant fleet, running into millionsof tons, is at the disposal of the British Government." A signi­ficant aspect of the invasion of Greece is the taking over by theGermans of a number of Greek islands within easy reach of theTurkish coast. This gives them a chain of positions on theTurkish land and coastal frontiers from the Black Sea to Rhodes." The ousting of the British from the Aegean," says the Italianpaper Stampa, "cannot fail to exercise a very beneficialmfluence on the policy of the realistic government of Angora,"and that Government is certainly now faced with a new anddisturbing sitnation. It is possible that the Germans do not intendto attack Turkey unless they fail to reach the Suez Canal byadvancing [rom Libya, and that they are for the moment contentto encircle Turkey and keep her anxious. PapeD, who is shortlyexpected to return to Angora from Beran, may bring somedefinite offer wilh him, or may continue to try, by one meansor another, to shake Turkey's attachment to her alliance with

43

!IIIIIIIII~I~IIIIIIIIIIIIIINAA.006.0326

On the contrary, the U.S.S.R is held up as the coalescence of thetwo causes: "For Soviet patmiutshomeland and Communism:,-re fused mto onel~seBara,blewl,iole,"saidMolotov in a speechm 1939. 1940, ,,:hl{;~bro~ghtthe"libetation " of the peoplesof the Baltic Repu1:Hics, East<;rn l-'oland and Bessarabia was:' a shining reali~ation of the Stalinist teaChlll? of tli~ strengthen­mg and extensIOn. of internatiOnal links.' .• /1311t .whil" theformula 6f " the friendship.of the peoples of thelJ.S:S.K" isrepeated over and over agam, the ptedomin.al1{;" of tlie largestand. ':lost powerful of those peoples-the Russian-receivesImphCltly more and more recognitioIl.

. In January, 1939, the new military oath was inttodtlc~d; withIts omiSSIOn of ~e watchword of revolution and its emphasis onloyal!y to th~ SOVIet Homeland." A year later came theFmmsh war, m ':Ihlch tlle Red Army is now described as havingfought" for Stahn and Country." Every home,school, factoryan~ farm must now tram up " young Soviet patriots mindful oftheIr sacred duty towards the Socialist Homeland." "Our~!~melan~ "-with or without the addition of "Socialist" or

SovIet -has now become popularized as the commonest ofpatnotlc terms. While it is indignantly denied that CommunismIS ,,:ga:nst "love of country, nationality and fatherland,"patnotism has not ollly becor:'e respectable but an urgent duty.The ,,:atehword of revol~tion IS not abandoned, but in the Sovietpress It IS now comparatively rare. The whole emphasis is placedon the defence of the U.S.S.R. as " the bulwark of all advancedhumanity. "

. In order to foster the cult of patriotism, there has been an ever­mcreaslpg tendency to stress the achievements of the Russianpeol;'lc m theBast and to represent Soviet Russia as the heir to aglono,:s traditIOn.. Not only is the patriotism of, for instance,Pushkm and TolstOl underlined, but Russian history is re-written:,-nd fIlmed, WIth emphaSIS on the Russian State and on certainmdlvldual Czars or leaders. No longer do the history books, in!~le words of " one of the ncw Soviet elite," represent that

P~\er the Great was a dmnkard, and Catherine the Great atart. The Moscow WIreless, lately advertising a forthcoming!~lm about Ivan the Terrible, lauded him as the creator of a

muted State which mcluded many nations, a powerful StatewhIch had remamed powerful so that no one dared violate itsfrontiers." Smce thc begining of the war the historical exploitsof the RUSSIan army and navy have becn linked up with theRed an;uy and navy, and there is now something approachin/?;·a,n offiCIal c.ult, not only of Pete!. I (officially h? is not yet again1 eter the Great) but of old mlhtary hcroes lIke Suvorov andKutuzov.

Brltaiit.,iIl"Uher resolve to fight for h<;r o~n national integrity.'A.;'ftlIe.cr'(j<,wman barter arrangement IS saId to have been con­clildil€1,U;j)i:1although economic concessions are usually the firstIilE\ailc1sisy ':which Germany tries to Ul;dermine a country'sresis­taiic<;J,ri:thas to.he remembered that furkey has long traded ona large. scale with Germany. .

U.S.S.R.So far as is known, the German Ambassador has not yet

returned to Moscow from Berlin, but it may be expected thatwhen he does so he will bring with him proposals for a closeralignment of the U.S.S.R. with the Axis, either in a political oreconomic sense, or both. If and when offers arc made to theU.S.S.R. by Hitler, they will almost certainly have a backgroundof threats of invasion, and it is unpredictable how Stalin will reactto them. While an actual invasion or a demand for any con­cession which would weaken Russia's military defences mightcaUse her to fight, she may be prepared to make other con­cessions which would enable her to continue her policy of play­ing for time and strengthening herself while other nationsdissipate their forces.

A commercial agreement was recently arrived at by aNorwegian delcgation, led by a German diplomat, wherebyRussia is believed to have agreed to supply Norway with150,000 tons of grain in exchange for ferro-chrome, and it seemsthat there is a stipulation that the amount of grain will be reducedif Norway fails to fulfll her side of the bargain. A similar pro­vision is reported to have been inserted in a recently signedRusso-Belgian economic agreement, by which Russia is to sendgrain and timber in exchange for coal, zinc sheets, paper, andbuilding materials. It is of interest that the German negotiatorswished to he the sole signatories of the agreement on their side,but the Russian delegates insisted that the Belgians should alsosIgn.

Since the beginning of the war the cult of Soviet patriotism,already for many years a main feature of official propaganda,has been more insistently and widely preached on all possible'occasions. At the same time the call to international revolutionhas been further soft-pedalled, although no divorce whatever isadmitted between Soviet patriotism and true internationalism.

44

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45

il

11111111,111,11~~IIIIIII!il!~NAA.006.0328

II~

Far East

dispositions ,!fIraqi forces may be designed to this end. TheIraqI authonties havcbeengreatly impressed. by the receritger~an successes in the BalJ<ans.anp Cyrenaica, and thelnt~guers have redoubled thei~effQrts to encourage Gennan andIta-Iran support.'90me,.hQwever".whohave been eiager, ifcovert, supportersot avery distant.,Germany as a helpfulcounterpoise to British influence are nOW beginning to ",onqerwh~ther an actual Gennan oce,upation of Iraq would be whollydeSIrable, the mor~ so as the Germans appear to make so litttledifferenec m prachce between the treatment they aCCQrq toaconquercd pr~)vlllce, a protected state or a valued ally, once theirarmy and t~elr Gestapo have overrun its territory. Even the mostardent IraqI J;l3tnot cannot deny that Great Britain gave .inde­pendence to hI~ country and rut the sweets of office at the disposalof whatever Clvllran or soldier mIght be clever enough to seizeand strong enough to hold them. It remains to be seen whetherapossibly distasteful experience is to teach the Iraqis what is thedi!Ierence hetween the British and Gennan practice in dealingWIth the independence of a weak country.

Seeond thoughts in Japan show a more sober appreciationof the ne~tralrty pact with Russia. Chugai, t~e Japanese busi­ness p;an s newspaEer '. IS remarkably frank III its analysis ofRUSSIa smotrve 1Il slgmng the pact, which was, the paper con­sIders,. smlply an lllstance of Russia's Realpolitik aiming at~pre,,:dlIlg. the war and benefiting by the general exhaustion:

It lmplres no partIcular love of Japan." Hocki is equallysceptical of the value of the pact, and considers that, in defaultof further und~rtakmgs by Russia, particularly the abandon­ment to aId to General ChIang Kai-shek, " it cannot be said thatthe cause of our insecurity in relation to the Soviet Union hasbeen removed." The paper takes note of the reports thatMoscow hilS assured Chungking that its China policy will remainunchanged and coucludes that, so long as this is the case, " wecannot acccpt the pact at its face value." The pact was dulyapproved by the Japanese Pnvy CounCIl, and was to came intoforce on 25th April.

On his return to Japan, ML Matsuoka, the Foreign Minister,made statements on the WIreless and to the press in which he saidthat Japan's foreign policy would continue on the" immutableb~sis " of ~he Three Power Pact as supplemented by the treatyWIth Nankmg aud the RUsso-Japanese pact. He claimed that

47

Iraq,!&i,;lJt~yloglco£events iD1Bagh~adhas op.enedaway fo rdiplo.macy';{ic;~i';er a course between the mcolwemen.t Scylla of refusmg to~y;'Any relations ,,:ith the Adn:lmstration. I.n power an~ th~1l'1'\de5itable CharybdIs ?f accordm~ recogmtion to Seyyld All~shiq el Gailam's Cabmet b~fore ~t ,has been earned by con­tinued friendliness. The TurkIsh Mlm~ter took the first step .bycalling on Seyyid Musa, the new Mmlster. f?r ForeIgn A~falrs,as a matter of ordinary routine, without ralsmg any question ofde jure recognition and without waIting on the new Re~ent tooffer congratulations on his accessIOn to office. SIr Kmaha.nCornwallis, it may be remembered, has not yd presented. hISLetters of Credence as British Ambass~dor, and IS therefore I~ anot wholly official position: his amIcable conversations WIthSeyyid Rashid Ali enable him to make the necessary representa­tions on behalf of His Majesty's Govenunent on a footing ~fhappy informality, which in. no way detracts fro.m theIrimportance. The. Wahabl Klllg, .who, as the. premIer ArabPnnce, naturally wIshes to be first III the ~eld with fonnal c0.n­gratulations when such become aEpr~pnate, has meanwhI~etaken evasive action by commumcating a message to hlSCharge d'Affaires in Baghdad to be iml.'0rted verbally. to theSherif Sharaf. In this way the necessIty of recogmzmg theSherif as the new Regent in the address of a telegram has beenavoided. The old Regent, the EmIr Abdul Ilah, has prolong~dhis visit to the Court of his uncle of Transjordan at Amman l.nspite of British advice to the contrary. HIS HIghness and hisentourage, alpong whom arc ~o former Iraqi Prime Minister;;,Seyyid Ali Jaudat and Sej1y:r~ Jamll M?dfal,. have been l.nfrequent telephonic commumeation wIth fnend~ 111 I.raq. ThClrconversations have been tapped and the Cabmct m Baghdadhas learned enough from the indiscr:tions of the exiles to enableit to counter the plans they are makmg agamst It.

Meanwhile the Iraqi Cabinet's suggestions that the Briti~hshould land no more troops at Basra untIl those at present mIraq have passed through to their destinations beyond the frontIershave been coldly recewed, With the l?tImatlOn that po clausein the Alliance limits the number of BntIsh troops whIch can besent through Iraq, and that neither the naval nor the militaryauthorities wncerned can reasonably be expected m tune of warto announce in advance cither the date of the arrival of theirtroopships or the destinations of t~e troops which they land. Itis possible, however, that the mIlrtary leadcrs m Baghdad maytry to limit t'! .some extent .the freedom of movement to beenjoyed by Bnhsh troops while m Iraq, and some of the recent

46

\:

t~'I

I ~I ',- :~

j~an';'P"d shown the ,,:orld that her policy was pe,,:ceful, and't¥fal!",he'wiSlled to contnbut,? to the welfare of mankmd. The~ititooStates, he saId, considered herself a champIon of worldj#e~c'i!"andshould, therefore, have no objection to Japan'sl!o!iey: in fact, if she co;rectly understood Japan'~ real mt,?n­tion, she should applaud It WIth enthusIasm. In this connexH~n

iHsnoteworthy that suggestIOns are said to have been made m" influential" Japanese quarters that Mr. Matsuoka shouldnow go to the United States in an effort to avert a crisis in !hePacific by attempting a peaceful settlement of the issues pendmgbetween the two countries. It is perhaps not unlikely that somesuch move may be under consideration, pa.rticularly if Japanfelt she could in any way persuade ,the Umted States to differfrom Britain, ou the pretext that the interests of these twoPowers in the Pacific and South East Asia are uot identical.

Meanwhile Japan is showing impatience with Thailand andIndo-China. The dissemination of Japanese reports-the truthof which is uncertain-of French military reorganization, troopand ship concentrations in Indo-China and provocative behavouron the Thai frontier suggest that the Japanese may already belooking for pretexts for applying fresh pressure on Indo-China.They are at the same time becoming manifestly impatient overthe slowness of the Thai and French peace delegates to come tofinal agreement on the implementation of the settlement broughtabout by 1apanese mediation. It is the Thais, apparently, whoare delaying matters by objecting to certain provisions approvedby the Japanese. This might well be made an excuse forbringing more pressure to bear on Thailand, where Japaneseinfiltration and intrigue have been proceeding steadily: indeed,Thailand is already in a state of something like subservience toJapan, Recent reports have suggested that Japan may bemaking ready for an attack on Malaya in the near future, and forthis purpose she would need bases in Thailand. These reportsemphasize that Japan has sufficient troops available for such anoperation and that its timing would be likely to depend onGerman progress in the Eastern Mediterranean region. It is atleast certain that preparations have been made by the Japanesefor furthcr southward operations, and that sufficient forces areavailable at short notice for the purpose.

In spite of Chinese claims that the c:onflict between Chungkingand the Chinese Communists had been patched up, Damei, theJapanese news service, has been asserting that both sides are pre­'Paring for a new clash of arms. At the same time Damei reportshave been emphasizing the increasing dependence of GeneralChiang Kai-shek's Government on the United States. ThisJapanese propaganda is interesting if considered in the light of

48

a statement by the New Yark Times c. . _ .... •.~at Soviet propagandists in the Far i:r~spon<.l~l}tJ.llS!,JallglIa.i~_ ~own WIth the American, British and . are uSIRi'}h<; sl(jga;\'-,fhls implies that if Chnnkin /abaneseynpcn<iIistsI"Russians to be under Anglo-Am~ri~r;:eco~tr':;c:~nsldel~ed.by tilesame level as Nanking The Ru' "~ wou. be on theregard the war in China as " sSlans Img t then choose to'" imperialisms, " each with its Ch~e~~nfllct bet:",?en two r.ivalthen be considered right and proper"fo;~~f~Se~~e- t It mIghtt~e creation of a " People's Government" in' a~' ;nu~hOt~~~fo°rt~a~~~ ;~~n~~~~~lllumstscould seize, presumably in ShenY,

11111111111!llllllllllillllllllllllllllNAA.006,0329

U.S.A.Strong speeches by Mr C d II H II '

and Colonel Kno - th S' '. or e • u , the Secretary of State,x, e eCletary of the Navy h' d' I'to the American people that it' d 1 ,ave ma e It p a11l

of the Atlantl'c" "w IS eepy concerned 1!I the " Battle. ays must be f d" 'd

ensure that aid for Britain reaches it o~n t'- til \Wr. Hull, " totime and maximum capacit JJ (t W S cs llla all In the shortestbe sunk in the Atlantic, "y~aid C e c~nnot aHo,;, Our goods tobeatcn if they are. This is our fi olond Knox, we. :hall beselves to thIS world strnggle." g1t.k ,r'e have commltlcd our­speeches, President Roosevelt sa' s e to comment on thesethe great majority of the Ameri~~:e~hought that they spoke forthat American naval patrols would lcop~e. d Ile"went on to saywaters of the Seven Seas ~ e ex en c as far mto theof the American hemi~phere:"may be necessary for the defence

Patrols are not convoys b t th - '.step forward in the roces~ u eu, extensIon IS an importantnot go to the botton; of the ~tlnSff1]f,g that aId to Britain shalltedion Publi ". an IC or want of Amencan pro­th~ se' f . c opUuon .15 not at the moment ready to su) )ortintouthe°w~~n~~ntO{ an llI~mcdiathcentrance of the United 4Ltest~ the latest' Gallu s nw vmg m t e right direction. Accordingfavour convo s . p po s, 71 per cent. of those voting woulddefeated for \~~n;fof\l~rE,ea~ed certam th?-t Britain .would bewill sooner Or later be invoiveJ pe;hcent. thmk the Umted Statesthis opinion five months ago)' md ./-tar (o~ly 59 per cent. heldby the entrance of the Unit~d ~~ tIl ~PPthaJedeertam that onlybe defeated, 68 per cent wo~ld a es m 0 e

lWar could the Axis

. approve suc 1 a step.(C41 201_1) D 49

ap interfercnce with the defence programme, more ~speci!l;UYslIl~e the development of .the war ~n the EasteTfi Mediterranel\nregIOn, and threats of AXIs expanslOn elsewhere particularly inNorth Afr!ca, a~e every d~y bringing. home ~ore clearly thedangers With which the Umted States, III common with the restof the world, is now faced.

The Left faction in Mexico has received a setback by the newlaw depJiving Government cmployees of their right to stJike.The voting in favour of the new Act was 87 against 2. By thesame law" confidential employees" of the Government may beengaged by. heads of departinents without any interference bythe trade Hillon syndIcates. Figures recently published show theeffect of the blockade on Germany's exports to Mexico. For themonth of August, 1939, their value was 11 million pesos; in thefIrst. month of the war the figure dropped to less than sevenmillIon pesos; and by December, 1939, it was only one millionpesos. For a tune German goods continued to arrive at irregularmtervals mamly vIa Italy, but Mllssolini's entry into the warput ~n end to that. Such German goods as are now reachingMeXiCO are sent by way of Sibena and the Pacific. A severee~rtlIquake on the Padfic. coast of Mexico is reported to havedlsorgamzed commumcations and lIlstaliations at the port ofManzanillo, from which substantial shipments of strategic com­modities have heen made to the Far East, ostensibly for Japanor Russia. .

The. effects of the war on the economy of Latin Americancountnes, partl.cularly thos,! which produce largely for export,such as Argentma, have raised many problems. By an agree­ment signed between Argentina and Brazil it is hoped to stabilizenormal purchases of commodities-Argentine wheat for Brazil,Brazlhan textiles for Argentina-··and also to use the creditfacilities established for the purchase of surpluses in such a wayas to benefit both countries. In Chile the effects of the war haveb~en less drastic than was expected. Chile did much businessWith Germany before the war, but her trade has been readjustedand her two chief clients are now the United States and Britain.

H.M. Government have agreed with the Venezuelan Govern­ment on a line defining their interests in the submarine areasseparating Trinidad from Venezuela, which are thonght to con­tam oil-bcaring deposits, and Britain has agreed to cede toVenezuela the small island of Patos within three miles of the

51

IIIIIIIII~~I~IIIIIII~IIIIINAA.006.0330Latin America I

lIlthc;weantime, the Maritime Commission has req,uisitionedfQ,l)!tit~Wlreighters, one brand ,:ew, for transfer to Bntam,a~dtJ'lls\S's"idJo be only the begmmng of a big programme of aid ill

§1¥PPWg.. The building programme is being expanded and;i0;derated. The Naval Commission has recommen4ed theAdmi.nistration to take over and run the 69 German, ltahan andDanish vessels now in custody, and Congress is expected to g!vetAe President powcr to buy or charter such vessels. Followmgthe announcement of bases in Greenland, the removal of the RedSea from "combat zones," the President's declaration thatAmerican ships will be prot?c~edon all lawful occasions, and ~heextension of naval patrols, It IS expected that Amencan shippmgwill be free to ply as far as Iceland with cargoes for Britain, andthe Secretary of the Navy has declared that more of H.M. shipswill put in for overhaul at America:n naval yards, and that" absolute priority" will be accorded to Ihem.

Much publicity has been given to a mass meeting organizedin New York by the isolationist" America First" Committeeand addressed by Colonel Lindbergh. "It is obvious," he said," that England is losing the war," and he urged that Amencashould keep out of it. Although he said that it would be " atragedy to the entire world" if th~ British Empire were tocollapse, he apparently Wishes the Umted States to do nothmg toprevent such a tragedy. The New York Times observes thatthere were more Amenean fhgs than Amencans at the meeting.The very large attendance-it is reported to have amounted tosome 35,000 persons----<An be accounted for by the largeGennan, Italian and Irish-American population of New York,and by the fact that Colonel Lindbergh has now, in the wordsof a commentator, become" bell-wether for all the subversiveelements in the United States." A well-known New York" columnist" says that leaders of the German-American Bundwere conspicuous at the meeting, and that a man on the platformwho always started the applause was a German" whose accentwas as thick as his head."

The Pacific coast shipbuilding unions and employers haveagreed to avoid strikes and lock-outs for the duration of the"emergency, " and this agreement is being extended to the nationalshipbuilding industry. It is expected to foreshadow similaragreements in all the basic defence industries. The rate of pro­duction in these industries is in many directions increasing rapidly,but the strikes arc still a difficulty. The strike in the soft coalindustry, which had somewhat curtailed steel production andinterrupted work in a numbcr of defence plants, is now reportedto have been ended by the intervention of President Roosevelt.The Administration eould not have pennitted for long so serious

50

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IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII~IIIIIINAA.006.0331

i '

ri:J.a.inJ."i:J.d... ]'he waters concerned are strategically. important,A1)f;l'th<O'copqlusion of the agreement should contnbute to the's~r\,piM\'ning of their defence.

'opinion in Central America is turning more and more again~tGermany, in spite of, or perhaps because of, the recent mtensl­ncation of German actIvItIes ill that part of the world. ThePresident-elect of Hayti has gone to Washington, where, it isreported, he may discuss the possibility of a United States basein the republic. He IS also reported to hold strong VIews onGerman activities, notorious in the Caribbean area, and to beconsideling ways and means of ending them.

South AfricaAllusion has previously been made in W.1.R. to the Osse"Ya

Brandwag, an ostensibly" cultural" but intensely NationalIstand anti-British subversive organization. Among the supportersof the Government there arc two bodies of opinion. The largerbody supports the Cabinet's policy of leniency towards all thosewho are opposed to South Africa'sparticipation in the war. Theybelieve very strongly that the NatIonahst parnes and the OssewaBrandwag are neither strong no.r united and ar~ neitherdangerous nor likely to become so lJl the future. ThIS VIew ISbased on the belief that many NatIOnalIsts are not really opposedto the war effort and hope that Britain and her allies will win.

There is, however, a small Cabinet and United Party minoritywho constantly urge that a full-blooded prosecution of the warrequires firm action agamstall subversIve tendenCies. They fearthat leniency will result ill strengthemng and spreadmg. theopposition movement in Its most militant. form. [hey behevethat 75 per cent. of the staff of the State RaIlways and 60 per cent.of that of the Posts and Telegraphs Department are alreadymembers of the Ossewa Brandwag, and that the employment ofthis strength against the Government is only a matter of time.The banning of the Ossewa Brandwag, even If It requ.lred. adeclaration of martial law, would be welcomed by th15 mmontygroup. They believe that while there are unquestionably verymany NatlOnallsts who would Wish the parhamentary system tobe retained in the Republic they hope for, there are probablymany who would support a Republie on ~otalitarianli'.'es becauseit would give them complete dommallon over then' Enghsh­speaking fellow-countrymen.

The present policy of the Government, exemplified in recentincidents at Johannesburg, is 10 allow the Ossewa Brandwag to

52

pursue its corporate aims, but to prosecute individualmelhbetswho break the law, each case being treated on its tnerifsandnofas a part of an organized movement to subvert the alilthority ofthe State. .• ..•...

. It is noteworthy that Germany puts out unceasing propag<:tl).dam Afnkaans, deSIgned of course to embarrass the South MricitnGovernment and encourage the opposition. This haslatelytaken the form of an attack on General Smuts, who is accused oftaking a suspicious interest in the Belgian Congo and the Portu­guese colonies in Africa. "Apparently," said a recent Germanbroadcast, " Smuts knows thaf in the present Union he will notbe able to keep the Afnkaner people down much longer, or stopthem from carrying out their national ideals. For this reason heaims at creating a Greater African State in which he can play theBritish, Portuguese, Belgian and non-white elements off againstthe Afrikaners." i

I

I

PART V: SPECIAL CONTRIBUTIONSThe Admiralty does not necessarily agree with the opinions

expressed in Part V of" W.I.R."

Prisoner in EnglandExtracts fNFm the Diary of a H a-u,ptmann Staffelkapitiin

12th February, 1941

It was about 2330 hours, and my faithful Heinkel had just dropped tierbomh-Ioad on the target. All at once there was a terrific na.,>hing and bankingin t~l-c aircraft and! saw tracer hnllets .flying past the cockpit left and right./\. mght fighter had got on to us -nothmg to boast of, considering that therewas a brilliant full m,OOH. The right engine packed up at once and the leftfollowed suit as the night :fighter flew at us. for the third time. We werelosing height and the right engine began to sm,oke. So 1 gav8 the order:" Jum,p for it !" nut only the pilot, the \'Vrr operator and I were able todo so: the mechani.c and the rear gunner lay dead at their posts. \Ve dis­covered later that the former had hi.s spine sh;~~ttered and the latter had alJllI1ct through his head.

\Ve baled out at abnut 3,000 feet, and I seemed to myself to be hoveringover England in complete immobility. I sa"\\' the light of the explosion whellthe Heinkel crashed, and a moment later I landed with a bump in a field.I stood alone in the moonlight, thanking heaven that I had once again beenspared, and thought of my wife who would be so long without news of me.Then a young boy approached circumspectly, and directly afterwards twoolder men, who took me along to a farm where the farmer's \vife gave me teaand biscuits. Soon t.he ronm was filled with Air Raid \Vardens and Hom.eGuardsmen who were anxious to gape at a German airman and to collectsouvenirs. But I had nothing to give them.

53

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13tl!.¥arch .._ MeamvhHe the police arrived, having been SUIDliwned by telephone. After

asb.Qrtexawination, I was handcuffed and taken to the Police Station atWidne5by car. There I was thoroughly searched and evcl"ything, including myhandkerchief, was taken from me. Then I was left chatting with a coupleof policemen. I trotted. outmy schoolboy English, but it proved to be quitea,dequate. Time passed slowly as we chatted and at about 4 o'clock anInterrogation Officer of the R.A.F. arrived; At last, at about 6 o'clock, Iwas taken to a police cell, which was very rom.antic but rather hard. But Iwas so tired that I was soon asleep.

At about 2 o'clock three military cars and a number of soldiers arrived tofetch us three---~a car for each. \iVhen we reached. the Internment Campat Preston we were marched in single file, still with a soldier separating eachof us from the others, to the Orderly Room. I was first handed over to theguard, and then was conduded to my lordly apartment. When I was alone,I realized for the first time that I was a prisoner ,. and I had to take a grip onmyself not to sob out loud. This wretched room, and outside, in the mid-daylight, barbed wire \\fas being fixed acroSS the window. There was a stonefloor, a camp bed, but neither chair nor table; but there was running hotand cold water. And, as if in mockery, the Camp Commandant appearedand asked if I had any complaints to make. I could have kicked him! Butthere was no help for it. I was a prisoner and I had to make the best of it.I proceeded to do so by walking up and down my room like a tiger in a cagf~,

until at last it ·was night and I quickly fell asleep on my eamp bed.

14th MarchAfter I had had breakfast and everything had been searched, I hied to

shut the window as a cold wind was blowing. T slipped and fell throughthe pane. I cut my left hand slightly but it bled like the 'very dickens. ATommy came along and dabbed me 1,,,ith iodine (just as we do at home) andbound up the wound. "You won't get another window pane"· I was told;" glass is scarce just 11O'W." But someone soon came in to fix up a substitute.Altogether, I must say the English soldiers treat one very well and in a com­radely fashion. Almost the first thing everyone of them asks is whether Iam married, and then they exprcss sympathy with my wife. Som.e of themeven ask to see her picture.

15th MarchAt noon a warder came 'in and told me to pack, as I wa:; going to he given

a nicer" home." My packing did not take long-all I had was a pairof gloves. After (linner I was put on board a lorry and taken to t.he stationwith the pilot and the WIT operator. They were very depressed and seemedto be bemoaning their fate. I tried to buck them up, although I was feelin~

pretty gloomy m.yself.

\-\Then we arrived in London, at about 9 p.m., an air raid was in progre~s.

But everything went on as usual in the station ,,,,hi Ie the A.A. pooped offoutside. \Ve waited with the statton guard, and military police offered uscigarettes and tea and buns. Then cars came for us a.nd we drove off throughthe city, which "\vas in complete darkness, only illuminated hy the light ofthe moon. I did see a certa.in number of wrecked houses and ,ve had to makea detour, unfamiliar to t.he driver, owing to a road having heen renderedimpassable by a bomb. Howevcl·, finally \ve arrived at Queen's Garden Camp.There were short fonnalities to be gone through, and then I pa:;sed by way ofsentries and barred doors to my room, where, dead beat, I ":;lept.

54

il.llllllllllllllllillllllll~I!~16th March NAA.006.0332· My new quart.crs are a bit more like I I have a proper' bed, a table, a chai.r~

III fact, two chairs-a chest of drawers, and a washbasin. The window onlyo~ns at the top and th~~n only h~1f-way. The English seem to' be awfullyfnghten.ed of us! Outslde my wmdow alone 1 can see three sentries withfixed bayonets, There is another one outside the (lOOT, I know. My activitiesfor the day were confined to a study of the rules and regulations of the estab­lishm~nt and of a].l that goes ,:,n outside the .wi11do"\v. I was entertained bythe dlffercnt beanng and eqUipment, the tncks and turns, of the sentrieswhich are so odd according to our ideas. '

In the ~vening I was brought up before a \Ving Commander, who appearedto be a fnendly individual. He tol~l mc that another aircraft of my Gl·uppehad been brought down the same lllght as myself. And when he had givenme a card On which to send an immediate message to my wife, he told thewaruer to give me: a book ~? read and I was dismissed. During the nightI heard German aIrcraft sailmg over our heads and the A.A. barking awayfuriously after them.

17th March· To-d~y the Recc.ption Officer ca~ne to see me, returned some of my things,III partIcular the pictures of my wIfe and parents, and took down quantitiesof Personalia to be sent to ~he Red Cross at Geneva. 1 was given my number,and. thus became a real pnsoner 01 war-No. 76,543,210. At the same timeI was informed that I was to share a room with another man, probablyfrom that very day. Of course I was delighted. And, in fact, during theafternoon I was moved into another room and found a new" bed fellow,"Oberleutnant A--.

We il1~roduced ourselves and sniffed l"Ound one another suspiciously.Then deCIded that after all ·we ""vere not spies, and told each other our talesof woe. Oberleutnant A-- has been a prisoner for one day longer thanmyself, so he is an " old hand." ~iVith much t.alk and discussion the eveningwore on, and we went to sleep agam amid the roar of A.A. firc.

21st March· ~e neVer ce.ase being surprised at the naIvety of the people here. I ammclme? to thmk that they went into this war considerably unprepared,expcct11lg to have a much easier job of it. Now they realize that things arcnot s? easy af,ter all, and are beginning to ration anyth.ing and everything­only It mustll.t ~e ~one all at once, but gradually. lest it should be thoughtthat they are lmltatlllg the ·villainous "NazIs." That, of course, must on noaccount be suspected; for what would kind Uncle Roosevelt say, whoseLease-and~Lend Bill has just shown how anxious he is to come to the aidof poor unfortunate democracies.

22nd lHarch, A Flying Officer 1>mugh~ us some newspapers. vVe read them from begi.n­

nmg to end and back agam. Apparently the English are terrified of losingthe war. They keep on emphasizing that they cannot lose the war, Lut at~he s~me time every possibility must be taken into account. And then thelllVaSI(ln! Of course, it would be impossible for Hitler to bring it off-hutjust the same ... And so on and so on.

23rd Ivlarch\\~c ha<l another batch of newspapers today, which, though a day old, were

receIved and read ,vith joy. I discovered among other things that the pilotwho shot me duwn was decorated by the King with the Distinguhhed Flying

55

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4 copies.

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Cross; and found a picture 01 the remains of my poor old bus. Apart from tlk1,twe:rejC?~c.edover the difficulties ofthe English, and were amused by the debatesinc.garliament,where everybody talks against everybody else and ends byaCG'c;:p-hllg :the Government's m.easures just the same.

..25th -M'arch

ThisafternOOll it \vas discovered that Oberleutnant A- - has lice. Hewas rcmo\'ed for purification, and his belongings too. As a result he smellsawfuL I was also examined, but, thank heaven, have not acquired anylodgers.

2nd April

Oberleutnant A- - " has left, and my new companion is Leutnant Q~_..Hewas a little awkward at first, and evidently afraid that I might be somesort of spy. However, we soon made friends. He was shot down by a smallsteamer which he was trying to sink, and was picked up by a police launch.'Ne noW' get the newspapers regularly. Rumours of invasion are again rife.

7th April

A day full of sensations! Not only have '."i'e the pleasant anticipation ofpay-day tomorro\\', but after long delay 1 got my hair cut for sixpence.Mr. T....ater-on (our vVarder, so called because he always says" Later on " toanything we ask) acted barber. True, he is a butcher in civilian life, but hecut my hair so -well that all the other inmates of my room immediately feltthat they must have their hair cut too. And so they did. 1 said" all theother inm.ates. " And this brings me to the second sensation. T,eutnant F~­has become a m.enJ..oer of our party. So there will be three of us.

8th April

During the night we had the gUllS <Lga.ill, the first time for a long While.What it was all about 1 Suppose 'we shall find out Irom t.he newspapers. Inthe same way, we heard for the first time today of the entry of Cerman troopsinto Greece and Yugoslavia. Of course, we were delight.ed and felt con­siderably bucked up by it. \Ve were also pleased at the news of ollr advancein Libya. The English, of course, are turning it into another of their gloriousretreats! '"

DelikatessenOne German said to anolher, " You know, soon we are going

lo eat mouse. "~" I know. But what I really dread is ersatzrnOllse."

56(C41201-1l 2,225 5f-4t

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tn W.I.R.

1III111111111I1111111111111111111111111

NAA006.0333

DISTRIBUTION

Commanders-in-Chief

Flag Officers and Staffs (including Flag Officers-in-Charge on Shore) 3

Battleships, battle cruisers and aircraft carriers 8

Cruisers, destroyer and s~bmarine depOt ships, armed merchantcruisers and ocean boardIng vessels 3

Flotilla leaders, landing craft carriers and anti-aircraft ships 2

Destroyers, monitors, sloops, c0n-:ettes, sUb~arines. surve~ng

ships, repair ships, netlayers, mme1ayers. 1lllllesweepers. mmedestructor ships and river gunboats

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Naval Control Service Officers at Home

Contraband Control Bases

Resident.Naval Officers in United Kingdom

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111111"111~~jllllllllllllrNAA,006,0334

This document is to be treated as 1,'1','

secret, to be passed by handfrom Officer to Officer and finallyreturned to the Commanding Officer. II'

When not in use it is to be kept I

under lock and key. The subjecl­matter may be discussed in Officers' 1'1

Messes provided no strangers arepresent.

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--_.Priwra for the Admirall}' al H.M. SlatWti.:ry Office PrI!~'S, Hartow.