THE CHINA MAIL, NOVEMBER 25, 1939
Edgar Wallace Atmosphere In Nazi Coup Revelations
TERUKUNI
MARU INQUIRY
The
Tokyo, To-day.
"Nichi-Nichi"
ASTOUNDING MR. BEST, DETAILS OF DUTCH AND
BORDER AFFAIR STEVENS
says the Government is gathering A data with the utmost care to determine the responsibility for the mining of the Teru- kuni Maru-
cides, it will be equivalent to befriend- ing one belligerent and antagonising the other, which might mean that Ja- pan will be dragged into a European war, says the newspaper.
London, To-day.
semi-official statement has been issued at The Hague, regarding the incident in a Dutch town near the German frontier in which the Germans seized a motor car and abducted two alleged British Secret Service agents.
Whichever way the Government de- The statement says that in the car next to the driver were two Britons who had produced authority to show that they had permission to get into touch with Germans to study possibilities for peace negotiations.
--
The British Embassy has issued a ,statement in connexion with the sink-
ing, which says:
"It has been established by the British Admiralty that German aircraft laid mines in five differ. ent localities off the East Coast of England after
the dark on nights of Nov, 20 and Nov. 21.
"Such breaches of international law to may temporarily cause damage neutral shipping, but now that the method has been definitely ascertain- ed, suitable measures can be taken to counteract it."-Reuter.
ANATOLIA DEA ROLL
Ankara, To-day.
The death roll in Anatolia (Turkey) has now reached 43.
Sixteen villages were almost en- tirely destroyed by nine violent earthquake shocks and over 1,000 homes have been destroyed.
Help is being rushed as quickly as possible from all parts of the coun-. try. Reuter.
was no breach of Netherlands trality.
to
a British Secret Service agents, it is
CAPTAIN
Amsterdam, To-day. The semi-official Nether- lands statement on the Ven- loo incident, says that the
four people abducted across the frontier by the Nazis were:-
Mr. Best, Captain Stevens, ́ ́ а chauffeur from The Hague named Lemmens, and Lt. Klop, of the Dutch mili- tary information service.
a frontier cafe.
and Lt.
They were accompanied by Dutch officer who had instructions to learned on high authority in London On the day prior to the incident supervise in order to see that there that suggestions had reached London Mr. Best. Captain Stevens
neu-from important elements in Nazi rul-Klop met two unknown Germans at
ing circles which seemed to offer the on reasonable The Dutch statement may give rise possibility of peace
semi-official | terms. misunderstandings, circles in London point out.
The proposals for peace come from the German alde In view of the Influential quarter from which they came, it was the duty of those who received them to pass them on.
PASSED ON
had and
near
The British subjects concerned pass- ed them on and when kidnapped they were on their way to a place the frontier to receive further man peace proposals.
to It was obviously necessary examine the bona fides of these suggestions In case they might have a practical importance. Captain Stevens and Mr. Best were entrusted with this task, which entirely proper and had not the re- motest connexion bomb plot.
was
with the Munich
The Dutch authorities, as explained in the semi-official statement from The Ger-Hague, were duly informed of the na-
is
The suggestion that this should be
Dutch officer supervised by a strange, these semi-official circles in London point out. It seems to be a law new principle of international that to receive peace proposals could an infringement of in any way be Netherland neutrality-Reuter.
LONDON STATEMENT ON - THE INCIDENT.
London, To-day. With reference to the kidnapping near Venloo, on the Netherlands-Ger- man frontier of Captain Stevens and be Mr: Best, alleged by the Nazis to
0
Bette Davis and George Brent head the cast of "Dark Vlötory " the brilliant romantic drama which is now showing at the King's
ture of the mission by Captain Stevens and Mr. Best, and raised no objection. As a precaution to ensure that noth- ing was done inconsistent with Dutch neutrality, a Dutch officer was sent to accompany the British emmissaries.
The sequel is well-known.
Himmler's agents apparently discovered 'what was afoot and decided to prevent any Important peace move from the German side.
The idea of pretending a connexion with the Munich plot was probably a Gestapo afterthought.-Reuter.
FREEDOM STATION STATEMENT
London, To-day.
The German Freedom Station yes- terday broadcast a message to Himmler, the Gestapo chief, as fol- lows:-
"You are as well aware as we are that neither Elser nor the two British men are responsible for the Munich bomb explosion,
"We know the perpetrators, and, therefore, we can speak positively."-- Reuter.
VIOLATION OF DUTCH TERRITORY
London-To-
The Amsterdam: ure raaf" des- cribes the Venloo kidnapping of the two British umissaries as flagrant | violation of our territory."
The Dutch newspaper con. tinues: "It was no incident but a well-organised attack by eight armed -Germans on a Dutch-car on Dutch Wrritory: There is no question of, a mistake.
The Gërmans arned
in the
Next day a Dutch car containing these four, who were later abducted, drove up to the cafe, which was cer- tainly more than 20 yards from the German frontier.
ex-
CONFLICTING REPORTS
Reports are conflicting as to actly what happened next, but ac- cording to witnesses, those who car- wore civilian ried out the attack clothes.
Two persons stepped from the car, one presumably being the chauffeur, and were greeted by two men stand- ing by the car.
Suddenly six men stood round the house shooting wildly with automatic firearms. The two men staggered and collapsed, and one is believed to have been killed instantly.
an.. them
The assailants then turned the bystanders, threatened with pistols and shouted to them to get Inside the building.
The other six put the dead wounded into the Dutch car.
THREE-MINUTE DRAMA
and
In the meantime a German car had · arrived from the German side of the border and took the Dutch car in tow, and attackers and victims dis- appeared over the border.
The whole drama occupied three minutes. Nobody was able to inter- vene, and those who looked out of windows were threatened with guns and compelled to remain stilk
The smoothness with which the attack was carried out gave tha Impression that it was very care- fully prepared.
Gendarmes who arrived on the scene found a large number of car- tridge cases, suggesting the attackers had been firing very rapidly.
CAFE RENDEZVOUS
au-
The statement adds that Lt. Klop was to have been present at a meet- ing which the Englishmen intended to have at the frontier cafe because the Englishmen had produced thority showing themselves charged with discussing- the Germans the possibility of eventual peace negotia- tions. Reuter.
attack not only committed a serious violation of our sovereignty but a crime for which Dutch law provides big penalties."-Reuter,“