A GALLANT REMNANT "One Hundred And Twenty Yards Of Poland"
POLISH NAVAL CO-OPERATION WITH BRITAIN
From Our Naval Correspondent
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY YARDS of Poland "all that is felt to us of our native land," as one of her offi- cers put it lay at anchor for a few hours in a British port.
The fragment of the homeland, a Polish destroyer, had come in from a North Sea patrol, and even as I stepped on board urgent orders came for her to put to sea again, so that my intended visit was reduced to a couple of hours.
SABOTAGE FEAR ON BRITISH SHIPS
At the request of the British Consul, special police guarda have been placed on British ships in Ban Francisco to prevent sabo-. tage.
Special coastguard convoys are also provided to escort incoming British vessels.
BASQUES TO
But they were two hours of intense interest, with a strong RETURN
under-current of sadness.
YOUNG OFFICERS
Three Polish destroyers escaped | ratings can take in coded messages from the Baltic as the war began. with remarkable accuracy, which is Somewhere near Kiel Bay they elud-perhaps not so surprising since code ed a German cruiser and two battle- is no language at all. But the speed ships, but otherwise their passage with which the decoding is done by into the North Sea was uneventful as
the young
Polish officers who only a navalevent. But on the human side | learned a schoolboy English at the it was tense, for the 540 officers and Naval Academy at Gdynia is a proof men had left behind in a land that of their keenness. was being overrun by a relentless enemy all their relatives and their homes. Few of them know to-day what has become of their families. An impenetrable veil hides the fate of wives and children, fathers, mo- thers, and friends. Occasionally, all too rarely, a letter arrives from some neutral country bordering on the Baltic that brings good news. But the mails for the Polish destroyers work-cruiser, and their heavily massed con- ing now with the British Navy are pathetically thin. Then "postman" comes off from the shore with an em- pty bag more often than not.
CO-OPERATION WITH THE BRITISH NAVY
As in the destroyer service of any navy, the officers are all youthful. There are more than are normally carried in a British destroyer, but then these Polish craft are much big- ger than our designs. They displace 2,144 tons, almost the size of a light
trol tops and bridge houses give them a formidable appearance. They have a nominal speed of 39 knots, but can and do exceed that frequently, and although designed for service in the Baltic they have stood up remarkably well to the heavy seas.
The Polish Navy is only twenty | years old, but already it has built up traditions of heroism. One day we shall know the story of the end of the destroyer Wicher, that perished at Gdynia after a fierce fight with Ger- man bombing 'planes. We shall later know how the little minelayer Gryf went down in the Baltic after a Homeric struggle against the German Signalling forces investing the Polish seaboard.
To keep themselves from brooding, officers and men of all three vessels have thrown themselves heart and soul into the work of war at sea. Al- ready they have had several encoun- ters with U-boats and are convinced that they have accounted for more than one. Most of all they have toil- ed at perfecting their co-operation with British naval units.
and reading signals in Д foreign language is no easy task. At present each destroyer has one or two British ratings attached to help in this work, but already they are becoming un- necessary. The young Polish bunting- tossers who knew no word of English three months ago are rapidly proving expert at reading morse, semaphore, and flag signals. The Polish wireless
DEFIANT ENSIGN
Meantime the ensign of Poland streams defiantly astern of the three destroyers as they thrash about_the seas on the trail of the enemy. They nave not been incorporated in the British Navy. They are allies, work- ing with us for the restoration of Po- land. That fragmentary 120 yards will not be "all that is left" for long, And always in the memory of British naval men there will be a soft corner for the names of these three des- troyers.
HOME
One hundred Basque children, who in 1936 left war-torn Spain for peaceful England, to-morrow will return from war-dimmed England to peaceful Spain.
FAST, NEW PLANES FOR NAZIS
Reports of ultra-fast German bomb. ers catapulted into the air with huge fuel loads, and using now accelerator devices, are probably true, says "The Times" aeronautical expert, and the Journal "Aeroplano" warns that "Speed must be the first consideration."
"Thousands of Spitfires would be useless against à dozen bombers which they could not overtake.
"British designers have planned new and better prototypes of almost every machine now in service. These must be the first consideration.”
"Thousands of Spitfires would be useless against a dozen bombers which they could not overtake
"British designers have planned new and better prototypes of almost every machine now in service. These must be produced without delay."
"The Times" expert belleves that the Germans have developed "assist- ed take-offs."
For three years they found sanc- tuary in the country house of a bache- formerly practised as a barrister in |lor, Lieut-Colonel Maurice Alexander. | Montreal.
he
His care made * wild, fear-crazed After wor service in France walfs happy and healthy.
served a term in the English House of Colonel Alexander is a Canadian and Commons.
The
HUNTED BY GESTAPO, NOW ENGLISH CURATE
new curate
of the parish of captability is divided.
Preston (Sussex) is a fugitive from the Gestapo.
He is Rev. Willy Oelsner, a German pastor and the husband of a countess. He is a fugitive because one of his grandfathers was a Jew.
Parish opinion about his
The Bishop of Chichester (Rt. Rev. Allen Bell), in whose diocese Preston lies, has said:
"He is a member of a Christian Church persecuted in Germany.
"It is a good thing that the Church ac-of England should befriend him."
Fireside
Comfort
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STAR FERRY
DIVIDEND
The "Star" Ferry Company. Limited report that, subject to audit, the amount at credit of Profit and Loss Account for the year ended 31st December, 1839, is: $501,490.57; Less amount of Interim Dividend paid at $2,00 per share on 17/8/39. $160,000.00 =$341,490-57; The amount brought forward from the year 1988 being |$24,152.23; -The total now, available
for distribution is $265,642.80.
the fort oming Annual Meet- of Sha
the Directors ppropriation, as end of
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