1941-05-12 — Page 7

HONGKONG DAILY PRESS

THE WAR IN THE AIR:

AVIATION'S PART IN BATTLE OF

THE ATLANTIC: AIR

SUPPLY SERVICE FROM AMERICA

"We are now going to demonstrate the technique of supply by air on a vaster and bolder scale," said MAJOR OLIVER STEWART, M.C., A.F.C., the B.B.C. aviation ex- pert, when he broadcast from London on Saturday on the increasing part which aviation will be called upon to play in the air battle of the Atlantic.

་

Nazi Fighters Active Over England

led.

PASSENGER TRAIN MACHINE-GUNNED

LONDON, May 11 (Reater- There was activity by enemy fight- Major Stewart referred to within reach of German bombers ers over southeast England yester the use of aircraft by Ger- and all the German factories are day but no bombs were dropped, 11 mans for attacks on British within reach of our bombers. The was reported in an official com- United States aircraft industry is, muniqus last night which states shipping. in co-operation

therefore, the only industry which that a train was machine-gunned with their U-Boats and sur- is so placed that it can give the and some passengers were wound- face raiders as only the be- greatest output. ginning of the Nazi effort to "The establishment of this air There was nothing to report from weaken British resistance. In supply has deprived the enemy any other area.

£ chance to hinder Us The communique adds that it is the past few weeks, the Ger- of mans had linked up their sea and he must be thinking deeply of now known that a third aircraft raiding with consistent at- tacks on Britain's principal sea-ports.

SUPPLY & DEFENCE

In the meantime, the manner in which the United States had begun to send supplies to Britain indicated that the air was going to play a rapidly increasing part in the Battle of the Atlantic.

"I once said that I expected our vital sea routes to be attacked more and more and far out in the sea,"

continued Major Stewart. "The German Air Force is going to concentrate on this work. They see in this method a chance to weaken us and if they think they can weaken us suficiently, they

will then invade us.

of

more

how he can prevent it, That is a was shot down by A.A. gun fire on much

difficult task. The the night of May 8-9, making a bombers we are getting from the total of 14 destroyed that night. United States take only # few

DRIVER WOUNDED

CABLE

DOUBLES FINALISTS

Tsui Wai-pul. Tsul Yan-pul. H. D. Ramjain and S. A. Rum- Jahn who took part in the final of the Open Tennis Doubles championship at the H. K. C. C. stand court on Friday. The Tsuis won after four splendid sets. (Sun Ting Ming).

HEAVY SWING

FOR LABOUR

ELECTIONS.

hours to make the passage. One Mortally wounded when a Ger- NEW SOUTH WALES of them we are told took only man ralder swooped down and seven-and-a-half hours from New-machine-gunned

passenger roundland.

train between two towns "To

"

intercept high-speed

the Germans are no doubt now

addressing themselves, but without the command of the

33 Planes Destroyed

MONDAY, MAY 12, 1941. -PAGE "7

THE CONVOY SYSTEM:

COMMERCE DESTRUCTION WILL NOT WIN WARS, SAYS NAVAL CORRESPONDENT

"Commerce destruction is not naval policy and it will not win wars," said MR. H. C. FEATHERBY, naval" corres-. pondent of the MANCHESTER GUARDIAN, when he broadcast from London yesterday on the way in which the convoy system works and the difficulties with which mer- chant captains were faced.

"We all talk about convoys spotted by enemy aircraft, all and dream about convoys safety given to a convoy was de- and

creased and the danger of attack increased.

"I have not found this so. The

argue about convoys nowadays, but how many peo- ple living ashore have a cor- number of successful enemy - rect mental picture of con- tacks on conveys is small. I know voys?" began Mr. Featherby. that the German bulletins

CONVOY WORK

claim any number of such suc cesses, but German official bulle-

"I think most people. think of tins are not evidence. You must convoys as being a flock of sheep always divide 器 total tonnage

and some destroyers rushing about claimed by Berlin by at least three.

ke sheep-dogs. Is this a correct I have seen them sometimes ex- estimate of the hard work done by aggerate figures by as much the merchant service and the Bri-seven times... tish Navy?"

Mr. Featherby then went on to give a detailed description of con- Continued from Page 1 voy work. The ships were ar- Huge clouds of smoke mingled as the case may be and they had ranged in two, three or four lines, with sparks hung over the scene to keep their place in the line. while A. A. guns barked and the For instance, the fifth ship could hum of planes was audible over- not shoot ahead of the fourth ship head. The clang of bells of fire-just because he did not like the engines could be heard as they smell of No. 4's smoke. dashed through the streets to deal with the blazes while ambulances sped to the scene of outbreaks or is now assured of 49 to buildings demolished or dam seats, the Government 31 and In-aged by high explosive bombs to dependent cne. Nine seats are pick up victims saved by fre

fighters and rescue squads.

in south England yesterday eve- SYDNEY, May 11 (Reuter)-A machines is a task to whichning, the driver stopped the train heavy swing over to Labour has with the assistance of the fireman ousted the Mair government from who was also wounded and backed office in the New South Wales to the safety of a nearby station. elections,

The driver died shortly after- wards in hospital to where the freman and passengers were also taken.

.

Labour

doubtful,

per.

11

cent.

es on a high-speed route which of German aircraft brought down Labour has already the Germans have found no means during the first ten nights of May seats. of interrupting.

to 91-a new monthly record.

Mr. Mair, the Premier, is having Ninety were destroyed at night a hard struggle to retain his seat during the whole of April.

as are several other Ministers.

GERMAN PLANS

and

shattered

At first merchant officers did not believe they could handle ships well enough to keep in line. They thought that such, manoeuvring was only possible for warships.

"To attack ships in convoy, a U-Boat mast come within reach of the escort vessels. We saw recently that three U-Boats were sent to the bot- tom by escort vessels. Though we have to be kept in the dark' about our attacks on U-Boats, I think we should note the re- marks made recently in the House of Commons which stated that we had reason to be encouraged by the recent results achieved in the anti- C-Boat campaign.

they will find it very difficult. So far they have failed to check our ferry ser-

GOVT. ENCOURAGED vice.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE NEW RECORD

"This may not seem much, but "So this is one aspect of the Bat-

The result will not affect the Lengths of hose ran ke ser-

Mr. Featherby then described Last night's Alr Ministry an- tle of the Atlantic from the air

if the Government is encouraged point of view. continued Major nouncement of another German New South Wales war effort to pents through streets, strewn with personal experience of his with a by the results, you may be sure Stewart. The products of Ameri- bomber destroyed by AA. fire dur-which Labour had pledged one broken glass, bricks, fragments convoy, "I was on the bridge of that these results have been steady

from stonework

an escort vessel with an outward- and that they are definite. "When can industry are being conveyed to ing Thursday night brings the total hundred

support.

bound convoy," said Mr. Feather- it comes to accepting news that a buildings. gained 15

by. It was pitch dark. There U-Boat has been sunk, the anti- Bide-coated and steel-helmeted were thirty or forty ships in that submarine department is one big police. "regular and war

reserve convoy heading towards an awk-doubting Thomas." kept the danger zones clear of ward bend in the channel which unauthorised Individuals

Mr. Featherby went on to say while had been cleared of mines.". that there had groups of firefighters, women as

been Instances well as men stood ready to deal to turn round a

"It is not easy for thirty ships where they had recorded the fact with any other fire bombs that in the dark and still keep in line. cause they had picked up prison- point like that that a U-Boat had been sunk be- might be dropped, ignoring the When the turn was about quarter ers, including officers, but a few danger of high explosives from of a mile ahead of us, there loom-months later the submarine had planes overhead or splinters of ed up the leading ships of an in- again appeared in service, as the shell from A A. guns.

ward-bound convoy. It was going second-in-command had managed One auxillary fire service station to meet us exactly at the bend to take her back to harbour for received a direct hit but luckily and that meant that another repairs. there were no casualties. A club thirty or forty ships were going to "We can finish on a cheerful was also wrecked by a direct hit. swing round that point, but innote," continued Mr. Featherby.

HAMBURG ATTACKED

the opposite direction.

The figures of sinkings for April "The channel was no more than show an LONDON, May 11 (Router)-It is

improvement. We had, learned here that R. A. F. bombers wide. The two convoys met at of loss in the Greek campaign. one, two or three hundred yards of course, an unfortunate source attacked Hamburg on Saturday the turn. They, crept up and These losses amounted to 187,000 passed. The escort vessels lay tons and they sent the total near

"Our stand should be a com- bination of supply by air and defence by air and we are now going to demonstrate the technique of supply by air on a vaster and bolder acale.

"The other aspect is not so good. Į "Our plan is to bring from the great factories the United The Germans have been trying States direct to our aerodromes in hard to follow up their U-Boat this country all the aircraft they activities. Although they are tax- can make for us. Already big boming a heavy toll of our shipping, a bers are coming over to us across lot of it is getting through and they may seek to follow up their the Atlantic and plans are now

depredations at sea by destruction being laid to ferry across. the

or, land. smaller machines as well and then the single-seater fighters wiil also be ferried across,

.NEW. ROUTE

The recent raids on the Clyde-

side and Merseyside are all part of the Battle of the Atlantic. Great Britain. is not very large. "So our supplies will be reaching and it is pretty full of aerodromes us by a route which the enemy already. The Germans occasional- has so far falled to interrupt or ly attack them. They tried it last continued Major autumn by day and now they are inconvenience." Stewart. "What this means will be coming by alght. appreciated when Its seen that in January 428 planes were deli- vered to Britain, but more recently some of the American consign- ments were sent to the Middle Best because of the strategica! sl- tuation there demanded it. We may expect the rate of Americazi deliveries to rise to 500 a month. before long.

or

"Here, therefore, is air sup- ply on a grand scale." declared Major Stewart. It is a bigger thng than dropping para- chute troops

dropping... munitions." This Atlantic air supply line will make the U-Boat useless and it will save ships and save time. It mean's also that factories will soon be setting new world records. In aircraft production:

"The factories in this country have had to be dispersed to pro- tect them from the effects of bombing, and it is obvious that their output cannot be as great. We have had to reduce production here in order to reduce the risks of air bombing.

U.S. FACTORIES

"The Americans can still con-

Axis Air Force Comes Off Second Best In Encounter · With British Naval Forces

LONDON, May 11 (Reuter) — German and Italian alreraft made repeated attacks throughout Thursday afternoon and evening on Bri- tish naval forces during operations in the western Mediterranean,

The result, according to an Admiralty communique, was the loss

lost but the crew of the second was saved.

- CONSCRIPTION

FOR NATIVES

IN D.EL.

by

ii.

Was

night.

Was

2.

"The Battle of the Atlantic nevertheless shows an {m- provement. It is not enough yet, but it is enough to convince ns and those who sympathise with us that we are throwing into the struggle every ele ment we can spare. We can say, therefore, that commerce destruction is not naval policy and that it will not win wars."

of seven of the attackers without any damage being sustained by any of the British ships, One British fighter is missing and another

As each attack developed, says Very heavy damage was inflicted off on one side ready to nip in to the half-million mark. the communique, it inter by RAF bombers when a strong and help if anything went wrong. cepted and broken up by naval force dropped a large number of It took half an hour for the two Aghter aircraft and subsequently bombs on Hamburg where large convoys to pass each other with- driven off by them and by A A fires were started.

out one master having to use his guns of the squadron,

Other bombers visited Bremen, siren as a warning. The enemy attacks were made Enden, Rotterdam and other parts

of Germán-occupied territory.. torpedo bombers, by high BATAVIA, May 11 (Renter)—The

levej bombings, escorted by fight-j

SUPPLY SHIPS HIT enlargement of conscription for na-ers, and by dive-bombers, escorted tives in the Dutch East Indies, w by ighters.

Enemy shipping was also attack. ed yesterday and a naval craft and announced in a speech by the Chief "In one case a formation of 25 two supply ships were hit and dam. of Staff, Maj-Gen. Terporten, to dive-bombers, escorted by. Aghters, aged off the Dutch and Norwegian military officers in the war depart-were intercepted and brilliantly coasts. ment at Bandung on Saturday. broken up and driven off by naval Another supply ship was success- the Atlantic means the conveyance of goods have been accelerated since the cut-terialise."

He added that military measures aghters before an attack could ma- fully attacked near Bordeaux wulle I across the Atlantic and their pro-break of the war by the building

tection when they arrive here. I Ti satisfied that the Atlantic

"The German night raids are liable to affect our supplies from America. They can cause damage to goods and ships if they raid our ports and they can cause damage to our aero- planes if they raid our aero- dromes. The establishment of this ferry service, therefore, is not a complete answer to German attempts to prevent us from getting full help from American industry.

"The

of

Battle

The "Icsaes

inflicted on

Toll refineries and docks in other the parts of occupied territory were

o new aerodromes on the coast enemy were three torpedo bombers raided. ferry service will defeat the Ger-dispatch of reinforcements to kes by A.A tire and

and parts of the interior and the and one Savola bomber destroyed man attempts to destroy supplies

two torpedo points. coming to us while they are on

bombers severely damaged.

Naval fighters shot down one

their way. It is our duty to prothe first anniversary of the inva- Junkers dive-bomber and two 8a

The speech was connected with tect them when they arrive and

once again the sion, which was marked by cere- vola bombers and severely damag- that brings up whole matter of the night raids.

From all these operations seve! of our aircraft falled to return.

monies throughout the country. A ed three other aircraft. In addi- TREASURY BILLS

Batavia, bombers and fighters flev tion to these casualties damage FEELING THEIR WAY

over the city as troops marched is known to have been inflicted "The Germans may try once through the streets lined with on other enemy aircrait again to raid our ports by day. I cheering crowds to the palace of Interpret the small raids we have the Governor-General, where the been having by day as showing parade was held. that the Germans are trying to:

Flowers in memory of the Dutch

centrate and increase their pro-/feel their way for more daylight heroes who died during the Ger- duction without fear of bombing/ work. They are feeling their way man invasion were laid at the bases and in that way they are superior to find out whether there are any of the specially erected flagpoles. to our own factories and to Ger- technical means to defeat our de-

fence. Personally I feel confident.

man factories. All our factories are about the outcome of any future:

י

SUEZ CANAL ZONE AGAIN RAIDED

CAIRO, May 11 (Reuter)-In the early hours of yesterday morning enemy aircraft carried out their second night raid on the Suez Canal Zone this week,

An official communique issued by the Egyptian Ministry of Defence states that slight damage caused.

was.

daylight clash. I don't say they will not achieve some successes by new methods,,, but if they come over now they will be defeated more decisiyely than before,

Bitter Nazi Press Attack

On Roosevelt

AMERICAN RED CROSS AID TO UK.

"It

a marvellous and spectacular manoeuvre.

Here were sixty to eighty merchant masters carrying put a man- oeuvre without any previous rehearsals. Such is the kind

of navigation which the mer- chant navy at first refused to believe they could perform."

common sense.

Showdown On Convoy Issue Is Delayed

DISCIPLINE NECESSARY "Discipline is necessary in con- voys," continued Mr. Featherby, "but it is discipline that is given immediately because they see the necessity for it. Those who don't obey, discipline are few and far WASHINGTON, May 11 (Reuter) between and even there hard. ex--President Roosevelt is expected to perlence of the war has made make one of the most important them see that orders are based on statement on foreign policy for several months when he addresses" £75,000,000 Treasury Bills were a word or two of criticism this Mission which visits the United LONDON, May 11 (Reuter)The "The merchant navy has put out members of the Latin American offered and allotted at an average, week," said Mr. Featherby." "They States on Wednesday. rate of £1. 174, compared with 1 say that the convoys are too big. Some well-informed legislators 3/6d. per cent. previously. A de- We know that convoys now, as predict that the address will clarify, crease in the applications for the compared with the last war, have many existing questions regarding Bills from £170,000,000 to £140, nearly doubled the number

of the length to which the United. 000,000 and the Discount Houses by ships in them. Twenty ships is States will go to ensure the delivery raising the bid slightly, obtained 40 supposed to be the ideal for one of war supplies to Britain...... per cent, of their applications as compared to 11 per cent. of last week.

convoy.

•

"The point is that we need more supplies. So the number of ships in the convoy had to "be increased first to twenty- six and then to thirty-six and; therefore, we have had to use all sorts of other ships as escorts.

For that reason Administration: leaders have decided to delay a showdown in the Senate on the convoy issue.

RONALD CAMPBELL- IN ROME VICHY, May 11 (Reuter) The

WASHINGTON, May 11 (Reu- ter)-American Red Cross aid to Britain up to the end of March' Overnight loans has been treely spproached $18,000,000 with several obtainable. while Clearing Banks million dollars worth of supplies demand for bills only met a poor still awaiting shipment, It was an-response, owing to the ease of nounced yesterday.

monetary conditions, 'According to Mr. Norman Davis, LONDON, May 11 (Reuter) the Red Cross Chairman, over 900 President Roosevelt was bitterly consignments had been sent to attacked by the Voelkischer Bea Britain -369 ships with the loss bachter according to the German only of 11 cargoes. The supplies BENGHAZI HARBOUR able to run convoys successfully so yesterday with his suite, pays "a" radlo.

Tange from Intricate

far. We know, of course, that the Rome dispatch, The paper declares: "We know equipment to the humble require-SHELLED BY NAVY air force has fon allons of The Italian Government wishes.

Wall Street opened irregular.

;

"It is due to the skill of the

men of the merchant navy and British Minister in Belgrade, MESS.

of the escorts that we have been Ronald Campbell, arrived in Rome

*Our chief duty is to protect our ports from night ralds and here we are doing much better. Our latest figures show this. But we are still far from af- fórding to our ports by night the kind of protection given to them by day."

from documents found in Poland ments of bombed-out citizens. 'Major Stewart concluded by re- what kind of pressure President ferring to another aspect of the Roosevelt's confidant, Mr. Bullitt CAROL IN BERMUDA Battle of the Atlantic as far as it brought to bear on hesitant Mr. concerned the work being done by Neville Chamberlain. particularly BERMUDA, May 11 Reuter) the civilian population and the after Munich, to force him into a Ex-King Carol of Rumania arrived civilian defence services.

policy of encirclement. here yesterday.

"These are all facts of the Bat- "It was Mr. Roosevelt, with his formed puppet state of Croatia are Two enemy, supply ships were in- this war" continued Mr. Feather-spirit of the treaty does not allow.. King Carol was met by the tle of the Atlantic," said Major promises of help to Britain, who to be sint to Germany under an tercepted while approaching, the by. "It was said that the as-Thailand to continue, economic Governor and other high officials. Stewart. "We have to aim at lit the confiagration. Without agreement concluded between. Ber-harbour and were destroyed. One sembling of such large numbers of and political dependence upon the The ex-King and party went to achieving speedy success la differ-him Mr. Winston Churchity would im and the Zagreb Government, was of 3,000 tons and the other, a ships in one body is not such s United States and Britain" while a hotel where they will stay for aent directions before we can be never have entered the British states a Zagreb despatch to the 6,000-ton ammunition ship, was safeguard as in the last war and simultaneously maintaining filend- time before going on to Cuba, confident of winning it"

official Italian news agency..

blown to bits.

that once such a big assembly isly relations, says Reuter

Cabinet."

(

LONDON, May 11. (Reuter)-Bri-miles in helping in this work and that he return to England' vis- tiah naval forces attacked Ben- that they have been responsible Lisbon, travelling through France CROATIA WORKERS gaat harbour early on Thursday, for many successes against Uand Spain,

according to an Admiralty com- Boats, FOR GERMANY

munique which states that hits ROME, May 11 (Reuter)-Fifty were observed on enemy shipping thousand workers from the newly-jalongside.

ENEMY ATTACKS

.Commenting on the Franco- There has been some criticism Thai Treaty, the Tokyo HOCHI... as to the use of convoys at all in SHIMBUN said it is clear that the