Evening Star Newspaper, May 12, 1940, Page 3

British Planes Attack Nazi Forces Moving Toward the Meuse Highways Leading Out of Maastricht Declared Blasted 50 German Warplanes Reported Destroyed In First'Day’s Raid By the Associated Press. LONDON, May 12 (Sunday) —The Royal Air Force, following up morn- ing raids, again attacked German mechanized forces advancing from the Rhine toward the Meuse late |- [ yesterday afternoon, the Air Min- istry announced early today. The Air Ministry’s communique: “German mechanized'troops ace vancing from the Rhine toward the Meuse were again harassed yester- day (Saturday) by a series of attacks made by aircraft of the Royal Air Force. “Roads leading out of Maastricht ‘were bombed and a few miles south- west of the town on the road to ‘Tonvres a column of small tanks, armored cars and transport vehicles were attacked and several direct hits were obtained.” 50 Planes Reported Felled. At least 50 German planes were « reported destroyed and many others put out of action in the first day’s raids in the Lowlands. “The enemy’s advance was further hampered by a series of operations in which bombs were seen to hit ‘ important railways and road junc- | tions and bridges at Alderkerke, Gelgern, Rees and Goeh,” the min- istry’'s communique said. Another admiralty announcement said British naval planes made two forays against Bergen, scoring three hits on a German ship believed to be the 14,600-ton training vessel Bremse. The second raid, “achieved with * complete surprise,” was reported to have fired and heavily damaged German fuel tanks. Claim 20 Planes Shot Down. Since April 8, the Air Ministry said, 20 Nazi aircraft. had been shot down off Norway by the fleet air arm, which is separate from the Royal Air Force, and that many others had been destroyed on the ground. The fleet's anti-aircraft guns were credited with bagging an additional 51 enemy aircraft. Fresh from the lesson of Norway, where lack of air support cost the allies the rich south and center regions, the Royal Air Force led the campaign to hold lowland flying bases at all costs and delay Ger- many’s land power until allied troops can take up positions alongside the Dutch and Belgians. Disposition of allied forces was kept secret, but it was no secret that one of the big jobs of the allies is to prevent the German thrust toward Liege from separating Belgium and the Netherlands. . Brussels (Continued From First Page.) armored cars, attacked in th Maastricht region. . “They succeeded in getting a foot- hold in our defense line. “Our troops in Luxembourg con- tinued their operations following a | preconceived plan and vigorously held their own against the invaders. “Around Liege our positions re- main intact. The enemy has suf- fered heavy losses before certain of our fortifications. “The enemy aviation has carried | out systematic bombardments, at- tacking numerous localities over a great part of our territory.” An earlier communique said Bel- gian troops in the first line of de- fense had established contact with German advance units “in several sectors” of the front, and claimed at least 15 German planes were shot down. “Very active” operations of Belgian flyers and anti-aircraft bat- teries were cited. Chief points of contact between Belgian and German forces were said to be along the Albert Canal ,and the Meuse River and in the Ardennes Mountains facing Ger- man-occupied Luxembourg. Heavily - equipped British and French troops, bringing up artillery, tanks and engineering equipment, moved through Belgium to undis- closed positions and Nazi bombers raided communication centers through the second day of the Ger- man attack on the low countries. German planes also continued to drop parachute troops. But the Belgian communique clarmed neither of these branches of the German air arm had been particularly effective. It reported the enemy bombard- ments, two of which were aimed at Brussels, had caused no “important damage,” and that most of the parachute troops were “captured or neutralized.” Brussells was bombed twice this morning, and two persons were killed while seeking shelter from the raids. Returning ambulances gave indica- tipn of other casualties. Air raid alarms continued at the rate of two an hour, but there were no further jmportant bombings. Planes Over Namn A report from Rixensart, about 10 miles from Brussels, said four soldiers were killed in a bombard- ment there. Alost, 15 miles west of the capital, also was reported bombed, and flights of German ‘planes were sighted over Namur and Dinant, southeast of Brussels, For the rest, strict government censorship was clamped down on all military information. This applied to operations on the front, beyond the meager word of contact made with the enemy, as well as to the HITLER’S Invesion of Hollond ond Bel- gium will skyrocket diamond prices. Our present stocks now available at 10% to 40% sav- ings. Eorly shapping edvised, s quantities ore limited. ARTHUR MARKEL 918 F St. N.W., Suite 301-3 SN NN . movement of the allied reinforce- ments. (A Havas (French news agency) dispatch from Brussels said an estimated 30 persons were killed in the crash of a German bomber hit by a shell fired from a British channel steamer anchored in the canal of Ville- brug.) With German planes reported all over the country last night, Brussels went through its first blackout of the war in the role of a belligerent. It ran off without a hitch. Restrictions were placed on cafes and theaters, many of which were closed, while the inhabitants car- ried gas masks and took all precau- tions at home to make the black- out_effective. Refugees 'Pour Into Brussels. A steady stream of refugees from the border regions poured into Brus- sels all during the last night and .today. Many of them had to make the trip in open trucks. Two factories near the, capital were reported on fire as a result of the morning air raids. Hasselt, on the Albert Canal 22 miles north of Liege, was said to have been cleared of civilians. Telephone communication from Brussels to the provinces was barred to all but official calls. In a continuation of security measures begun yesterday with the arrest of all Germans in Belgium itself, it was reported Germans in the Belgian Congo have been taken into custody. Hotel Guest Robbed ; Of $420, He Reports A man who gave his name to po- lice as Chilton H. Johnson of Roa- noke, Va., and who registered in a downtown hotel as C. Hume John- son of Galox, Va., reported last night that he was robbed of $420 in 20- dollar bills and a wrist watch about 7:30 pm. by two men with guns who accosted him as he was leav- ing his hotel room. . Mr. Johnson said the men bound his hands and feet with a torn pillowcase and gagged him gith adhesive tape. He said he w . xed the gag loose, crawled to the tele- phong stand, knocked the receiver from the hook and called for help. Hgtel attendants found him still bo'ind. Three of ‘the ynany varieties of peat in Eire will be exploited com- Sold, Serviced and Guaranteed by . . L. P. Steuart & Bro. ST 139 1200 'S6 R Lincoln 4300 THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, MAY 12, 1940;PART ONE. NAZI GUNS CROSS LUXEMBOURG FRONTIER—The German- approved caption that accompanied this picture, radioed from Berlin yesterday, says it shows heavy anti-aircraft artillery Dr. Carruthers Says Mexico Is Not Communistic Says Conditions There Are Far Different From Those in Russia Although a fundamental econom- ic revolution of Mexican life is un- der way, the country is not com- munistic in any real sense, in the Jpinion of Dr. John F. B. Carruthers, who has recently. returned from Mexico. He was a delegate to the Inter-American Congress on Indian Life in Patzcuaro last month. Dr. Carruthers said he gave this view as an observer who had talked with the man in the street, with various delegates to the conference, and, through interpreters, with many political and labor leaders of Mexico. Dr. Carruthers based his conclu- sions on a comparison between Mex- ico and Russia which he visited in 1926 and in 1931. . “The moves against the church, involving the seizure of property, were drastic and radical,” Dr. Car- ruthers admitted, “but they were not communistic. The churches, for the most part, are free. Large throngs still attend mass through- out the country. In this respect there is no parallel with Russia, where restrictions are incredibly drastic.” He pointed out that the ‘Y. M. C. A, Red Cross and Boy Scouts were functioning in Mexico, /whereas “:.hey were totally forbidden in Rus- sia.” Villages Individualistic. Turning from religion tq,the at- titude of various groups, ur. Car- ruthers said the “Indian villages are proof against Russian Soviet Com- munism because they are largely composed of shopkeepers and trad- ers with goods to sell and barter. ANY GLASSES Your Eyes Require Complete with Examination $*2.50 o . HIGHER Why Pay More? This Includes o EYE ATION BY MEDICAL DOCTOR (Oculist) © Single or Double Visien Lemses. s Iulud‘:.‘ y ice of popular st imes or rimless moun! clea; TROPOLITAN OPTIC 1737 Pennsvivamo Ave N W JAM bGP M crossing Luxembourg frontier over improvised wooden ramp. Note that the name of the frontier town on the sign has been obliterated. —A. P. Wirephoto. gy BELGIANS CHEER BRITISH TOMMIES—This official British picture transmitted yesterday by radio from London shows vil- lagers somewhere in Belgium cheering British troops as they passed through the town in tanks en route to the front. —A. P. Wirephoto. Losses in War at Sea By the Associated Press. The following “box score” lists Britain France Poland Sweden Norway . Netherlands Germany Planes, Unkn¢ w:r-hllge, Mines. sea warfare losses reported during | the 36th week of the war, from May 5 to May 11, inclusive: ———" Bena Missing 27 1 150 Previously reported 51,934 168 1825357 4,031 Grand total 151 175 1877291 4,036 Losses by nations (includes naval vessels). Britain—262; Prance—22; Germany—55; Norway: 64; Sweden—42; Denmark—30; Netherlands—30; Greece—22; Finland—12; Italy—7; Estonia—8; Belgium—§; Lithuania—3; Yugoslavia—2; Soviet—1; Poland— 1; Rumania—1; Japan—1; Latvia—1 Spain—1. ‘Total—569. They are, therefore, individualistic and not susceptible to the prole- tarian philosophy of centralized control.” One-third of the popu- lation are full-blooded Indians, he said. Dr. Carruthers said that, although he believed many of the leaders at the outset of the Cardenas regime had been Communist revolution- aries, hypnotized by the Russian ex- | periment, he felt they had become disillusioned. The government has political Communists whom Dr. Carruthers described, as those who | find it politically profitable to ap- pear as Communists to obtain the support of radical workers. He said several prominent woman leaders who were originally pro-Communist had become outraged at the posi- tion of Russian women, many of CASH For Od Goid, monds, W O sisenra W oveier ™ ERNEST BURK, INC., Jewelers Alrline Viflage AURCRA HILLS, YA /.,’ 24 NEW HOMES Under Construction Modern—Brick! 10¢ Fere ‘Zone! whom have to perform tasks of common laborers. He declared he was convinced the Mexicans are far from being Com- munists, even though they may pro- ceed at times like Communists. “That is, Communism might be called by the Mexicans a course of revolutionary action rather than a creed of politics.” See the Dogwood in SPRING VALLEY and the Silver Siar Home W. C. & A. N. MILLER DEVELOPMENT CO. 1119 17th St. N.W. DI 4464 sope! BATTERSON. PoRulC authority - ‘cycTE MASSAGE Pine Yopo! Eprom Seift Allies Still No Match For Germany in Air Despite U. S. Aid Reich Believed to Have 20,000 Planes Against Foes’ 8,000 By DEVON FRANCIS, Associated. Press Btun Writer. NEW YORK, May 11.—Two thousand American warplanes— only half of them of a strictly com- bat type—have been thrown into the balance by the allies in the suddenly intensified struggle for dominance hr‘t t‘hz air, btu'. Ger- many’s numerical superiority prom- ises to go unchallenged for months to come. . If the losses reported in the fight~ ing for possession of the Low Coun- tries—upward of 500 planes in two days for both sid e standard rate of depletion, the allies’ situation in.the air may well be- come critical. From a dozen different authori- tative sources comes an estimate that the Reich, grimly counting on air power to turn the tide of battle, has no fewer than 20,000 warplanes on hand, most of them for “first line” service. Allies Have Only 8,000, Against that number the allies probably can muster no more than 8,000 planes, including the modest additions of the Dutch and Belgian air forces, and only half of them are available for bombing and fight- ing forays. Of the 2,000 American planes de- livered to Prance and England im- mediately preceding and since the outbreak of the war, 1000 were trainers, assigned to bolstering their pilot manpower. The combat types were 50 dive bombers, 300 pursuits and 650 bi- motored medium bombers. Orders are streaming into Ameri- can factories from London and Paris now for great quantities of planes, but it will be late summer or early fall before the allies begin to feel the full force of American prec- ductiveness. In all, the French and English have ordered 5300 planes since the spring of 1939. Replacements Vital Factor. Allied inferiority to Germany in the air—conceded this week by both Neville Chamberlain and Winstcs Churchill, the outgoing and incom- ing prime ministers—is not so much & matter of airplanes on hand as it is of the ability to replace those lost in combat. One American manufacturer, who surveyed British and French factory production last year, estimated that the allies could match the German warplane output only with the ad- dition of American planes con- tracted for in bulk. A confidential report receiyed here yesterday put the French war- plane output at a bare 150 planes & month. The British output is possibly as high as 1,000 a month, including training planes. For pur-~ poses of replacement the German output is much greater. Germany Strong in Bombers. For the current fighting over the | low countries Germany is reported | to have twice as many bombing planes as the allies. More than eight months of fighting has dem- | onstrated that the bomber is the most essential adjunct of an air force. Bombers are the “long-range artillery” of the air, The speculation surrounding American warplare production is dispelled somewhat by the figures for last year. In all, 5500 planes were turned out. Three thousand were so-called sport planes. The remainder covered transports, ex- port planes of all types, and war- planes. Conservative manufacturers es- timate that, at the outside, Ameri- can factories can produce 9,000 to | 10,000 warplanes in 1940—including ||| trainers. If the bitter fighting with consequent heavy losses con- tinues, the prospects for the allies coping with German air power on | even terms before the end of the year are not very encouraging. Greece shipped less wine to the rest of the world last year than in 1938 but received more for it. “TOPS” WITH ALL THE FAMILY At Your MISS VIRGINIA COWLES. i JOHN WHITAKER. ROME.—FIGURE IN DIPLO- MATIC PROTEST — Miss Cowles and Mr. Whitaker, American newspaper corre- spendents, were said in reliable quarters yesterday to have suffered abuse at the hands of an anti-British mob. They were in company of two staff members of the British Em- bassy when the attack oc- curred. Sir Percy Loraine, British Ambassador, was re- ported yesterday to be pre- paring a formal protest to Italian authorities. —A. P. Wirephoto. Robber Gets $4.75 At Cleaner’s Shop A colored youth entered the Cen- tury Cleaners, 1902 First street N.W., about 9:30 o'clock last night, holding his left hand in his pocket as if with a pistol. . He grabbed $4 in bills and a bag containing 75 pennies and escaped on foot, Mrs. Bert Young, 26-year-old clerk at ‘the establishment, reported to police, Mrs. Young lives at 1448 Park road Nw. Lucy E. Peacock, proprietor of a beauty shop at 1241 Goodhope road SE, told police she surprised a colored man in a rear room of the shop about 5 p.m. yesterday and that the man fled with her pocket- book containing $11. Crop Loan Aid FAIRFAX, Va., May 11 (Special). —J. Gray Beverley, field supervisor of the Farm Credit Administration, will be at the office of Fairfax County Agricultural Agent J. E. Beard from 1 to 3 pm. Thursday to assist local farmers in filing applications for 1940 crop loans under the Emergency Crop Loan Act. % A3 South Americans Condemn Invasion 0f Low Countries Ecuador Officially States Sympathy; Peru Senate Assails Use of Force BY the Associated Press. BUENOS AIRES, May 11.—Con- demnation of the Nazi invasion of the Low Countries and Luxeme bourg was voiced in South American official circles and in the press today. Ecuador formally notified Holland and Belgium of her sympathy. One newspaper, El Espectador, of Bogota, Colombia, commenting on President Roosevelt's speech night in Washington before the American scientific conference, de- clared that the German invasion of the three neutrals presented “a defi- nite challenge” to the Western Hemisphere. 2 El Espectador said the President’s speech had shown the Western Hemisphere the necessity of meet= ing “a concrete problem in our ine ternational defense.” The government of Acting Presie dent Andres Cordova in Quito, Ecuador, telegraphed the Belgian and Dutch foreign ministers mes- sages of sympathy and said that “no small nation can disregard the ag- gression of which your noble nation is a victim.” Ecuador “condemns such an unjustifiable assault.” In Lima, the Peruvian Senate adopted a resolution condemning “conquests made through force.” The Peruvian Chamber of Dep- uties expressed to the Parliaments of the three countries assurances of “its democratic solidarity in this painful hour.” Editorials in the Argentine press reflected the general ecriticism of the Nazi invasions. Rev. H. K. Pasma to Preach ROCKVILLE, Md., May 11 (Spe- cial) —The Rev. Henry K. Pasma, pastor of the. Presbyterian Church, will preach and preside at the weekly union services in the Pres- byterian Church tomorrow night of the Baptist, Christian, Methodist nfi;! Presbyterian churches of Rocke ville, Australia is considering s law compelling bachelurs to support BERLITZ the Berlits 1135 Con. 2GHOOL L N ) 023 ; o THERE'IS A BERLITZ SCHOOL [N EVERT LEADING CITY OF THE WORLD A BETTER DEAL PONTIAC H. J. BROWN*PONTIAC, Inc. lnln.n "!:f‘ ll’l::':'l'mn"l‘wwal BRAKES RELINED Hydraulics LTI T - e i Guoranteed 20.000 mi. Free od- Ford ) Buick 40 t 5] 050 oy 2002-4 K St NW. ME. 6232 HARD OF The New Model 41 Vacuum Tube RADIOEAR @ HAS NO CARBON NOISE. © REPRODUCES TONES ACCURATELY AND ENABLES ONE HEAR CLEARLY AT A DISTANCE. IS VERY SMALL AND LIGHT. @ IS EASILY CONCEALED. Come in—try it—compare it with your former experiences Radioear Washington Co. 702 National 14th and F Sts. N.W. 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