WAR TOPICS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 109, 12 January 1940, Page 8

WAR TOPICS

HON. UNITY FREEMAN-MITFORJ3 NEW BALKAN ARRANGEMENT MORE TALK OF HOLLAND AND INVASION (By the BEACON Watchman) The tabled report that the Hon. Unity Freeman-Mitford. who left Germany via Switzerland, a few days ;i in £ a specially chartered ambulance' has arrived in England, brings to an end a rather tawdry piece of war-time gossip. The Hon. Unity Valkyrie Free-man-Mi tford is one of the six beau- i tif'ul daughters of Lord Redesdale. During the past two or three years she has been much publicised as an ardent admirer of Hitler and Nazism Miss Mitford has been a prominent member of a number of the Anglo-German "friendship" clubs, which sprang up in London before the war. For example, she was a foundation member of "the Link" a distinctly pro-Nazi organisation which closed down hurriedly on the eve of the war. Her social prominence encouraged the Nazis to make use of her for propaganda purposes and high Nazi official became her friends. Hitler himself went out of his way to take notice of her frequent and muchadvertised visits to Germany, and she claimed the Fuehrer as a great personal friend.

Last year Miss Mitford spent more time in Germany than in England. She was visiting Berlin when war broke out and in the last three months the gossip writers of both England and the United Slates have speculated endlessly as to her subsequent movements. Some said she had renounced her country; others that she had suffered a nervous breakdown and was seriously ill; others again that she had committed suicide in a hotel after fleenig to Vienna. Miss Mitford is 2(> years old. One of her sisters is Lady Mosley, wife of.Sir Oswald Mosley, the British Fascist Party leader. a V * ■ The recent meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Italj' and Hungary, which is reported to have resulted in the formation of a defensive alliance designed to assure Hungary ot Italy's military support against aggression from either Russia or Germany, was the outcome of diplomatic exercises lasting for some weeks. It is understood that Yugoslavia is unwilling to join an outright alliance, l)ut is prepared to enter n triple friendship pact, under which, it is presumed, Italy will bo permitted to move troops across her territoy. The action of Italy in moving f or [a Balkan Bloc Avill not appeal to Hitler and it is possible that. Mussolini Avas influenced in his latest policy, Avhich after all is directed against his erstwhile Axis partner, by Hitler's somersault in concluding an alliance Avith Russia, "robablv. however, the greatest fear Italy and Hungary have is that Russia Avill inoA'c in South-Eastern Europe. Actually, Russia could penetrate through Roumania on ihe pretext of taking the old Russian province of Bessarabia, and continue southward without affecting either Hungary or Italy. It seems as though Itnlo-Hungarinn opinion of the Soviet is akin to that held by ..'nr/'; he saw ??.-i:iJ on the beantaking no ;; - i: ~o thai: u -.rv 1:; s'.r«"v''

However, the Balkan countries also I'ear that Hitler will make an atteni!)t to break through, either in Hungary or lioumania. There is nothing more certain than that if Germany should attempt and succeed in the conquest of Roumania, Hungary would be the next to go. The reverse also applies. It is a pity that these two countries can't sink their differences for a while (a question of Hungarian minorities and some acres of land has been troubling them for some time), and unite in what appears to be a common cause. a * m * It will be interesting to walcli developments between the Axis partners in the course of the next few days. Apart from the friction which is bound to result from Italy's declared intention of supporting Hungary against Nazi designs, there is likely to be some conversations on the matter of Germany's holding lip of Italian consignments of munitions to Finland. The German Government has held up a number of Italian 'planes destined for Finland and railed across Germany to a Baltic port. Russia, of course, will object to their transit. Germany maintains that according to international law she is not obliged to permit the transit of war materials and can decide each case on its merits. • 9 m m In view of our recently published article "Through Holland" it is worth noting the report that a new German Army headquarters has been established at Recklingshausen, Westphalia, forty miles from the Dutch frontier. This constitutes a fresh German threat to Holland.

German heavy artillery is in positions -which have been prepared near the Dutch frontier, particularly in the Kleve district, which is a wedge of German territory protruding' into Holland. New airfields have been constructed along the length of the Dutch frontier from Emdcn to Achen . . . and then, of course, the Nazis have those aluminium boats.