ARMS DISAPPEAR AS SCRAP METAL

Chronicle (Levin), 4 July 1946, Page 5

ARMS DISAPPEAR AS SCRAP METAL

Press Assn.-

UNKNOWN DESTINATION FOR TEN THOUSAND TONS

By Telegraph

-Copyright

Keccivt'tl Wt'ilucsiliiv, 7 p.111. loxd'ox, July At least 10,000 tons of dennan, Rus.sian aml Fii'iirh iniirliiiiegun bunvls and paris of optieul siglits aml otlier niiinitioiis, luivi* been removed in people t, miidit ion in recent months from a i'ormer (iennan ar.-enal in the British Hector and t ransferred to unknown perSons umler the deseript i tui oi 1 'serajt uictal," says tlie Daily 'iYlcgraph 's Berlin eorresp-itident . Two \ ast ai'senals on EisWerder Island iu Tcgoier I.ake at Spaiidau, are now .standiug empty though lasl Cliristmas they were sta*ked high with war inaterial. Wituesses say that when a British unil nioved froni ihe area about last 'hrisl iuas, tlio arsenal wasleft unguarded. The rorrespondent uas ini'onned that Kussian barges pulied up alungside ihe island and for weeks surressively loaded arins whieh uere eonveyed aeross Berlin 's wuterways' system to the Kussian Zone. Armed Kussians were jiosted at ali ap]>roadies to ihe arsenal island. Before ihe Kussians tinislied operatioiis, (iermau cont rart ors, aMing 011 the orders uf a Kunianian niendiant named ('ari Biistdi, also visited the island with lorne.-. whieh removed many hundreds of the Sjiiindau tvpe of arins and eaptured Kussian and Frencli weajioiis, sonie of whieh were Jitted with Spandau .Mark 44 barrels to fil (iermau annnuiiit ion. Buseh, who is a nieiubcr of Ihe eommittee of ihe Berlin Jewi.-h eoiiilntiiiily, produeed an authorisatiun from the British liiilitarvl government oflieials to remove the materials as serap. The earelaker ofj the arsenal, who r'ormerly acted under orders of the (iermau Iligli Comniandlj tohi the cor respondent the last lorry loads were removed last April and | May. No attempt appears to have been! niade tu eusur" that The weapons were I useless. In fm-t they were in full firiug order. Defei-tive weapons were litted: witli new barrels. The conespondent later visited Jbi.se h 's yard in the Klosterst rasse, Rpandau, and found it stacked highj with b«es whieh had eontained auto-| jnatie weapons. j British quarters are extremely reti- 1 cont and tohi the eorrespondent the matter was an otiieial secret. !