OPEN TO ATTACK

Evening Star, Issue 24330, 20 October 1942, Page 3

OPEN TO ATTACK

AXIS FLANK AND REAR IN NORTH AFRICA LATEST ALLIED MOVE IN GULF OF GUINEA (llec. 8 a.m.) NEW YORK, 6ct. 19. . TJiere has ikoeu no official explanation of the landing of American troops in Liberia. The ‘ New York Times ’ states that; “ Vichy will not fail to note that Monrovia is only 750 air _ miles from Dakar. Berlin says Liberia will soon join the United Nations. In that event French West Africa will be entirely blocked off in the south-east by territory hostile to Germany. It is not surprising that German propaganda is nervous about Dakar and the hinterland, or that Hitler is exerting the utmost pressure to obtain military con-; trol of the area. Liberia is the closest we have qome to Dakar, although the British at Freetown are even closer, but the landing is apparently only the latest of a series of bridgeheads wo have flung around the Gulf of Guinea. The Axis has reported American troops fa the Gold Coast, Nigeria, Brazzaville, French Equatorial Africa, and Leopoldville. The military resources in this vast section are now very considerable, even without the influx- of the Americans. The map reveals that the Axis flank and rear in North Africa and Vichy’s stronghold at Dakar lie open to an advance from the south.”

CZECH HOSTAGES

LATEST NAZI CRUELTY

(llec. 8 a.m.) LONDON, Oct. 19. Czech circles in Loudon, referring to Carl Frank’s announcement that relatives of Czech agitators who have taken refuge in Britain had been interned, declared this is the first time the Germans have taken hostages in Czech territory. The German practice hitherto has been to invent criminal charges as excuses for executing innocent persons. Those executed have frequently been previously taken into custody in concentration camps for two .years or more. The Prague radio announced: “Because of the assassination of Heydrich, Czech universities will be closed indefinitely, and any Czech students wishing to continue their studios must attend Reich universities.”-

AIR WAR

AXIS LOSES 131 PLANES LAST WEEK

(llec. 8 a.m.) LONDON, Oct. 19. The Axis lost 131 planes last week, of which 125 were shot down in the Middle East, three over Britain, and three over Western Europe. The R.A.F. lost 70, including 36 in Western Europe and 33 in the Middle East.

FIGHTING IN MADAGASCAR

VICHY, October 18. A Madagascar communique says that violent fighting continues south of, Ambositra. “ Powerfully-armed British forces last night relentlessly attacked bur positions, but failed to dislodge the French. A British plane inachine-gunned a French army doctor’s car which was marked with a red cross.”

STRATEGIC WAR MATERIALS

FERRIED BACK TC AMERICA

NEW YORK, October 18. According to the Office of War Information, army and navy planes which are ferrying personnel and material to the United Natjons’ fighting fronts are now bringing back strategic materials on the return trips, including platinum from the Persian Gulf, tungsten and silk from China, crude rubber from Brazil, diamonds and mica from South Africa.

UNREST IN RUMANIA

GERMAN PROTECTORATE SUGGESTED

’ LONDON, October 18. The Lisbon correspondent of ‘ The. Times ’ states that, presumably to allay the increasing; Rumanian unrest, interested parties are sedulously spreading the story that all Axis allied troops are being withdrawn from the east front this winter on the ground that they are not sufficiently reliable for defence. While this is probably «h----true, some form of soothing syrup is needed in (Rumania which, in spite of casualties conservatively estimated at--350,000 killed, wounded, and prisoners, still has more than 20 divisions totalling about 400,000 men in Russia. The correspondent refers to reports that the Prime Minister, General Antonescu, is seriously ill, and that the Maniu and Bratianu groups are still active. Ho suggests that Germany might establish a protectorate if General Antonescu dies.

STOLEN BY JAPANESE

FAMOUS PEKING SKULL

(Rec. 11.35 a.m.) CHUNGKING, October 19. The United Press reports that the Japanese sent to Tokio the famous “ Peking Man ” skull, believed to be 400,000 years old. The skull disappeared from its case in the Union Medical College at Peiping.