WEEK’S EVENT

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20079, 27 October 1939, Page 8

WEEK’S EVENT

TURKISH TREATY WORLD RELIEF MEASURE FOR PEACE PROGRESS OF WAR land, air. sea CHAMBERLAIN REVIEW (Elec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (British OOieial Wireless.) Reed. 1.30 p.rn. RUGBY. Oct. 26 In the course of the weekly review in the House of Commons, the Prime Minister, Mr. Neville Chamberlain, said that the outstanding event of the past week in foreign affairs had been the signature of the treaty with Turkey.

“The treaty has been received with profound satisfaction throughout the Empire and France, and it is a great encouragement to us to know that it has bee;: widely welcomed in many other parts of the world,” said Mr. Chamberlain. “That is doubtless, because the world sees in it a guarantee for the maintenance of peace in least one region of the world. “It is a purely defensive instrument, threatening no one and designed only to oppose aggression. We are proud ' to feel that, under its provisions, we now share mutual responsibilities with the Turkish people, for whose patriotism probity and valour we have long cherished a high regard.”

“I should like to take this opportunity of informing the House that Britain, France and Turkey haye been discussing for some time the question of financial and economic assistance for Turkey," said Mr. Chamberlain. “The assistance to be given relates particularly to the supply of war material.

“Conversations on this subject have been taking place in London with the Turkish Military Mission and it has been a great pleasure to us, to welcome the mission and its' distinguished leader to this country. The conversations have been conducted in a spirit of frankness and cordiality and now are nearing completion. I am confident that they will lead to useful and practical results.” Operations Surveyed

The statement, which concluded with observations on Herr Von Ribibentvop’s' speeclt at Danzig, .bqgan with a survey of the operations on land, sea and air. Mr. Chamberlain said, during the past week, there had been no operations of importance on the Western Front. Minor adjustments of positions had resulted in the French and German forces being now on a line of the common frontier.

A steady stream of reinforcements and reserves of material for the British Expeditionary Force continued and the defences in the British sector were being continually .strengthened.

In the air, the aircraft of the fighter command had again been in action.

Having described the successes in the defence of convoys, the Prime Minister passed onto the reconnaissance by the coastal command units which, had been almost continuously at work. Among the successes during the week were the detection of mines in the path of convoys which bad saved ships from danger and the sighting of seven U-boats. Of the U-boats sighted, four were attacked and there was good reason to believe that at least one was severely damaged, while another was destroyed by warships directed to the scene by aircraft. Tribute to Gunners

In paying a tribute to the anti-air-craft gunners, Mr. Chamberlain intimated that it was now known that in the raids on Rosyth and Scapa Flow, they brought down two German bombers and there was reason to think that they caused such damage to others as to prevent their reaching home.

At sea, there had been an intensification of the U-boat campaign, but despite one or two strokes of good fortune, the enemy had not been able to maintain the rate of sinking at first achieved. Mr. Chamberlain said that the U-boats had been driven to operate further and further from their bases and from points where trade was bound to converge. Tlie destruction of enemy submarines was proceeding at a sufficiently high rate to encourage the belief that the U-boat menace would eventually be overcome. Losses at Sea? Members would have seen that, during the last few days, the sinking of five British ships had been announced. One of these ships, the Stonegate, was sunk by the German raider Deutschland some time ago, but information of this loss had only just been received. Together these ships aggregated 22,715 tons. On the other hand, a number of enemy ships had been arrested and brought in by the blockading squadrons of the Royal Navy. These ships were the Phoebus of 8802 lons, the Gloria 5980 tons, the Bpania of 3375 tons, the Poseidon of 5804 tons, and the Biscaya of 0309 tons, the total being 28,307 tons. In addition to these, the Gonzeinheim, of 4504 tons, had been intercepted and had scuttled herself to avoid capture There had been therefore—subject to the decision of the Prize Court —a loss to the enemy of some 33,000 tons and a net gain to Britain of nearly 0000 tons. Growing Lawlessness A feature of the U-boat campaign to which Mr. Chamberlain said he must call attention was its growing lawlessness. It seemed now to become the rule for merchant ships to be sunk without warning. Frequently passengers and crows had been turned adrift in small open boats in stormy seas to sutler from cold and exposure. In the case of the steamer Yorkshire, there was a deplorable loss of life amongst the wives and children of soldiers who were returning home from the East. Another instance was the sinking of the French shin Bretagne, carrying a large number of women and children. This ship was 'torpedoed without warning and sunk miles from land by gunfire. Fourteen of those aboard were missing. The Leader of the Opposition, Major C. R. Attlee, endorsed Mr. Chamberlain’s tributes to the home defences and expressed pleasure concerning the results ol' the campaign against, U-boats. Referring to the speech given in Danzig by tire Nazi Foreign Minister. T-Tcrr von Ribbentrop, he declared: “It docs not seem worth

while to follow up statements of that kind. Threats will not deter us from our duty. We stand ready for peace, but it must be a real peace." The Liberal Party leader, Sir Archibald Sinclair, supported Mr. Chamberlain and urged the Government not to allow the relations with Russia to stagnate in the present unsatisfactory and even dangerous position. He added that it would be a grave dereliction of duty if the Government left the Russian field open to the Germans. They should be vigorous in taking the initiative in the commercial and diplomatic fields and convince the Soviet Government that the interests of mankind would best be served by British, French and Russian understanding and collaboration.