RESCUE AT SEA

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 42, 18 January 1938, Page 2

RESCUE AT SEA

ITALIAN AIRMEN. IN REBEL CAUSE. AUCKLAND, Jan. 17. The circumstances under, which two Spanish insurgent airmen were picked up in the Mediterranean recently by the liner Largs Bay, bound from London to Sydney, were recounted ,by a passenger, Mr D. A. Stewart, who arrived from Australia to-day. A cablegram from Gibraltar stated that the airmen claimed they had been refused aid by a passing Russian ship, but that was scarcely the full story, according to Mr Stewart. Prior to alighting on the sea because of an engine defect, the airmen had been engaged in pursuing the ship, which was carrying food, with the object of forcing her into a rebel port, and very naturally the ship speeded awav from the scene as quickly as possible. The Largs Bay- sighted the aeroplane on a calm evening when about five hours out from Gibraltar. On the tail was a large swastika and on both sides was painted the figure of a man in black aiming a rifle. When the liner came close by, however, everyone on board thought the gesture of the two airmen signified that they did not want assistance, and the ship resumed its course. Presently a rocket was fired from the aeroplane and the ship returned. A boat was lowered and the two men, who were Italians,' were brought on board. It appeared that their gestures had been intended to indicate despair. A request bv the airmen that their machine should be taken on board was absolutely refused by the captain of the Largs Bay, who did not wish to invite any allegation, possibly by Spanish Loyalists, that he was assisting the Franco cause. The men were terrified that they might be dropped at a Loyalist port fearing that they would be shot, and pleaded with the captain that he would land them either at a rebel harbour or in neutral territory. In this their v’ish was granted, for they were set down at Malta, the military authorities there subsequently sending them on to Rome.