CABLE NEWS IN BRIEF

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24422, 7 October 1940, Page 8

CABLE NEWS IN BRIEF

Defence Discussions The Prime Minister of Canada (Mr Mackenzie King) announced at Ottawa that the Minister of National Defence (Colonel Ralston) is going to England to discuss defence questions. s Death of Centenarian The death has occurred of Miss Mary Davey, aged 108, Britain’s oldest woman. She was assistant at a Brighton bakery for 70 years till she was over 90. i Britain and India Speaking to journalists in London, the High Commissioner for India, Sir Firoz Khannoon, said that India’s complaint was that Britain had not made sufficient use of India’s willingness to help in this war. “ There is not,” Sir Firoz said, “ a man in India who does not want Britain to win.”

Gallant Airman A bar to his D.F.C. has been won by Pilot-officer W. D. McKnight, who has destroyed six enemy aircraft in the the last 13 weeks, states an announcement from London. He was born in Alberta, Canada, in 1918, and was commissioned in the R.A.F. in 1939. He was awarded the D.F.C. last June.

“Army of Free Spain ” A New York message states that General Jose Asensio, a former War Minister of Republican Spain, urged the formation of an “Army of Free Spain ” to join Britain and fight Nazism and Fascism, and re-establish the Spanish Republic. He urged the American republics to unite against the “ fifth column.”

Air Raid Tragedies Four children were left by their mother in the basement of a house which was demolished in a daylight raid on London on Friday, and are believed to have been buried. The mother escaped. She was forced to run out to do shopping because of the length of the warning. A 12-year-old boy was released from wreckage in East London after being entombed for several hours. His mother was killed. Cardiff’s War Effort Nearly £64p,000 was promised within half an hour of the launching of Cardiff’s War Weapons Week on Friday. Lord Mayor Alderman Henry Johns expressed dissatisfaction at the city’s aim being only £1,000,000. “It should have been £2,000,000,” he said. “For the honour and credit of Cardiff, as a leader in Wales and the bordering counties in England, we must immediately declare in favour of £2,000,000.”

Release of Belgian Prisoners The Times correspondent in Belgium says that German newspapers in Belgium announce that Belgian prisoners of war in Germany, except professional officers, are being released before the winter. The Germans apparently do not wish the responsibility of feeding them during the winter.

Captured German Freighter The captured German freighter Weser, with a prize crew on board, has arrived at Esquimalt, Vancouver Island, under naval escort.

Welter-weight Boxing Title A message from New York states that Fritzie Vivic gained the decision over Henry Armstrong in a fight for the world’s welter-weight title. The fight went the full 15 rounds.

German Escapee Shot The Director of Internment Operations in Canada has announced that a posse shot dead Ernest Meuller, a German merchant seaman, who escaped from an internment camp in North-West Ontario. House of LOrds Damaged A bomb exploded outside the House of Lords near the statue of Richard Coeur de Lion. Superficial damage was 'done to the windows and the structure of the House of Lords. Japanese Vessel Detained Reliable shipping circles in New York declare that the Japanese steamship Hakone Maru, en route to the United States from Lisbon, was ordered by a British warship to halt at Bermuda, where it arrived on September 30. The ship was released on Friday, and is proceeding to Baltimore. There are no details.

Random Bombing Denied The Swedish Minister in London called at the Foreign Office to protest against the reported dropping of bombs by British aircraft on Swedish territory early last Thursday. The Air Ministry has issued an emphatic denial that any British aircraft were over or near Swedish territory during the period in question.