BATTLE FOR

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 361, 16 February 1937, Page 5

BATTLE FOR

RETREAT FROM MALAGA

REBEL AEROPLANES.

FASCIST TERROR. Terrific Slaughter Of Women And Children. Press Association—Copyright. • London, February 15. The Valencia correspondent of the Times' states that during the retreat from Malaga to Almeria rebel aeroplanes swooped down upon 40,000 heavily laden men, women and children fleeing from the Fascist terror, and machine-gunned them, killing hundreds. The slaughter was intensified by the fire of rebel warships sailing parallel with the coast. Senor Dei Vayo obtained these facts' from three ministers who have returned from Almeria. An unknown vessel bombarded Valencia at 10 p.m. on Sunday. Approximately 30 shells passed over the centre of the city, falling in outlying parts. Tire Government gunboat Laya replied, driving off the attacker. It is reported that 14 persons were killed and 30 injured. West Park, Madrid, where normally nursemaids and children played and couples courted, is a maze of trenches with trees torn by grenades and rifle fire. The Government’s fortifications are so complete that when the rebels burst into University City they did not know the whereabouts of the enemy’s positions concealed in a labyrinth of tunnels which were lit by electricity.

The rebels still occupy the cellars and the first floor of the battered eight-storey shell of one of the most modern hospitals in Europe, which they stormed weeks ago. They do not venture into the upper storeys before nightfall. The adjacent cancer institute is a mass of ruins and the no man’s land beyond the barrier of sandbags is dotted with rebel corpses, victims of the last attack.