DESERTED AND RUINED

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 449, 3 June 1937, Page 5

DESERTED AND RUINED

CITY OF ALMERIA Horrors Of Bombardment Press Association —Copyright. (Received 10 a.m.) London, June 2 The city of Almeria is deserted and ruined and almost the entire population has fled to the countryside, where the fields are full of weary, famished people, stales the Almeria correspondent of th e Times.

Details of the attack show that the German squadron placed itself broadside to the city and fired continuously for half an hour; then resumed for ten minutes with two-minute salvos from the Admiral Scheer and the destroyers Leopard, Luchs, Wolf and Panther.

German shells destroyed nearly all the ships Jn the harbour and a large part of the town. Sir George Young, an Englishman who was at Almeria at the time, says the bombardment was most atrocious in view of the nature of th e missiles employed. There were big shells with time fuses which exploded some after attack, scattering shrapnel and killing or wounding anything living within many yards’ radius 1 . Almeria had already been bombed five nights by aircraft. CONCERN IN AMERICA STATEMENT BY MR HULL New York, Jun e 2. The Secretary of State, Mr Cordell Hull, announced in Washington that he had appealed to the German and Spanish Governments, through their ambassadors, for a peaceful adjustment of the crisis arising from the bombing of the German “pocket” battleship Deutschland by the loyalist aeroplanes and the subsequent German shelling of Almeria. The New York Times says that Mr Hull’s action is one infrequently taken and reflects the grave concern which is developing concerning the international aspect of the Spanish Civil war and the hope of the United States that the conflict will be kept isolated from the remainder of Europe.

Mr Hull’s representations were limited to conversations with the ambassadors, and it is emphasised that American diplomats in Europe are not authorised to make representations.

Hater Mr Hull conferred with the British Ambassador to Washington. Sir Ronald Lindsay, but said that it was not connected with the Spanish Situation.

Mr Hull revealed that the Spanish Ambassador contended that the bombardment of Almeria was a violation of international law, but didi >ot. re quest the United States to act. The German Ambassador declared that the Deutschland was within her rights in being in Iviza because she was off duty. He said he had direct information from Berlin that the battleship did not fir e o n loyalist planes, either before or after the bombing. Mr Hull declined l to say whether the United States would apply the Neutrality Act to Germany.