SLOVAKIA INVASION

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 March 1939, Page 5

SLOVAKIA INVASION

HEAVY FIGHTING AEROPLANES ON BOTH SIDES TAKE PART. SLOVAKIAN PREMIER APPEALS TO HITLER. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright LONDON, March 26. Despite earlier reports that the Hungarians were evacuating the invaded Slovakian territory, the Defence Ministry, in a'communique issued yesterday in Bratislava, states that heavy fighting continues between Hungarians and Slovaks, in which aeroplanes on both sides participated. The premier of Slovakia, Dr Tiso, has sent the Foreign Minister, M Karmasin, to Vienna to inform Herr Hitler that Hungarian bombers are killing Slovaks of German descent, and to state that Hungary is violating Slovakia’s territorial integrity which was guaranteed by the Reich.

Reinforcements and munitions are being rushed eastward, also to the Polish frontier, where Poland is reported to have concentrated troops. Reports from Bratislava state that the town of Miehalovace withstood a Hungarian siege all day. Four Hungarians and two Slovak planes are reported to have been shot down in an air battle in which 17 planes participated. Six soldiers, six civilians, and one member of the Hlinka Guard were killed at Zips, where Hungarian planes dropped five bombs. The dead include two women and three children.

Budapest messages state that fighting continues in Slovakia, and claim that seven Slovak planes were brought down. Slovak planes are stated to have bombed three Hungarian border towns, resulting in a Hungarian declaration that they would be “compelled to employ a greater preponderance of strength,” failing a satisfactory adjustment of the dispute. Prague reports that a Hungarian Slovak Commission will meet on Monday to deal with the situation and examine the cause of the conflict.

HOSTILITIES REPORTED TO HAVE CEASED ** BY MUTUAL AGREEMENT. HUNGARIANS STILL FORTIFYING VILLAGES. BRATISLAVA, March 26. It is officially stated that the Slovakian and Hungarian hostilities have ceased by mutual agreement, but that the Hungarians are still fortifying frontier villages.