WILD RUMOURS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 November 1939, Page 3

WILD RUMOURS

NAVAL ACTIVITIES IN PACIFIC. DEFENCE MINISTER’S DENIAL. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) AUCKLAND, November 6. Widely circulated rumours that H.M.S. Leander had been in action with enemy ships and that the German pocket-battleship Admiral Scheer had been reported several hundred miles off the New Zealand coast were emphatically denied last night by the Minister of Defence, the Hon F. Jones. All the rumours gained astonishing currency over the weekend. One was that the Leander had engaged an enemy raider and had suffered casualties while disabling, the hostile ship. Another was that the New Zealand cruiser had been in successful action against a submarine, and the third was that the Admiral Scheer had been seen at sea near New Zealand. Details varied almost from person to person. Asked if there was any truth in the rumours, Mr Jones, after making careful inquiries, said he could deny every one of them outright. There was no truth at all in any of the reports. “There is another aspect of these reports which should be the subject of strong comment,” he said. “The person or persons responsible for circulating them should have consideration for the fact that many New Zealanders have sons and relatives in H.M.S. Leander, and it could be most unnerving and distressing for them to hear that the ship had suffered casualties. People should have more sense than to start putting such rumours about. I can say that all the men of the Leander are safe and in good heart."