NAZIS DENOUNCED

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 November 1939, Page 5

NAZIS DENOUNCED

MINES LAID IN DEFIANCE OF LAW OF NATIONS . ADMIRALTY STATEMENT. AGONISING SCENES WITNESSED ON QUAYSIDE. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. LONDON. November 19. The complement of the Simon Bolivar were mostly Netherlands subjects, but there were some I'lnglish passengers and many women and children. Survivors included three babies under 12 months of age. There were agonising scenes at the quayside, where doctors, nurses and ambulances waited. Women clutched their babies to their bosoms and a small boy cried: "Daddy, where are you?" Most of lhe survivors had to jump into the sea half-clothed and suffered shock. Many were treated on the wharf. Others entrained for London, where they arrived at midnight and transferred to buses and ambulances. The passengers said they did not have time to gather clothes and belongings. An Official Wireless message from Rugby reports that the Admiralty has issued the following statement: — “The mining of the Netherlands passenger ship Simon Bolivar off the East Coast of England is a further example of the utter disregard of international law and the dictates of humanity shown by the present German Government. Mines were laid without any notification in the Channel on courses followed by merchant shipping, both British and neutral, and there is no doubt that they were laid for the specific purpose of destroying such shipping.” A later cable message states that the Simon Bolivar, which was bound for Guiana, carried 75 British passengers, a number of German refugees and Norwegians. One hundred survivors were injured, 50 of them seriously. Two hundred and fifty proceeded to London. 107 of them going to hospital. Manv passengers said the bows ol the liner lifted from lhe water. The captain was killed instantly. One passenger was thrown five feet into lhe air.

A survivor saw other people standing near him mowed down like ninepins. The most poignant story was that of a giant AVest Indian whose wife and two children were drowned. He saved the life of a three-year-old white child, whom he intends to adopt. Thrilling stories of the rescue were told by other survivors who were picked up by trawlers which appeared from the mists. A British merchant named Preece a widower, slipped down a rope holding his three-year-old daughter. He found a box floating. put his daughter in it. and swam round for an hour. Both were picked lip. The owners of the liner say there were 170 members of the crew and 230 passengers. The loss of the Simon Bolivar, which was built in 1927, is the biggest nonnaval shipping disaster of the war. a Daventry report states. The news caused consternation in Amsterdam, where only two days ago passengers were staying in hotels awaiting the departure of the ship. Tn Denmark there is great anger at the disaster. It is only a week since Denmark lost, her largest merchant ship, the Canada. At the investigation the captain expressed the view that the sinking was caused by a magnetic rnine. Survivors of the Simon Bolivar speak of two explosions. The first killed several people outright and flung many into the sea.