NEWS BY RADIO

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 December 1939, Page 7

NEWS BY RADIO

AIR MINISTER REVIEWS ACTIVITIES SUPERIORITY OF BRITISH SQUADRONS. HEAVY TOLL TAKEN OF ENEMY. The following Daventry reports have been rebroadcast by the New Zealand National stations:— The superiority of British aircraft had been fully proved by experiences of the past few weeks, said Sir Kingsley Wood. Secretary for Air. in a review of air activities. British fighting squadrons had taken a heavy toll of enemy planes trying to cross our defences and there was no doubt of the margin of advantage. British fighters had twice the gunfire of German machines and were more easily handled at a higher speed. New and still more powerful types were to be operated against the enemy. He paid a tribute to the skill and courage of the Coastal Command squadrons, which had escorted many convoys and had attacked German submarines on 57 occasions. When a British destroyer was damaged by a mine in the North Sea, planes escorted her to a Norwegian port, shooting down a German plane on the way, and after repairs had been effected to the destroyer, escorted her to Britain. A Polish squadron had been re-formed in England and would be attached to the R.A.F. under its own officers. The air defence system was sound and everything was being done to maintain our ascendancy in the air. ALLIED FINANCE. An agreement has been reached between the British and French Treasuries ,an announcement to this effect having been made in London and Paris yesterday afternoon. It extends to the sphere of finance the pooling arrangements recently adopted in relation to the two countries' economic resources. BRITISH SHIP SUNK. The loss of the British ship King Ebert, 4,500 tons, is reported. She sank in the North Sea after an explosion early yesterday. One man is missing.