GERMAN BOMBERS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 17 May 1941, Page 5

GERMAN BOMBERS

ARRIVAL IN IRAQ REPORTED USE OF SYRIAN AIRPORTS. REPORT REGARDING RUSSIAN VOLUNTEERS. LONDON. May 16. German bombers, using Syrian air bases, have arrived in Iraq. The first announcement that German aircraft were passing through Syria was made in London yesterday. A Cairo message today says that most of the German planes which landed in Syria on their way to Iraq were bomb-

ers, though there may have ‘been troopcarriers among them. An authoritative estimate gives the number at 30. They used two French airports in Syria, one near Beirut and the other at Aleppo. According to the Free French agency, the Nazi planes were escorted across Syria by French fighters. It is learned in Cairo that Abdul 11lah, the exiled Iraqui Regent, has gone to Basra from Amman, Transjordania. The Bagdad radio said that Russia is allowing her pilots to volunteer to fight for Iraq. This is a "personal reprisal” for the British help to Finland. The German news agency says that the first group of Syrian volunteers has gone to Iraq. The Germans says preparations are under way to land more British troops and materials at Basra. According to the Ankara radio, 40,000 French troops are garrisoned in Syria. The French troops are proBritish. The Istanbul correspondent of "The Times” says reports from various sources indicate the imminence of a large-scale attack on Crete.