ALLIED BLOW

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 July 1943, Page 3

ALLIED BLOW

ANTICIPATED IN EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN DISQUIET IN THE BALKANS. WIDE EXTENSION OF BOMBING IN PROSPECT. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, July 24. Reports received in Istan- . bul state that the Germans are taking over complete command of all Greek ports and also the Corinth Canal. Dis- ' quiet appears to bo increasing elsewhere in the Balkans, with a. growing conviction that the Allies are about to strike a blow in the eastern Mediterranean, linking up with the Russian offensive. Apart from its major importance as a jumping-off place for an invasion cf the European mainland, the Allied possession of Sicily, when achieved, will complete our bombing cover of Europe, says the “Daily Mail.” Hitler's Balkan allies, Rumania, Bulgaria and Hungry have so far escaped lightly, but will soon be completely open to attack from our- heavy bombers. Two great objectives, the Ploesti oilfields. Hitler’s only source of natural oil, and the great Skoda works, hitherto bombed from England only with difficulty, now come within our range. The occupied territories of Greece, Yugoslavia and Albania also come within the scope of operations, not only of our air forces, but also of the Allied fleets operating from Sicily. American airmen are dropping printing and duplicating devices to assist under-ground anti-Nazi movements, says the U.S. Office of War Information. They include an aluminium printing press weighing 23J1b., which can be assembled in four minutes and produce 1200 news leaflets in an hour; also a 251 b. weight type-setting outfit with alphabets in several languages. A 12|oz. mimegraph machine which turns out 700 copies an hour. Each gift carries a brief friendly greeting from America. The Germans executed at least 50,009 Czech men and women between their occupation of Czechoslovakia in March, 1939, and the middle of May this year, according to Dr. Ripka, Czechoslovakian Minister of State. During the same period 200,000 were sent to the concentration camps, and half a million were deported to. forced labour.