BASES IN EIRE

Waikato Times, Volume 128, Issue 21368, 12 March 1941, Page 7

BASES IN EIRE

AMERICAN PROPOSAL LOAN IN EXCHANGE | VITAL FOR PROTECTION i (United Press Assn.—F.ler. Tel. Copyright) NEW YORK, March 10 j The New York Daily News says the ; United States Government has opened l a drive to obtain bases in Eire coni sidered vital to the protection of the ! increased flow of aid to Britain, j In exchange the United States j would make a loan to Eire of I 50,000.000 dollars. Mr Frank Aiken, Eireann Minister for the Co-ordination of Defence, is coming to the United'States by Clipper, his object being to obtain American money and ships, which would sail to Eire under the Irish flag. Informed quarters say that the granting of bases on the south and west coasts of Eire would be the only terms on which the United States would advance the cash. A group of prominent Irish Americans has asked the Prime Minister of Eire, Mr de Valera, to permit the British to use the western ports of Eire to enable them to maintain the “lifeline of civilisation.” The message states: “Only if England survives can Ireland be free. We ask you to do this for the sake of Irish freedom, which our ancestors fought to win.” STRONG POINTS OCCUPIED ADVANCE OF GREEK FORCES ENEMY ACTIONS FAIL ITALIANS’ SEVERE LOSSES 'Official wireless) (Received March 12, 11 a.m.) RUGBY, March 11 A Greek Headquarters communique on Monday stated: After a hardfought struggle we have occupied enemy strong points. Offensive actions by the Italians have been taking place on a wider front since yesterday. They have not met with any success, but on the contrary have resulted in severe losses. We have taken about 300 prisoners, including a number of officers. An enemy attack was repulsed, one tank being destroyed. Our aircraft took part in these operations, bombing and machinegunning enemy forces with success. All our machines have returned to their bases. MORE CAPTURES ADVANCE OF GREEK FORCES ITALIANS IN FULL RETREAT VERY HEAVY LOSSES (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) ATHENS, March 10 The Greeks have captured a further 258 prisoners and considerable stores of provisions and other materials. They also captured a series of heights in the central sector. The Italians in the coastal sector made three fruitless counter-attacks, fighting proceeding air day along sumits 5000 ft high. The Italians further north lost 50 per cent of their effective strength when counter-at-tacks failed. The Athens correspondent of the Daily Express says Italy’s harried forces in central Albania are headed for the worst debacle since the outbreak of the Italo-Greek war. The Italians are reported to be in full retreat. Thousands have been killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. The Daily Telegraph’s correspondent at Athens says Greece’s internal solidarity was reaffirmed when delegations representing 500,000 workers declared their determination to fight to the end. The Prime Minister, M. Karizis, in a speech to the delegates, said Greece would continue the struggle to impose respect for her independence, integrity and liberty.