NAMES AND PLACES

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 33, 9 February 1940, Page 2

NAMES AND PLACES

Secret German Airdrome Langeoog, the island on which a secret German airdrome has been reported, i one of the Frisian Islands, which lie in a long line off the coast of Holland and Germany, anything from three to 20 miles off the mainland. These islands, half of which belong to the Dutch and the other half to Germany, run as far north as Jutland. The island of Borkum, which has been raided by our aircraft, is already strongly fortified. Langeoog occupies only an area of eight square miles, and was formerly a favOurite summer resort. The Frisian Islands are _ slowly crumbling, and many of them are already submerged. Sheep and cattle raising, fishing, and potato-growing are the principal industries, but some of the islands have only one house on them, and this is built on artificial mounds and protected by dykes or embankments. Many ships have been wrecked on the Frisians, the most famous of which was H.M.S. La Lutine, which was filled with bullion. Of this, £99,893 has been recovered, but over a million pounds are still under the sea. Centuries ago the Frisian Islands formed the coastline of that part of Europe. Olympic Stadium Destroyed In their efforts to destroy important communications and centres in Helsinki, Russian bombers dropped their destructive cargoes on the Olympic Stadium which had ‘been erected for the games. According to foreign journalists, the Russians were attempting to destroy the city’s waterworks. The Stadium ‘had been designed by some of Finland’s leading architects, and was in the best. tradition of that country’s modern architecture. American observers reported

that Russian pilots who have been captured in Finland expressed great surprise when they were brought down, as they had been told that they could fly with safety anywhere in Finland. It may be remembered that the 1916 Olympiad was to have been held in Berlin. A Stadium costing £2,000,000 was erected, but as the war progressed, and the games were abandoned, it was pulled down. Sir Walter Monckton Sir Walter Monckton, K.C., British controller of censorship (he succeeded Lord McMillan in October), first became prominent when he represented the Bishop of Norwich in his action

against the Rev. Mr. Davidson, Rector of Stiffkey, who made himself notorious by exhibiting himself in a barrel. One of Sir Walter’s ancestors was the last British Governor of New York. In 1932 Sir Walter was appointed Attorney-Gen-eral of the Duchy of Cornwall, at £200 a year, and he handled all constitutional matters concerning the Abdication of Edward VIII. Later he attended the Duke of Windsor’s wedding in France. Sir Walter Monckton became a K.C. in 1930, is 49 years of age, and travels everywhere by air. He is also a noted cricketer. Czech Opposition An American journalist recently returned from Prague tells how the Czechs are countering German occupation. Here are some of his observations: "In

the great Skoda armament works the shop foremen are still Czechs. A group of workmen stop for afternoon coffee. They've been working on a big gun, not yet cool. One of them looks round cautiously, then pours a pot of coffee down the bore. When the gun cools off the flaw can’t be detected, but the first time it is fired it will be put out of commission. Essential machine-gun parts disappear. Artillery shells turn out to be defective. A little sugar is poured in machine oil; it can’t be detected; later it burns out a bearing. Mysterious short-circuits paralyse the Vitkovice steel and iron works. When a box marked ‘fragile’ is consigned to Germany it is almost certain to be dropped by Czech workmen. Goods for the Reich are deliberately consigned to the wrong address. Railway cars are left on wrong

sidings; telephone wires are cut. Wild applause broke out in a picture theatre when this announcement was thrown on the screen: ‘The German Reich — Great World Power.’ The proprietor had added a line: ‘ For a few days only.’" Canadian Troopships Overseas papers giving particulars of the arrival in England of the first division of the Canadian Expeditionary Force state that the men are now in Aldershot for two months to complete their training. Famous liners carried the Canadians across the Atlantic, which was obscured by winter fogs. The Empress of Britain, the Aquitania, and the Batory were three of the troopships. Canadian papers state that a broadcast from Germany on the night the troopships sailed gave their names and the total number in the convoy,