The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-07-13
.NAZl WARSHIPS
HAVE BEEN BUSY
CONTINUED from Page y

Five German airplanes are miss
ing and British air losses were
placed at 10 planes on Friday, but
the big emphasis here was on Brit
ish shipping losses.
The high command said that
British bombers attacking German
ohjectives had destroyed several
houses and killed several civilians
In North Germany last night"
German planes bombing ships,
harbors, and arms factories in Eng
land and Scotland sank one ont
post ship and severely damaged five
merchant ships an sank one 1000
ton merchant ship" the commune
que said.
It reported five airplanes destroy
I'd IN aerial bombing Of st. Merlin
airport and said that oil tanks were
bombed at Exeter, Quays and har-
Dor works attacked at Portland,
Newport and Dundee and arms fac.
tories blasted at Dillingham; and
Newcastle"
Report Of Sinking
I'm April, 1917, German subma-
rines sank $50 ships totalling 852,-
600 tons, including 1875 British ships
totallinf $4,000 tons. This was the
world Wars most disastrous month
for British shipping)
Commenting on yesterdays high
command report that more than A.
100000 tons Of British shipping had
been sunk since the war started,
the newspapers said that these loss
es were sapping Britain's strength
and reducing her powers Of resist
aflce on the eve Of the "fina" OF.
4ensive.
CThe German radio broadcast q
comment that Britain's armament
industry had been hard hit by the
cutting off Of her Bauxite imports.
The substance Is the base for pro-
duction Of aluminium, essential to
airplanes. The German radio said
britain produced no bauxite and
that 80 per cent Of her imports
came from France, 10 per cent from
Greece, both sources now blockedJ
According TO newspaper capitu-
lations, British ship losses totalled
PISS 600 tons on April 80. In May,
while 0er1nany'S submarine and
MIR fleets were diverted to the Nor
Wegian campaign, the losses drop
ped to $4,000 tons. In the past SIX
weeks, however, submarines alone
were said to have sunk COS, 900 tons.
Mines repeatedly accounted for an
other 100000 tons. Torpedo boats
Joined the campaign In mid-May
and the total sinkings credited to
the German naval forces was $685.
600 tons. Bombers were credited
with sinking 235 ships totalling l.
O4e,OOO tons, large number OF
them during the Allied evacuation
of Dunkirk.
Hitlers Paper Comments
Adolf Hitler's newspaper, Voelk-
ischer Beobachter, commented:
"This time the weight Of German
commerce warfare will not fall away
as it did IN 1917, but rather 1t will
increase In strength from week to
week"
The Hamburger Fremdenblatt
took into account the United States
shipments Of airplanes to Britain,
and warned that American airplane
manufacturers would be excluded
from the postwar European mar
ket as q result.
Detailing Germany's strategical
advantages against Britain, the
newspaper said. Despite the fact
that material damage has lessened
English air industry productivity as
the result Of German attacks, we
do not lapse into hasty optimism
but quietly make q high estimate
OF deliveries from United States fac
tories which take siiort-termed bus
iness with England and want TO
exclude themselves from the Euro
pean market for all future times"
The newspaper pointed out that
while German pursuit planes now
were able TO accompany bombers
% Britain from the new air bases
o. the west coast, no point IN Ger
many was accessible to British pur-
suit planes. II said that British
bombers consequently were suffering |
heavy losses and the supply Of ex-
parienced British pilots was dwin-
ding fast. These men cannot be |
replaced by romantic young AUS |
<<sI|ans and Canadians." the news
paper said.