The Wilmington morning star., 1940-07-26
HUNDREDS OF NAZI
WARPLANES RAID
ENGLISH CHANNEL
CONTINUED From Page One)

Britain's barrier %inviolate, drove even
King George to an air raid shelter.
They came in swarms of eighty TO
dive and blast at shipping,
shores and inland localities .
sometimes strung out in long, SEEM
ingly endless lines.
There were mass attacks on the
channel both in morning ana aIter-
noon. Late today hundreds OF Ger-
man stuka dive bombers, German
fighters and British fighters fought
above a 20-ship convoy which the
Germans first bombed and dis
persed, then bombed again when 1t
reformed. More than fifty attacking
bombers dived from 5000 feet n
explosions were felt or the Engllsh
cliffs three miles away.
Trawlers Lost
The admiralty announced that the
naval trawlers Kingston Galena ano
Rodino were lost as a result OF an
enemy air attack" but did not dis
close where or when. The number
of casualties was not given.
In the midst of all this the govern
ment announced that "a deliberate
and callous'' attack by a German tor
! pedo boat, off the heavily guarded
Portland naval base, last night hac
sunk the CLIFTON French merchant
man Meknes, crammed with l,3o'
French naval officers and men or
their way to repatriation in thell
| homeland. From 300 to $50 were lost
Lancashire Sunk
Then, after waiting for a month
to soften the blow, the censorship
permitted publication of the fact tina
1928 British troops and refugees
some of them women and children
still are missing from the bombing
and sinking of the 1%6,243-ton Cunart
liner Lancashire, while she lay a
anchor in the French harbor at st
Nazaire in mid-June, evacuatlng IN
last of the B. E. F.
This was the first time the authori
ties had permitted any mention o
the Lancashire disaster. 1t rank
as the greatest sea catastrophe o
the war, so far as is yet known.
First Lord of the Admiralty A. V
Alexander announced the sinking o
the Meknes to the house Of CON
mons after noting that the Germa1
L:-I loJ o1oironI If nc a
'18, 00O-ton merchantmen"
The ship, he said, was a blaze G
light, flying the French %tri-colo1
with the French flag painted vivid
on her docks and sides. Yet, he salt
his voice rising: 1.-The Meknes wa
torpedoed by a motorboat at TO-;
last night. Passengers and cre'
were given five minutes to take t
the boats but each time she tried I
signal her name she was again fire
on and sank in four or five minutes.
Survivors Landed
About $50 Meknes survivors, fl
teeen seriously injured, were lande
on the English south coast tonigh
Some said they understood TT
Meknes had been guaranteed sa
pa ssage by the Germans.
"In spite Of that the first motto
we got was three bursts of machin
gun fire and shots from a sma
) cannon" said one of them. wv
sounded our siren to let the mote
boat know this was not an enem
ship. The next thing was the to
pedo.
There was a rush for the boat
and they were ~overcrowded. III
RATS were too heavy to get over tn
side quickly. All we could do wa
jump for it, and wait.
"a lot of people were killed whe
the boiler exploded. Then we wei
machine-gunned in the water. Aft
a while the British warships pickle
us up"
| The Lancashire, formerly a Ne
York to West Indies cruise shil
capsized and sunk in half an hot
under the impact Of aerial bomt
7 and torpedoes. She had $500 trool
7 and refugees aboard, Small era.