The daily monitor. (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1940-1942, 1941-05-31
War

w ar
Continued from Page ~
hard defenders Of the Greek Is
land.
FARM JUNCTION
The Germans were reported
about to make q junction with
Italian forces landed on the east
ern end of Crete in the last
stages of the invasion. Defenders
still In the figh t were in Be-
tween.
The high command said some
Of the British and Greeks had
fled to the island of Gavdos, Is
miles off the south coast Of
Crete, where the Luftwaffe pur-
sued them with bomb and ma
chine-gun while also blasting
Crete's southern ports to smash
the new Dunkerque.
Other defense forces were re-
ported seeking the comparative
safety of Egypt in what boats
they could muster on the Cretan
shore.
The London war office, after
a 24-hour silence, denied a Nazi
report that Major General B. G.
Freyberg, commander of the Bril-
fish Imperial Forces on Crete,
had fled and died in q plane
crash.
I'VE are glad to announce that
he is alive and with his troops"
said the war office statement.
Authoritative London sources
presumed" that Britain had
granted the Iraq plea for an
armistice. The armistice request
was understood to have come
from a committee in control of
the capital, Baghdad.
FULL.DRESS AFFAIR
The prospect Of full-dress war
in Iraq was a ticklish problem
for Iraq's neighbsrs, Turkey and
French Inundated Syria. Turkey
was still to make up her mind
whether to fight at Britain side.
Thus far, she has been Britain's
ally on paper.
The French in Syria, already
bellicose over British bombing
of Syrian airdromes used by
Iraq-bound German planes, un-
doubtedly will be called upon
to provide greater right-of-way
for Axis forces. Thus far, France
has merely fulfilled an armis-
tice commitment in permitting
the Germans to use Syrian air
bases.
The strain between France
and her former ally, Britain, was
heightened by the French report
that British planes yesterday at.
tackled Sfax, Tunisia, a north
African possession, less than "a
hours after Vichy formally pro-
tested q British bombing Of the
port on Wednesday.
The air battle of Britain and
the war of the seaways, also
overshadowed by the Crete-1raq
developments, were marked
overnight by German attacks
upon Britain's vest coast, the
upon Britain's west coast, the
Bristol channel. These conferred
on Liverpool, Bristol, Cardiff
and Cowles, Germans said.
Through the rakins from the
air from under the sea, Britain's
first shipload of food from the
United States under the Lend.
Lease Bill reached . British port.
Britons steeled themselves to.
day to hear news Of another dis
astrous defeat - this time In
Crete-while Germans consider.
ed conquest Of that strategic Is
land practically q finished Job.
The German press jubilantly
published screaming headlines
proclaiming that victory is
ours" and declared that Nazi air
power definitely had proved Its
superiority over British sea pow
err in the Eastern Mediterranean
in the past II days of bitter
fighting.
Informed military circles In
German pictured Axis successes
in Crete as the forerunner Of q
smash at the Suez Canal--two
hours flying time away - and
also as a significant test Of tho
vulnerability of island fortresscs
against assault from the air.
Military spokesmen In Berlin
said that British and Greek de-
tenders Of Crete were fleeing 70
the islands south coast In IN ef.
fort to get away to Egypt. The
German wireless reported that
one group already had reached
Egypt and the British Broadcast