The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-04-10
British Armies Brace Themselves For Nazis
tContinued from Page D

tC0ntinued
 Turkey has given no indication oi her position, although some middle esatern observers suggested that she might be closer to entry into the war at Britain's side than Is gen. erally believed.
 Both Syria and Iraq are centers of German undercover activity. In Iraq a pro-Nazi government has established power by 8 coup d'etat and there have been indications, the British might intervene to secure control of this back door tO~Turkey and gateway to the Indian ocean.
 Similar activity in Syria has led to reports of possible British inter- vention. ....,.
 Russia made 1t obvious today that she is watching the situation with closest attention but there was no indication that she is prepared to discard her neutral aloofness.
 Unnoticed and almost uf,fnen. toned in the news reports was the situation in Spain. If @ neal Nazi threat to British control of the eastern Mediterranean materializes a sudden German stroke to close the western gateway of the insland sea at Gibraltar will become No. 1 possibility.
 So far no sign of a German move in that area has appeared but 1t seemed certain that British oh- servers are watching that zone.
 Berlin Attack Heavy
 The British air attack upon Ber- lin last night appeared to have been one of the heaviest of the war al- though London said 1t was not as powerful as the raids on Kiel on the two previous nights.
 Berlin admitted damage to the fa- nous Kroll Opera House where the Reichstag has been meeting since fire destroyed its building near the start of the Hitler regime and also to the Prussian state library and Bellevue Palace where distinguished visitors--the latest of them Japan's Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka stay.
 Some civilians were reported killed or wounded and B British planes were alleged to have been shot down.
 The British reported that 10 German bombers were shot down by night fighters over Britain last night in the course of widespread German attacks.
 There still were no reports of clashes between the powerful British expeditionary force in Greece and the rampaging Nazi columns which have hacked across the northern frontier.
 Indications were that the battle might be joined at any moment.
 The German high cQanmand re- verted to Its policy of silence for the time being after yesterdays vic- torious announcements.
 It confirmed that blitz forces had smashed across the narrows of Sou thSerbia to reach the Albanian frontier south of the river Drin after capturing Tetovo and Prilep and added that the column which took Nish 130 miles southeast of Belgrade and about 90 miles from Cacak one of the temporary Jugo- slav capitals, is racing lorthward.
 Jugoslavs Desperate
 The plight of the Jugoslav forces trapped between the fast-moving German fingers of steel in south Ser bia was desperate but Greek reports said that they had braced at some points and were rallying to counter attack the Germans. q
 One Athens report which had no official confirmation said that Q Jugoslav counter attack was devel- oping in an attempt to recapture the key town of Skoplje. But with German armored forces spreading out along all the roads that hub from Skoplje this appeared to be an almost impossible endeavor.
 London said that the Jugoslav bat talions had orders to retake Skoplje or die in the attempt.
 Possibly the most dangerous re- port from the Greco British stand point was one that German troops had reached the Lake Ochrida sec tor at the Jugoslav- Creek Albanian corner
 German troops in this region would be in a position to smash down the network of northwestern Greek roads and flank the prepared de- lenses which are believed to have been set up from the region of Florina, southeast to the Gulf of Salonika.
 Greeks Minimize Loss
 The Greeks attempted to mini- niize loss of Salonika and Macedonia today. They reported that for weeks civilians and supplies have been evacuated from the area under de. fensive plans which called for aban- donment of the region if the Ger mans should attack.
 The Greeks claimed, also, that isolated forces in this eastern sector still are fighting against the Ger mans. This was directly contradic- tory to a Nazi claim that all Greek troops in the area had capituiated.
 So far, 1t appeared. the Royal Air Force is the only arm of the British fighting services which has been in action in Greece. The RAF was acc tive despite bad flying weather in pounding at the narrow passes and mountain roads over which the Nazl blitz divisions are advancing.
 They rnnnrfad heaYV atiacka On