Evening star., 1941-02-10
By the Associated Press

By the Associated Press.
BUCHAREST, Rumania, Feb
10.-Great Britain broke off dip
lomatic relations today with Ru-
mania, into which Germany has
poured hundreds of thousands OF
soldiers. and arranged to turn
over her Rumanian interests tC
United States care.
The British Minister, Sir Regi-
nald Hoare, notified Rumanian
Premier Gen. Ion Antonescu that
the long g-strained relations be-
tween their countries were at ar
end in a brief note delivered on
the stroke of noon IS am, East
ern Standard time.
(This decision followed on the
heels of British Prime Minister
Churchill's broadcast declaration
yesterday that the Nazis, having
absorbed Hungary and driven
Rumania into a frightful internal
convulsion. are already on the
Black Sea" and perhaps" a
southwark movement of German
troops into or through Bulgaria
already has begun
Oil Fields Held by Nazis.
There was speculation in neutral
diplomatic quarters whether Britain
soon might follow the break with a
declaration of war, especially since
Rumanian oil fields are now COM
pletely in German hands and would
provide legitimate target for Brit
aims bombing planes.
The British Minister to Bulgaria
recently notified the Bulgarian gov
ernmenL, according to diplomatic
sources in Sofia, that Bulgarian
military targets would be bombed
by the r. A. F. if a way were opened
through Bulgaria for German troops
to get at Greece or Turkey.
The British diplomatic mission
had finished packing and was ready
to leave for Istanbul a few hours
after the break between the one
time World War allies.
Sir Reginald's meeting with Gen
AntoneScu was described by minis
terS as exceedingly painful"
Greeted With Smile.
A few minutes before noon the
invalid British envoy, cane in his
in hi hut Io0 01o
stepped from his automobile in front
of Gen. Antonescu's office He had
TO walk around line of gray Ger
man military cars parked at the
curb.
He was greeted with smile by
Gen. Antonescu, who was Rumania' S
military attache in London for years
end speaks perfect English.
Their long conversation behind
closed doors ended an hour later
when Gen. Antonescu accompanied
Sir Reginald to the stairway and
gave him a firm handshake.
The United States Minister
Franklin Mott Gunther, and his
staff Immediately began taking over
British documents in preparation
for taking charge of British interests
in this country.
A special steamer is waiting in
the Rumanian Black Sea port OF
Constanta to take Sir Reginald and
his staff of almost so to Istanbul.
Breach Had Been Expected.
Official Rumanian reaction to the
break in relations was not imme-
diately available, but a breach had
been expected since larger contin-
gents of German troops began en-
tering Rumania last fall.
The British Minister spent almost
An hour with Gen. Antonescu, ar
irving back at the British Legation
after l pm, looking tired but smil-
ing broadly.
Newspapers carried columns of in
structions to civilians on how tc
behave in air raids and how best to
protect themselves.
Bucharest was blacked out last
night and the blackout will be per-
manent hereafter. This decision
was made, the newspaper Curentul
said, because there is danger of air
attacks"
The reported British warning to
Bulgaria is believed to apply also to
Rumania because of the presence
here of German troops and the mill
tary value of Rumanian oil fields.
Besides the British diplomatic
mission, there are nearly 200 other
See RUMANIA, Page A-4D