GERMAN TRADE UNIONS

Grey River Argus, 11 May 1943, Page 5

GERMAN TRADE UNIONS

URGE WORKERS UNITY TO END WAR. ~LONDON, May 8. Private reports received in London say that the German Trade Unions heTd a secret meeting in Berlin on April 30 and approved an appeal to be spread illegally among German workers calling upon them to unite to end the war. The appeal declared: “There is only one way—to stand together to destroy Hitler.” ___

strain. Wait for us. We shall ie tU Teruzzi, Minister for Italian Africa, in a speech said: "Our hearts are lull of anguish over the Tunisian drama. Against the enemy’s barbaric superiority in material we have given up some ground, but the battle continues. Our spirit is out there, solemnly on guard. One day that spirit will sow tne seed of a new conquest. Bombed by Own Planes ALLIED PRISONERS ON ITALIAN SHIP

RUGBY, May 9. A picture is now possible of the devastation caused by the Allied Air Forces at points such as m Aouina airfield, the port of Tunis, La Goulette, and also of the terrible experience of hundreds of British and American prisoners aboard an Italian ship subjected to Allied bombinn. El Aouma is a remarkable tribute to the Allied bombing and strafing; there are wrecks of at least 100 German aircraft and a few Italian littered round the edges of the airfield. Many are large transport aircraft. Hangars and buildings are in ruins and the paths are strewn with great piles of broken masonry and metal work. Some German pilots had flung down their parachutes as they tied, and in one corner were some German “folswagen” cars with petrol already in the tanks ready to be driven away and lacking only the ignition keys. The city of Tunis itself is practically undamaged, but the docks there and at La Goulette are a shambles. All the warehouses by the dockside are gutted and broken to bits. Ihe jetties and quays stick out brokenly from the water. Moored alongside are numerous ships, all beached or sunk by bombing, varying in size from barges to 6000-tonners. In the port of Tunis the biggest wreck is that of an Italian ship which local inhabitants report wals hit during an air raid when it was carrying bombs into Tunisia. There are many wrecks at La Goulette. Several ships were still burning yesterday, and a cloud of smoke was rising from a bombed vessel which was loaded three days ago with nearly 700 prisoners. The ship steamed out of Tunis harbour, intending to make for Italy with a destroyer escort. The prisoners saw the destroyer sunk by Kittvhawks off Cape Bon. Without the escort, they said, the Germans and Italians on board refused to make the run to Sicily and put back over La Goulette. Out on the other side of the water states the Air Ministry News Service was another cloud of smoke where a German ship had been sunk. Near the shore a large Italian ship was aground and small boats were bringing to the beach load after load of British and American prisoners of war from this ship.- They told a terrible story at La Goulette. “Then we went throught three days and nights of hell,” said one British officer. “We were bombed and strafed repeatedly by our own aircraft. The pilots had no way of knowing there were British and American prisoners aboard, although later we did try to put identification signs on the deck. Bombs fell all around and damaged the ship’s plates. One hit the side and left us with a list. There was another direct hit, but fortun-

ately by only a small bomb and only superficial damage was done. It was miracle the ship was not sunk. She had to be run aground. The Italians left after the first bombing attack, but ihe Germans stuck it out at their guns almost to the end. Then they went ashore. An Italian sergeant came over the last evening and took a party of our sidk and wounded ashore.' The rest had to endure another night of bombing, and more to-day. The air attack was terrible. We were crammed into two holds with scarcely sufficient air to breathe and for the last two days there was no water. There were no sanitary arrangements and we had little food. It was a nightmare. Fortunately, only one British prisoner was killed by the air attack and one wounded.”