17 May 1941
Page 1
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Newspaper
Medicine Hat News
Location
Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada
Date
May 17, 1941
Page
1
Cairo reports British and Australian forces press the Tobruk area as 60 Axis troops and two officers are captured. In Fort Capuzzo more than 500 prisoners are taken and armored cars disabled. The Basra and Habbaniyah areas remain quiet.
Washington reports final approval of a plan to train several thousand British pilots yearly in the United States. The first class will begin next month in civilian schools under army supervision and U S Army training centers. Britain will run some civilian schools here with U S planes and equipment, paying instructors. Fliers will come as civilians to avoid diplomatic issues. The exact total is not set, but rates of training will reach several thousand annually.
R E Powell says Metals Reserve Company of Washington has contracted $63 million in aluminum from Aluminum Company of Canada Limited. The order, which will expand facilities mainly in Quebec, may cost about $60 million.
Round Town notes correction on Australian airmen mistaken for New Zealand flyers stationed at No. 34 S.FVES awaiting training at another base. Canada widens war effort with blackout on the Pacific coast and inland camps, plus a 20 percent war tax hike raising movie prices. A pair of 1928 cars burned in two separate fires on local roads, with one fire blamed on arson and the other on a short circuit.
The Admiralty announced that the Royal Navy has suffered 11,285 killed and missing since the war began. Of these, 4,260 were killed in action, 6,044 listed as missing, 3,385 wounded, 512 taken prisoner, and 1 died of natural causes. The sinking of the cruiser Bonaventure while escorting a convoy cost 180 lives.
Moscow says reports that Soviet pilots were recruited to serve in the Iraqi military air force are fabrications. Tass states foreign reports on Moscow allowing volunteers were untrue despite Beirut dispatches noting Iraqi papers claimed Moscow would provide facilities and volunteers for Mesopotamian air operations.
London May 17 The Ministry of Home Security reports 6,065 civilians were killed and 6,926 injured in German air raids on the United Kingdom in April. Of the dead 2,812 were men 2,418 women 680 children under 16 and 55 unclassified. Sixty-one are missing and believed dead, lifting total civilian toll since June 1940 to 35,756 killed and 47,856 injured.
The Canadian Press notes Sir Robert Borden asked Sir Douglas Haig for a thorough test of the Ross rifle used by Canadian forces. Prime Minister Asquith sworn into the Irish Privy Council. On May 18 British monitors and aircraft bombarded El Arish in Sinai, three German ships sunk in the Baltic by British and Russian ships, with violent Western Front artillery actions reported.
Royal Air Force bombers struck Cologne causing large fires in industrial areas on both sides of the Rhine. A small force attacked Boulogne docks, and daylight raids sank a 2500 ton supply ship off the Norwegian coast. Two British planes missing. seven Nazi fighters destroyed over southeast England.
A P Burns named Victory Loan chairman for Medicine Hat guiding a local drive starting June 2 with a $600 million national target. Robert Morton Calgary oversees Medicine Hat Redcliff Bow Valley Empress and Cypress ridings while Miss Grace Cousins leads the local unit from the Cousins Elliott agency.
Interpretation by Kirke Simpson examines Vichy France and Germany in Syria and Iraq. British raids on Syrian bases signal possible Franco British hostilities and potential French aid to Nazi moves via Tunisia and Libya.
British report cites a Romanian broadcast claiming Germany began moving infantry through the Bosporus toward Syria and Iraq. Also, RAF Middle East reports a Nazi air raid on Habbaniyah airport in Iraq as Germany’s first stated operation in the Middle East.
The note states Gibraltar lies 33 miles across the water from Tangier in Morocco, framing the strait as a key Mediterranean gateway.
Australian acting Prime Minister Arthur Fadden said public opinion will endorse Britain's resolve to take decisive action against German aircraft in Iran and Syria. He backed Britain's decision and noted Vichy hints of German expansion plans. He cited Tobruk and the Salum area where Britain can offensive while Axis logistics falter.
Rangers defeated Hearts 4 2 to win the Scottish Cup in the final replay after a 1 1 draw last week. Venters and Smith gave Rangers the lead, Hamilton equalized for Hearts, then Thorton and Johnstone struck late to seal the victory before a 60 000 crowd.
Ottawa May 17 Conservative House Leader Harrison criticizes tax hike on income from Canadian securities held by non-residents as Ottawa seeks provincial cooperation. House adopts budget raise from five to 15 percent on non-resident income in Canadian funds, with debate over exemptions for Dominion bonds. Opposition argues against taxing non-residents and over incentives for thrift. Howard Green Con Vancouver.
The BBC broadcast in German suggesting unknown disclosures about Rudolf Hess and possible Nazi ties to Willie Messerschmitt. It claimed Hess fled from a private airfield near Augsburg using a late Luftwaffe reconnaissance plane not a Messerschmitt 110, as earlier reports indicated.
In Montreal on May 17 Joseph Serra 45 was charged with attempted death by own action and attempted murder of his wife Diana 33 After a hammer and screwdriver struck her and Serra stabbed himself three times with a penknife Their 10 year old daughter Solange alerted relatives Police said Serra has been mentally ill for some time and Mrs Serra remains hospitalized with a severe head wound
Harold Tanner of Calgary on the provincial committee was in town yesterday to promote the Victory Loan. Also note a tagday for a children's playground at the Roxy Theatre and a planned switch of the Lethbridge highway route out of the Gas City.
In Vancouver on May 17 two men faced drug charges. Harry Smith alias Barney De Fehr 34 from London Ontario received two years and a $100 fine or an extra month for four counts of distributing opium. George K Scott 47 was fined $200 or two months for five counts of selling codeine tablets under the War Measures Act.
Authoritative sources say the 21 American republics are prepared to establish provisional administration over French colonies in the Americas if Vichy Nazi collaboration extends to the western hemisphere. Decisive action will be delayed pending clarification of Vichy cooperation while the United States and other republics prepare plans to protect continental security.
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