Hendaye Apr. 16.
Three squadrons of Republican trimotored bombers accompanied by combat ships today engaged Nationalist planes off the Mediterranean coast of Spain, while the Government planes were attempting to attack three Nationalist troop transports convoyed by destroyers and cruisers, An estimated 150 planes dove, circled and climbed again in difficult close quarter aerie] manceuvres in what is believed to have been the greatest air battle ever fought over the open sea. Nationalist warships were powerless to aid their planes as anti-aircraft fre would have brought down as many Nationalist as Republican ships.
Other squadrons of Republican planes raided tionalist coastal footholds in the vicinity of Vinaroz and Benicarlo. The planes engaged in furious fights with ships of General Franco which rose to meet them.
Nationalist land forces, unhampered by intensive aerial warfare, consolidated positions throughout a 21 mile coastal area. The Franco re-
Japanese to Fly from Berlin to Tokyo Take Delivery of Planes For Manchoukuo gime now holds nearly 1,000 square miles ina region that was once the heart of Republican Spain and has irreparably divided Republican territory.
Bells rang out on Easter eve in every Nationalist village and city with a message that the end of war was in sight—United Press.
Berlin, Apr. 17.
Two new type German planes purchased by the Manchurig Air Trans. port Company will be'flown from Berlin to Tokyo this month by a group of Japanese pilots.
The two craft, which are the newest type Heinkel 116 models made in Germany, will take off here on April 23 and the pilots hope to reach Tokyo on the 29th.
The craft are low-winged, seven-sestet monoplanes with a flying radius of 4.500 kilometres. They will be fileted by Toshio Kato and Hachio Yokoyama, who recently took part in a flight over Libya, and by Junri Nakao and Katsugo Matsui. Mechanics on the flight will be Torao Okamoto, Kingo Ishikawa, Yozo Ushicda and Seiichi Kiyote
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.