Republicans Report Unrest in Nationalist Ranks Hendaye, Feb. 27.
Spanish Republican troops were driven back to secondary defence lines to-day when Nationalist forces staged a surprise attack across the Galleco River, ten miles north of Saragossa.
Soviet planes took to the air to protect the retreating Republicans and American trucks rushed reinforcements to tie Republican front lines.
Dissension meanwhile was reported increasing among foreign volunteers fighting with the Nationalist troops. One Republican report said many Italian troops were complaining against having been sent to join the Nationalists. The Italians were said to have believed they were being shipped to Ethiopia when they left Italy.
Seven hundred Italians were alleged to have been imprisoned in the Vitoria jail because of their refusal to start for the front. Others imprisoned by the Nationalists were said to have included German and Italian artillery officers who refused to carry out heavy bombardments of Republican cities—United Press.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.