After accusing Mr. Churchill of lyricizing over the activities of the British troops in France, "where they have not been seen by French poilus," exaggerating German losses on the Western Front, so that the French Government has "found it necessary to correct you," and inventing the story of the "Edinburgh dog" (according to the German wireless, the first official British repor: on German air raids declared that only a dog was killed), Dr. Goebbels exhorted Mr. Churchill to get on with his own business.
The Propaganda Minister then gave his own version of how Mr. Churchill (not yet then First Lord of the Admiralty) had the Athenia packed with Americans, but exclude ed Germans, and carefully "prepared an explosion in advance." After completing arrangements to give telegraphic orders for the explosion, Dr. Goebbels alleged, Mr. Churchill sent three destroyers to remain in the vicinity of the ship to rescue witnesses.
"The explosion was stupidly arranged, the German Minister said. "and the Athenia remained 14 hours afloat, when the ship had to be sunk 'o obliterate traces of the crime."
The statement of British witnesses, that the destroyer which took sur-wivers aboard fired a number of thots at the Athenia to prevent the wreckage from becoming a danger to shipping, was explained by Dr. Goebbels as a "pretext which only you could have invented."—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.