Ankara, May 18.
Several train loads of war materials were sent from Syria -to Iraq on Friday and Saturday, it is learned here. The railway passes through Turkey, and under the terms of convention, Turkey must be notified of the passage of all war material The last British party to leave Greece after the evacuation was com pleted. has arrived safely in Al-
experiencing rough seas and other xandin a 'a schooner after perils during an 18-day trip.
Poking through stormy waters of the Aegean, bombed and machinegunned but' unscathed, sheltering in humorous Pelopponese islands, Lieut-Commander Nigel Willmott and if companions achieved this remarkable feat of " praiseworthy seamanship.
We set sail at dawn on April 28"
said. "from Raphtls Bay on the Aitiea. coast aboard the Evangellisrela, 15-ton Greek twin-masted boat armed with one Bren gun and hand grenades. A. compass and chart Were our only navigation instru min ur Qrst-stop was on Macronisis [slond where we sampled the nest wines and honey. We resumed the Journey making for 'Thermla' under constant alr menace, We evoked food fon a wood fire and water was rationed.
"We called on Seriphos Island where we had a rendezvous with another. British party who were temporarily sheltered there, While we were still ashore the island was foreed to surrender to a Nazi ultima~ tum or sustain mass air attacks. We hurriedly set sail as white flags were hoisted everywhere, and headed, for a desolate island witch provided better shelter.
"We resumed the journey under cover of night on account of Nazi alr formations circling overhead all day long, Struggling against rough seas the. boat lifted her stern bravely to monstrous wave. We were forced to stop at the volcanic island of Santorin which to our bad luck spouted lava feverishly and danger of eruption was impending.
Santorin we sighted foreign motor vessel which appeared to be fan Mahan surface raider. We consmplated capturing her. I ordered tion stations' manned immediately. The enemy turned tail. Engine trou. ble added to our worries and we had deal with fire which broke out
gine. aboard fom a bursting Diesel en-"Eventually we sighted Suda Bay in Crete as a storm smashed big seas inst it, On 'May we sought there, We spent' one day when to. give up the Evangellistria, land substitute a 170-ton schooner, We salled for Alexandria as a south wind hit us but we kept moving as fast as we could, fe encountered a west Mediterranean cargo convoy who offered us escort protection but as we were unable to keep up we stayed behind. Finally we made port unmolested: alter 18 days since we embarked from the Greek beach."
'Concluding his odyssey, Lieut, Commander Willmobt -pald' a hight tribute to the skipper, R, Crawford, who in peace-time is a first-class fisherman, and also to, the splendid behaviour of the party In the face of appalling weather which prevailed throughout the trip—Reuter, (U.S. Plane Production New York, May 18, American aircraft production for this month will be in excess of 1,600 planes, which is twice the number Produced at the beginning of the year, authoritative quarters state.
The newly established factories are now beginning to show good results and it is predicted that there will be progressive increase in aircraft production reaching 1,800 machines in July and 4,300 a month by June 1042, This fast-growing production is dis-ussed by the American magazine "News," which remarks that for the first time since the beginning of the war the democracies are turning out more combat planes a month than Hitler—Reuter. exceeding one truck, but there is no ower to impede such traffic, It is egnsidered that this trame ts not likely to continue, as It is known that stocks of ammunition and petrol Syria are low.
It is also reported in usually re. Viable quarters here that Frene! armoured vehicles In Syria are being e-conditioned, and" that the Italian commission in' Syria is allowing the withdrawal of materials from the depots.
The Royal Air Force is reported to have bombed and machine-gunned Syrian Arab volunteers for Raschid Ah who had been collected by the French and were being taken across the Traq-Syrian frontier in French lorries at Ebukemal.
'The 40 British subjects who lett Istanbul and Ankara' yesterday for Palestine via Syria were advised by the British Consul to leave the train at Adana early on Saturday and not to proceed via Syria.
Another report states that the Afghanistan Minister to Turkey, who was formerly the Afghanistan' Foreign Minister, is appealing to President Roosevelt to mediate between Iraq and Britain.—Reuter,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.