and. praise for the skill and power behind the British ad~ vance were expressed by a speaker over the Rome Radio in a broadcast in English to North America, and heard in Britain, "We shall not deny that the British have given us hard Knocks in North Africa," he said. "The British offensive was well organized, and all British forees were magnificent ly equipped. We are quite prepared to take off our hats to them."—Reuter. sinking of mercantile shipping in the week under review, 'The only dalny was that a raider had. sunk 64,185 {ons of shipping in the Pacific. Comparison between the German. claim and the figure of the British Admiralty" Is, therefore, impossible, Lostes duo' to this raider had been included In earlier weekly totals os soon og reported, it 43 stated, TE may be recalled that combined weekly average mercantile losses, ex~ cluding Dunkirk, were recently given officially a 69,086 tons, British Naval spokesman advanced several possible reasons for the big drop in the latest Mgures. Bad weather, he pointed out, restricisa many enemy mine-laying craft, together with bombing and recon: naissance aircraft, Tt could be considered highly probable, he added, that the H, A.P's steady pounding of German submarine bases on the corists of occupied territory was German raiders last Plymouth in one of the most three-hour dire raids of the war, was announced today.
The shortness of the rald—attacks of such intensity usually Tast_ much Tonger—and London's comparatively free night, were believed due to heavy fog over northern France, making air base conditions dimeult.
Following usual tactless, the raiders' rst wave dropped thousands of in-condi ary bombs, which possibly were of: the new type the Rome radio said were used on London over the week end, Succeeding waves concentrated on the fires thus started, raining high explosive bombs on the flaming city.
Women's Ward 1it The women's ward in a hospital was hit directly, killing and injuring. aliens. Doctors operated on the! more seriously wounded, amid the wreckage.
Many Houses were set aire, some times as many as six in a row, but Britain's new fire guard extinguished them fairly quickly, said reports, juring the early' part of the night fan alfack lasting between two and. three hours was made on a {own in southwest England," said the Air and 'Home Security Ministries' Joint communique.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.