Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), Monday 28 June 1937, page 20


REBEL ADVANCE IN SANTANDER

More Moors And Arabs Join Franco LONDON, June 26.

According to reports from Hendaye. the Spanish rebels, pressing on after their capture of Bilbao, have entered the Santander province and engaged

Basque troops at Valmaseda. eight miles from the seaport of Castro Urdiales. the rebels" first important objective. The Basque army in Santander numbers 55.000 well-trained and wellarmed militia. Factories are working night and day making munitions. All able-bodied men are digging trenches. Assisted by two cruisers, which shelled the retreating Basques, the rebels advanced five and a half miles along the coast toward Santander. A parallel column is operating inland. Prom Gibraltar it is reported that 10,000 Moors and Arabs have arrived at Algeciras to join General Franco, who is reported to be planning a big push on Almeria in co-operation with his fleet. A rebel broadcast alleges that throngs of foodless fugitives in Santander demonstrated against the Government. Civil Guards were helples sand anarchists proclaimed a "Communist libertarian Republic," while crowds raided the shops. The Basque Government declares that although the Basque Army evacuated Bilbao without bloodshed and released all its prisoners, the Fascist Government has already established 40 special courts of Fascist "justice" which are riaimi^g -victims, as in the province of Guipuzcoa. where more than 1,500 Basques, including several priests, nave been murdered. General Franco has issued a decree denying the Basques fiscal autonomy, which they have enjoyed for centuries. The Basque Government representative at Bayonne states that the Guipuzcoa Rebel Tribunal has sentenced to death Alfredo Esplnosa, the Basque Health. Minister, and two compatriots, whose aeroplane made a forced landing between San Sebastian and Bilbao. The fate of the Spanish pilot, Jose Yangues, and a French passenger. Georges Rouge, is not known. A Seville message states that 20 planes. 44 tanks, 3.000 rifles. 1,000 machine guns and ammunition fell into the lmnris of the rebels when the Russian steamer Kuran was captured by Hie Almirante Cervera while attempt-Ing to run the blockade of Almeria.