The War Illustrated, Volume 3, No. 47, Page iii, July 26, 1940.

Marshal Pétain has signed orders putting all French ports and river mouths under the authority of the French Navy, specifically mentioning Nantes, Bordeaux and Rouen.

The German radio broadcast a warning that Germany intends to incorporate Calais, Dunkirk and Lille within the Reich. "These cities", declared the announcer, "were stolen from the Flemish, who were of German stock".

Aluminium pots and pans weighing one hundred tons will make 100 Spitfires or Hurricanes. The London area up to July 13 had already provided over fifty Spitfires.

Flag-day officials at a South Coast resort cut the name of the county off every paper flag before it was sold, in order not to risk giving information to the enemy.

Six thousand French officers, including the staff of General Mittelhauser, French Commander-in-Chief in the Middle East have crossed into Palestine and joined the British.

German bombers killed 4,200 people in a 2½-hour raid on the French town of Rennes. This raid took place while Pétain was completing negotiations for an armistice.

The last section of the Czechoslovak Army evacuated from France arrived in this country by July 12.

"I'm Lord Halifax's chauffeur", said the driver of the Foreign Secretary's car when recently challenged by a sentry in Yorkshire. "That's nowt!" replied the sentry. "I'm Lord Nuffield!" A delay of half an hour occurred before Lord Halifax could prove his identity.

Two trains a day are to travel between Paris, Clermont Ferrand, Vichy and Toulouse. These trains will carry mails between occupied and unoccupied France, but no passengers will be permitted to travel.

Britain's tea stocks are to be augmented by 40,000,000 lb. from the Dutch East Indies.

Transatlantic flights between the British Isles and New York will begin within a month. 'Planes will carry both passengers and mails.

Dr. Rosenberg, the Nazi ideologist, recently asserted that the French Revolution has been buried in Vichy by the new French leaders: "The decision of the French Parliament means the collapse of the entire position which France had won for herself in Europe."

Jean Borotra, famous tennis star, has been made French National Director of Sport. Professional sport is being suppressed in France. "To be sincere", say the new French rulers, "sport must be amateur".

Japan has agreed to look after the interests of Italy in Australia for the period of the war.

Mass-produced bombproof shelters are now being made in the United States at a cost of £20 each.

The Canadian destroyer "Fraser", sunk recently in collision, was a 1,375-ton vessel built in Britain in 1931. Formerly H.M.S. "Crescent", the destroyer was acquired from the British Navy in 1938.

General Franco, in a speech to army, navy, and air-force officers at Madrid on July 16, said that it was Spain's duty and mission to obtain a mandate over Gibraltar.

Two officials of the Liverpool Post Office have been awarded the O.B.E. for presence of mind in dealing with a bomb with burning fuse placed in the post office early this year.

Shops in some of the industrial areas of the North are to remain open later so that essentials can be purchased by munition workers who at present do not leave work until after closing time.

Natal has give £150,000 to the "Speed the 'Planes Fund". This sum is sufficient to buy two flights of Spitfires.

The "Wakes", famous holidays in the North, have been cancelled and the savings for the holidays will go to local shopkeepers or to the national effort instead of to seaside landladies. In three weeks the workers of one mill alone have invested over £2,000 in War Loan.

The "Tetrarch", British submarine sunk recently, was a sister ship of the ill-fated "Thetis" that foundered in Liverpool Bay in June of last year. These submarines cost £350,000 each.

Summertime has been introduced into Turkey for the first time.

A.R.P. authorities are appealing for clean lines to be used for bandages. Sheets, pillow-cases, aprons, etc., may be handed in at First Aid Depots or Wardens' posts.

The 2,400 people of the Falkland Island have given £50,000 to buy warplanes "as a token of their profound loyalty to, and admiration of, the Mother Country".

"The Soviet submarine fleet is already the biggest in the world. Soon we shall be the first on other classes of ships as well. The battleships and cruisers we are building are superior to the best foreign ships in speed and armament." – Moscow Radio.

Parachutes to the number of 125,000 were delivered by one German firm alone during June, says a report from Zürich.

Kites and balloons were used during the German invasion of Holland to show the Nazi airmen strategic points, military targets, and suitable landing places.

All German soldiers have received from their commanding officers 10,000 French francs with the recommendation to buy anything that could be useful to their families, such as clothing, shoes, linen, and woollens.

"As the speed of the Spitfires exceeds that of the Messerschmitt 110s by only 2 m.p.h., it is evident that the British machines are inferior to the German fighters", says the German paper "Flugsport".

Captain Prien, who commanded the submarine that sank the "Royal Oak", and the "Arandora Star", recently returned from a cruise on which he claimed to have sunk 66,578 tons of enemy shipping. This is the largest ever claimed by a U-boat on a single trip.

Bus drivers and conductors of the London Transport have been warned not to hand over buses during journeys even to an inspector in uniform. This is to prevent the vehicles being "captured" by enemy agents.

A new low record for "conchies" was established when the "30's" registered. Of the 310,688 to register, only 1,770 were conscientious objectors, equal to .57 per cent.

German raiders dropped a bomb in every garden of a Scottish hamlet on July 14. All the fires started in the gardens were quickly put out.

"England must get out", declares the "Voelkischer Beobachter". "It is necessary to drive away the British Islanders from Europe for ever."

The British Navy has developed in the multiple pom-pom the most deadly close-range weapon yet devised. This 8-barrelled gun fires 2-lb. shells at an almost incredible rate, which is still confidential.

The Gates of Londonderry, which were last closed when the army of James II besieged the city in 1689, have been closed again in preparation for a possible siege.