Fluctuations in Spain The war communiqués of Barcelona and Burgos
are no more easily reconciled than those of Moscow and Tokyo, and it is extremely difficult to determine the precise position on the Ebro front after the Republicans' attack and the Nationalists' counter-offensive. It is clear that the Republi- cans have not held all their gains, but it seems equally clear that they have not lost them all, and that the Nationalists' claims, first that their enemy would be, and then that he had been, delivered into their hands have not been substantiated. Fighting will no doubt continue, but the Nationalists' counter-thrust appears to have spent its force without achieving its full purpose. Elsewhere on the same front, in the region of Lerida, the Republicans delivered a sudden attack on Tuesday and gained a certain amount of ground ; simul- taneously the Nationalists, under General Queipo de Llano, of microphone fame, advanced further on the Estramadura front in the direction of the valuable Almaden mercury- mines. A British ship lying in the harbour of Palamos, between Barcelona and the French frontier, was bombed on Monday, perhaps unintentionally, and then machine- gunned deliberately. In accordance with the agreement reached with General Franco for a joint investigation of all such occurrences two British officers, both Spanish- speaking, have established headquarters at Toulouse, whence they will go as required to the scene of any alleged illegal bombing. * * *
