Dock Workers Continue to Load Arms for Egypt at British Fort

Dock workers at Liverpool, who yesterday threatened to refuse to load British armaments on ships destined for Egypt, were working overtime today loading military equipment aboard the Egyptian vessel “Star of Suez,” following advice from trade union leaders to continue their work until the British Labor Party takes a stand in the matter.

The cargo which is being loaded is estimated to total 400 tons of arms, including cases containing sub-machine guns, tank tracks and a large quantity of spare parts which would enable Egypt to “remilitarize” supposedly “demilitarized” British tanks bought by Egypt in Belgium.

Officially, the British Government has ordered a halt to shipments of war materiel to the Middle East, including Egypt. However, the goods now being loaded on the Egyptian ship include gun barrels for tanks, ammunition and other war materiel. The war goods arrived in Liverpool in 21 freight cars.

A British War Office spokesman today declared that “there is nothing undercover” about this transaction. “It is a perfectly open delivery of tank spares and other accessories,” he said “There seems to be no reason why such shipment, by agreements between governments, should stop.”

The British Foreign Office yesterday issued a statement announcing the halt on arms shipments out of the country and that no licenses have been issued for export of tanks in several months. However, it is known that slightly “demilitarized” tanks have been leaving the country under the description of “agricultural implements” and reports from Belgium make if clear that very little would need to be done to these “agricultural implements” to make them serviceable for war purposes. In fact, some of these tanks are known to have done less than 100 miles since their production and are reported from Belgium to have been in excellent condition upon arriving from Britain.